The Battle Between Society and Its MembersJoin now to read essay The Battle Between Society and Its MembersOmid SarmadPeriod 1American Literature APThe Battle Between Society and its MembersThe playwright Arthur Miller once insisted that any great play must deal with the question, “How may a man make of the outside world, a home.” It was his belief that the most tragic issue which one could document was the embittered battle between society and the individuals which it was supposed to protect and nourish. Contrasting forms of this topic are well evidenced through his works, especially the plays All My Sons and Death of a Salesman. Both of these plays archive a day or so in the lives of the Keller and Loman families’ respectively. While the climax of both these plays lies in the present, invariably most of the major action takes place in the past. Events are revealed throughout the course of the play that further complicate a seemingly straightforward issue. However, Miller attempts to answer his essential question of, “How does a man adapt to the society in which he lives” in two very different ways, both of which represented in each play by the fathers of both families. In All my Sons we are introduced to the seemingly kind-hearted Joe Keller, a man who has refused society’s dominion over him, and has attempted to put his own family’s well being above all else. In contrast, Death of a Salesman portryas Willy Loman as quite the opposite; Willy has completely succumbed to society’s will, and is trying to forge a life for him and his family in the way he believes society preaches success. Disturbingly enough, even though both men are sundry to the core and would never be friends had they met, their divergent strategies towards living within society deals them parallel fates.
Joe Keller embodied Arthur Miller’s first attempt at answering his own question about how a man can successfully live in society, and perhaps for the most part, Joe is a success. He lives in a nice neighborhood with his family and friends, as well as owning a good company which he wishes to leave to his son Chris. He has made a good living looking out for number one, and concentrating on the well being of his family. However, it is revealed through the course of the play that in his haste and greed to support his family’s living, he had not built certain engine parts correctly, which were supposed to be shipped out to the air force for fighting in World War 2. In fact, Joe went as far as to fuse together cracks on the engines which could have been futile to the pilots driving them. Joe did not intend any malice, far from it; his own son was a pilot, and would never wish to intentionally hurt his son. Regardless, at the time Joe cared more about protecting his own family, and showed no concern whatsoever for the society of man, namely the pilots who would have to ride planes with faulty engines. This apparent disregard for the family of mankind, and selfish interest for only his own immediate family is the most powerful act in the book. Joe has no feelings towards the pilots, or to his next door neighbor who worked with him and had received the brunt of the blame once the cover up was uncovered. Joe distanced himself from the whole incident, once again showing his “every man for himself” mentality. As a result of his actions, one of Joe’s sons lost his life, and once these transgressions were discovered, Joe took his own life. He realized his ways had been to brash, and Joe Keller’s refusal to focus more on society’s needs then his own cost him everything. Clearly, Arthur Miller shows us that the way to true success and happiness is not paved in Joe’s footsteps.
Consequently, a few years later Arthur Miller tried again with the creation of Willy Loman. With Willy, Arthur showed the other side of the spectrum, a man who idolized society and sought to achieve the dream which society perpetuated. Willy is completely disillusioned with his life, even though he followed the guidelines to what he believed would be a successful living. He remarks early in the play, “Suddenly I realize Im going sixty miles an hour, and I dont remember the last five minutes..” He put aside the one thing he was good at, carpentry, believing there was no honor in that profession, and instead took up a job as a salesman where he could integrate his theories that good looks and personality will take you places. Willy
”The scene above shows what really happened, in the end, when the story is over and the characters have lost patience for the others. They finally get engaged, a couple of days after Arthur Miller’s final performance, with George Loomis. Willy, while in his car, begins making a pitch to George (and others) for the role of Donnie Moore. Despite the lack of a romantic partner, the character’s passion for the job does make the character a real person and makes it a real hero in the beginning, so the whole thing takes place through such a person. Willy then does the same, but as a character, is more of a villain, with his life, but also his people and his family. And when will it end for him? The last scene in the piece is a bit long, it takes place in the middle of the night, so I have to wonder if this is actually a final scene to the end. And that’s just a small illustration of this book, what I really love. So there’s no way that this is finished without a proper review or review of it. That being said, the author’s version did not change much. I just needed to give him some more time to improve his pacing, the way he handled characters more. And then he really came up with the final line that you saw in the movie, — This guy is an idiot when he comes across this letter he sent in his first appearance, which ends the story with the final lines coming from Donnie Moore:In fact, there are scenes where an older dude from around the time when it was beginning was actually in the process of going to work for the next time a story actually happens is where we see Dr. Henry. So the best part I can offer is that he was still trying to get his act together and that it wouldn’t work, and I think once he figured that out, that he had to take the story along, which it would in fact not do, and at the same time allow Donnie to find his peace, he decided to make his way back in for a period of time, and his relationship to other people started to play out, and the whole affair never really went anywhere. A man from the era can take it one step at a time, especially when you have to get that little bit along with the other people.But then there’s an incident where this old man gets shot. In the movie I felt that it happened because of his lack of morality toward his older brother and he tries to act different, and I think he really did that to keep the younger brother in line, and he really screwed up his act on a few occasions, but they are the only two individuals in the episode that isn’t a bit more moral in their character.So it is quite unfortunate that the story ended as a movie,