Playwright Arthur Miller was not only a prominent figure in American theater, but also an activist. Using his work and fame to promote social and political activism, Miller most notably criticized the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) for its controversial anti-Communism trials. However, Miller did also support various other causes, including civil rights, human rights, anti-war protests, and HIV/AIDS awareness (Srdjak).

A current even that Miller would be saddened to hear about is the recent refusal of the Milton Hersey School in Hershey, Pennsylvania, to admit a 13-year-old boy because he is HIV positive, and thus poses a threat to the other student’s health (Martinez). Miller would be saddened about the discrimination against the boy not only because he was involved in the funding of HIV campaigns, but also because of the fact that the school argued the boy would put the other students in “danger.” Being involved in the fight against the HIV/AIDS epidemic, and with the advancement in the treatment of HIV over the recent years, Miller would know that the boy would pose no threat to the other students, and that there were most likely other reasons behind the refusal to admit the boy. As he did with the many other causes he supported during his lifetime, Miller would use his prominence to criticize the school and support the boy who has now filed a lawsuit.

With his strong support for social and political activism, Miller would call on politicians to make sure that the discrimination against people with HIV is prevented in the future. Often described as an “activist for the common man” (Watson), Miller would support the boy in his lawsuit against the school. With resemblances between the boy’s case and the McCarthy trials, in which in innocent people were accused of crimes due to personal dislike and fear and rejected (Watson), Miller would try to make sure that the boy is not discriminated against because of his unfortunate health condition.

Works Cited

Martinez, Michael. "Student with HIV Sues Private Residential School for Denied Admission." CNN U.S. 01 Dec. 2011. Web. 05 Dec. 2011. <http://articles.cnn.com/2011-12-01/us/us_pennsylvania-hiv-hershey-school_1_hiv-milton-hershey-school-middle-school>.

Srdjak, Ken. "From the Daily: Arthur Miller." The Michigan Daily. 11 Feb. 2005. Web. 5 Dec. 2011. <http://www.michigandaily.com/content/daily-arthur-miller>.

Watson, Jerilyn. "Arthur Miller: 1915-2005:  One of the Greatest American Playwrights of the 20th Century." Voice of America. 28 Nov. 2009. Web. 04 Dec. 2011. <http://www.voanews.com/learningenglish/home/a-23-2009-11-28-voa5-83144292.html>.

Death of a Salesman, published in 1949, is Arthur Miller’s most well known work. With its universal themes of living the American dream, abandonment, and betrayal resonating with American audiences, Death of a Salesman quickly transformed Author Miller into a renowned 20^th century playwright (Bradford). Portraying the main character’s inability to realize the false promises of the American dream and its effect on his family, Miller’s play spoke to working class families around the world.

Death of a Salesman depicts the life of the Loman family, a working class family in which the aging father, Willy Loman, struggles to become a successful salesman. Having spent his early career charming his way with customers in an effort to fulfill the American dream, Willy fails to adapt to the changing business world, in which charm alone with the lack of knowledge has little effect. With his late brother Ben having earned a fortune through his diamond mines in Africa, Willy firmly holds on to the promising American dream, still hoping to somehow make it as a salesman, despite working solely on commission. Although eventually fired by his boss, Willy never seems to give up on the American dream, refusing a job offer in order to retain his pride.

With his firm belief that success can only be achieved through being well liked by others, Willy sees great potential for success in his sons, especially his oldest son Biff. As a high school football star with a scholarship to play football in college, Willy takes great pride in Biff and his athleticism, failing to emphasize the importance of his education; subsequently causing Biff flunk a semester of math. Although having the opportunity to earn his needed math credits for his high school diploma during the summer, Biff decides not to attend summer school after catching Willy cheating on his mother with another woman at a hotel. Feeling betrayed, Biff moves to the West where he works on one farm after the other, unable to keep a job due to his tendency to steal. Although Biff has talent for the outdoor labor, Biff finds himself unable to enjoy his work due to the feeling of letting down his father and his high expectations. When eventually returning home to the East, Biff attempts to help his father understand that his materialistic dreams are flawed, and that Biff has no interest in pursuing those dreams. Despite their disagreements and the incident at the hotel, Willy eventually learns that Biff still loves him, and takes his own life in order for Biff to receive his life insurance money and invest it in his future.

By portraying Willy’s struggle to accept the falsehood of the American dream and his failure to realize that Biff does not wish to pursue this dream, Miller does not only emphasize the flaws of material wealth, but also that each person measures success differently. While Willy interpreted success as being wealthy and well respected, Biff saw success in being content with one’s career and life. Furthermore, through his play, Miller illustrated the fact that material wealth does not guarantee happiness, and that the pursuit of material wealth often leads to the destruction of one’s life, as in the case of Willy. With Death of a Salesman, Miller proved the American dream to be wrong, a dream that falsely told Americans that everyone could live a both happy and successful life through hard work.

Works Cited

Bradford, Wade. "Arthur Miller - Biography of an American Playwright." About.com: Plays & Drama. Web. 27 Nov. 2011. <http://plays.about.com/od/playwrights/p/arthurmiller.htm>.

Death of a Salesman. Digital image. Fashion Dress Pictures. Web. 28 Nov. 2011. <http://www.fashion-dress-pictures.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/10/death-of-a-salesman-american-dreamuv.jpg>.

Although Arthur Miller began writing his early works during the modernist movement, an early 20^th century movement challenging the traditional norms, beliefs, and literary structure, most of Miller’s critically acclaimed work, including The Crucible and Death of a Salesman, was published during the postmodernist literature movement (Bradford). Postmodernism, although difficult to define, is a post-World War II (late 1940s to present) literary movement often referred to as simply the descendant of modernism. Postmodernism, however, is frequently viewed as possessing the opposite (or broader) characteristics of modernism, for instance, while modernism is generally rational and organized, postmodernism is generally irrational and fragmented (“Literary Theory”).

Death of a Salesman, Miller’s most prominent work, was written in 1949 during the emergence of the American dream, the belief that fame, success, and wealth could be obtained through hard work and dedication. Death of a Salesman not only encompasses this philosophy, but also several other postmodernist beliefs, such as the studying of the past to improve the future and living ones parent’s lost dreams. By describing the failure of living the American dream and its effect on one’s family, Miller’s play also serves as a social commentary discussing the social values of the post-World War II era (Lombardi).

The Crucible, Miller’s most controversial work, was published in 1953 at the time of the McCarthy trials, during which the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) prosecuted Americans, often actors and writers, for allegedly being supporters of Communism. Through his 17^th century Salem witch trial allegory in The Crucible, Miller indirectly criticized McCarthyism, later landing Miller in front of the HUAC himself (“None Without Sin”). By criticizing McCarthyism, Miller engaged in another important aspect of postmodernist literature generally not present in modernist literature, namely politicizing current events (Geyh).

In conclusion, Arthur Miller’s most prominent work, including Death of a Salesman and The Crucible, was published during the postmodernist literature movement. Written during the post-World War II era and Cold War, Miller’s work touches on subjects such as the American Dream, success and failure, family values, and McCarthyism (Lombardi).

Works Cited

"Arthur Miller - None Without Sin." PBS: Public Broadcasting Service. 23 Aug. 2006. Web. 21 Nov. 2011. <http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes/arthur-miller/none-without-sin/56/>.

Bradford, Wade. "Arthur Miller - Biography of an American Playwright." About.com: Plays & Drama. Web. 21 Nov. 2011. <http://plays.about.com/od/playwrights/p/arthurmiller.htm>.

Geyh, Paula. "Postmodernism." New Dictionary of the History of Ideas. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. 20 Nov. 2011 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"Literary Theory and Schools of Criticism." Purdue University Online Writing Lab (OWL). Web. 20 Nov. 2011. <http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/722/08/>.

Lombardi, Esther. "Death of a Salesman." About.com: Books & Literature Classics. Web. 21 Nov. 2011. <http://classiclit.about.com/od/deathofasalesman/fr/aa_death.htm>.

Arthur Asher Miller was one of the most prominent American playwrights in the twentieth century, and is often referred to as a “genius of modern drama” (“Arthur Miller”). Born on October 17, 1915, in Manhattan, New York, to Isidore Miller, a coat-manufacturer, and Augusta Miller, a schoolteacher, Miller’s childhood was surrounded by the effects and poverty brought along by the Great Depression as his dad lost almost everything (“Arthur Miller: Biography”).

Regardless of the challenges brought on by the Great Depression, Miller had an active childhood, attending school and playing several sports, including baseball and football. He loved to read adventure stories, and had several jobs, working with his dad, for a bakery, and at a warehouse (Bradford). After having graduated from the Abraham Lincoln High School in 1932, and having saved enough money to pay for his college tuition, Miller left New York to study journalism at the University of Michigan. It was there Miller wrote his first play, No Villain, after having entered a drama competition, for which he later received an award from the University (Bradford).

After graduating in 1938, Miller joined the Federal Theater Project, established as part of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal. Following its shutdown in 1939, Miller worked as a freelance writer, writing plays for the radio (“Arthur Miller: Biography”). Not having to serve in World War II due to an old Football injury, Miller wrote his first Broadway-bound play, The Man Who Had All the Luck, in 1944, which was pulled from Broadway just after four days due to horrible reviews (Bradford).

However, three years later, Miller had his first success on Broadway with his critically acclaimed drama All My Sons. This time, Miller’s play ran for 328 performances and earned him the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award as the best play of 1947. In 1949, Miller’s most famous play, Death of a Salesman, debuted on Broadway, running for an astounding 742 performances (“Arthur Miller: Biography”). Winning both the Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize for Death of a Salesman, Miller quickly earned international recognition (Bradford).

In 1953, Miller published his most controversial play, The Crucible, in which he used the Salem witch trials as an analogy for McCarthy’s anti-communism hearings in the 1950s (“Arthur Miller”). Miller later found himself in front of the House of Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), where he was found guilty and added to the Hollywood blacklist. However, after having his conviction overturned by Congress in 1958, Miller was eventually pulled from the blacklist (“Arthur Miller: Biography”).

By the 1950s, Miller had become one of the most famous playwrights in the world, partially because of his marriage to Marilyn Monroe in 1956, which brought him into the limelight. Miller divorced Monroe in 1961, one year before her death, and shortly after married Inge Morath, with whom he had two children (Bradford).

Throughout his writing career Miller went on to write dozens of more plays, including A View from the Bridge (1955), After the Fall (1964), Broken Glass (1994), Resurrection Blues (2002), and Finishing the Picture (2004). During his later years, Miller predominantly spent his time working on his autobiography and the film adaptions of Death of a Salesman and The Crucible, which earned him an Academy Award nomination (Bradford). In 2005, on February 10, Miller passed away at the age of 89 (“Arthur Miller: Biography”).

Works Cited

"Arthur Miller: Biography." Spartacus Educational. Web. 14 Nov. 2011. <http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAmillerA.htm>.

Arthur Miller. Digital image. Famous People Info. Web. 14 Nov. 2011. <http://www.famouspeopleinfo.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Arthur_Miller-834x1024.jpg>. 

"Arthur Miller." The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Web. 13 Nov. 2011. <http://www.kennedy-center.org/explorer/artists/?entity_id=3762>.

Bradford, Wade. "Arthur Miller - Biography of an American Playwright." About.com: Plays & Drama. Web. 14 Nov. 2011. <http://plays.about.com/od/playwrights/p/arthurmiller.htm>.