Figure it out. Work a lifetime to pay for a house. You finally own it, and theres no one to live in it. This line was from the 1949 play Death of a Salesman. In his early years Miller wrote plays, but none of them were produced. Death of a Salesman was not his first success, but was still widely admired. He grew to become one of the centurys greatest American dramatists. However this title was not easily achieved. After growing up in Harlem and working the Brooklyn Navy Yard to becoming a Pulitzer Prize winner, Arthur Miller is held with high respect.
Miller had a lifelong dream. That dream was to become a famous playwright. With a lot of hard times and struggles, he reached his goal. Miller went through college with many failed and unpublished plays. Still, he never gave up hope. Finally he hit one success which kept him on the Broadway stage for several decades to come. Arthur Miller is a New York born American playwright who developed a reputation by dealing with political and moral issues through his plays. However, this is just the tip of the iceberg with it comes to the story of Arthur Miller.
Arthur Miller was a good man, and with a good man comes character strengths. He always put forth the effort to judge a man by his rightful position and his fair play. He also attempted to judge a man by his moral sanity and his welfare of the community (Foner and Garraty, 1). Miller never judged someone based upon a first impression. He made great attempts to know people thoroughly before finally judging them. This was one of the greater strengths he posses in life. This helped him build the reputation that stuck with him over the years and that he became known for.
However, Miller had a contradicting weakness along with his strength. He had an eagerness to express his judgement, which became a downfall for him. This one weakness lead to showing his views and opinions openly. This often interrupted the more subtle interplay between social and psychological ways that others were accustom too (Foner and Garraty, 2). Miller was good in giving it time to accurately know a person before judging him, but often showed his views too eagerly, which did not come off well to the public.
In all the years Miller wrote plays, he had one goal in mind when he wrote. This one goal was to show an individual fulfilling his subjective needs through social action (Foner and Garraty, 2). Miller wrote about real issues rather than the make believe stories that some authors wrote about. He was not a man to give up before accomplishing any of his goals. Miller reached his goal and made sure that it remained constant over the years. Miller was a very memorable playwright and author. He wrote with the truth at hand, using realistic styles and present time social concerns.
During the times of the Depression most of his themes in his plays came out as anti-capitalist (Miller, 145). However for the most part Miller wrote from his heart and soul. He wrote about the pressures of society and also family pressures that were put onto people. He carried on this theme for most of his career. This seemed to do him extremely well in his life. Miller will be forever remembered by his great writing ability. He wrote numerous plays. One was The Crucible, which told the story of Salem, Massachusetts and the witch trails then compared them to the McCarthy era.
Another was After the Fall. This play brought about controversy along with praise (http://kennedy-, 1). In All My Sons, Miller condemned the American concept of prosperity. Lastly, the play Death of a Salesman told the story of a salesman who was betrayed by his own empty values of American society at the time. Later in life Miller wrote an autobiography entitled Timebends: A Life, and two other novels which he worked on with his wife. These were only a few of the many great works that Miller produced as an author and as a playwright. All of Millers hard work paid off for him in time.
He wrote about motivation of individuals and of those who demanded self-respect and about the hardships they faced along the way and for that he was rewarded. Miller has been presented with many awards in his life. Miller received the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for his play, All My Sons, the Pulitzer Prize for Death of a Salesman, and the Antoinette Perry Award for The Crucible. Miller also received the Gold Medal for Drama Award and the National Institute of Arts and Letters Award (Goldstein, 427). These all proved to be very proud moments for Miller in his life and career.
Miller will be remembered in history forever as a legendary playwright. He had his ups and downs at different times throughout his career. Yet, he never gave up hope and believed in himself. Over the years he was recognized for his astounding works and was presented with many awards. Miller was on the Broadway stage for many years and the audiences loved him. He wrote his plays based upon political and moral issues that made this New York born playwright a success. Widely respected and admired, is how Arthur Miller will be remembered.
