Read Kerrane's "Arthur Miller vs. Columbia Pictures: The Strange Case of Career of a Salesman" and discuss the implications of Career of a Salesman. Use examples from the screenplay that Kerrane found to help you support your ideas. The essay can be found on the course website.
You can get the file either from the Death of a Salesman subpage, or from the ENG4U Files page.
This it the last blog of the course. Check the course calendar for due dates.
You can get the file either from the Death of a Salesman subpage, or from the ENG4U Files page.
This it the last blog of the course. Check the course calendar for due dates.
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Arthur Miller’s play Death of a Salesman was a huge success when it went to the stage in 1949. Audiences were awed by such a spectacular show. Part of the reasons why so many people were awed by the performance is because they could watch the play and relate it to their own lives. They may not have had the mind and struggle of Willy Loman, but they knew what it meant to be a salesman in the United States of America during that time period.
The success of the play gave Columbia Pictures the idea of making Miller’s Death of a Salesman into a motion picture film. When putting the film together, Columbia Pictures began to worry that the film would bring controversy about what it means to be American. The protagonist plays the role of a man who can’t seem to fit in with the rest of society, and fails to live up to his dream, the American Dream. There was worry of many people protesting, claiming that Willy Loman is not the average American man, and his family does not portray that of the average American family. They decided to add a small clip before the film called Career of a Salesman that explains how the film is not implying that Willy is the typical American man. In the clip, Stanley Kramer states that “we found out after many weeks of research that the Willy Lomans of this world are fast becoming extinct. For Willy belonged to the lost tribe of drummers, who used the credo of a smile and a shoeshine to be able to do business. Certainly today this is far from enough, for the National Sales Executives tell us that there are over three and one-half million people making their living at the business of selling in this country today.” He wants to ensure the audience that the film’s intentions are not to show the audience that they are the same type of person as Willy Loman.
In Career of a Salesman, they explain the reasons why Willy does not become successful and fulfill his dream. Schiff explains that, “And he needs a lot more than personality. He needs a thorough knowledge of his product, a real grasp of his customers’ needs, and a belief that he’s doing a service––a service––in bringing his product to his buyer.” Throughout the text, Willy believes that he can be successful without doing anything to get there. He believes that a smile and a good personality will help him achieve his goals. Career of a Salesman explains that they understand how a smile and personality is not the way one becomes successful. Also, they explain how Willy believes that one becomes successful in the world of salesmen through who they know. He believes that it doesn’t matter what one does, even if it can bring success. If they do not know the right people, they will never become successful. Obviously, this is not the case, and Robert A. Whitney explains, “‘‘It not what you do, but who you know,’’ Willy says. What a tragic misconception! Does a doctor get by on who he knows? It’s what a doctor knows––what a lawyer, what a teacher knows––that makes for success, and it’s the same in the profession of selling.” Willy Loman’s beliefs on how one becomes successful are not what they should be, and in order to avoid controversy, Columbia Pictures wanted to show that they knew he had all the wrong ideas.
In my lifetime, as stated in a previous blog, I hope to have a career in the medical field. I understand that in order to get there I need to work hard. I have to go to university, and study hard to keep my grades up in order to follow through with my dream. Willy Loman never understood the concept of working hard to get what you want in life. He always believed that success in life always came with a shortcut, which evidently brought him to his downfall. Career of a Salesman was a way for Columbia Pictures to show the audience that they understand where Willy went wrong, and that the film is not being used as a way to bastardize what it means to be American.
1949, Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller made its first appearance on Broadway. Within a few months it was a shocking success astounding audiences, with its realism and truism of what it was like to live in the United States, just after World War II. It was a tragic portrayal of a Salesman in the late 1940’s trying to make it big in New York, but ultimately failing, because he could not transvaluate to recognize that he was not meant to be a salesman.
With all the success the play had achieved, Colombia Pictures decided to make a film adaptation. But before the film was shown, a short film called Career of a Salesman was to be shown, which would show audiences “that Willy Loman did not represent the ‘‘modern’’ salesman and, by implication, that the story was not anti-American.” With this Arthur Miller threatened to sue Colombia Pictures. Willy Loman suffered trying to attain his American Dream, because people are pawns when it comes to the American Dream. The short film was to ensure the audience that they were nothing like the man they were about to see on the screen. But in reality as Kramer says, “It suggested that American business more often than not was more interested in profits than people, tending to throw marginal or older employees on the scrap heap.” Everyone is subjected to American Dream, businesses care more about profits then their employees, man power can be expendable for more profit. One person like Willy Loman just helps the Chain of this “dream” causing hardships for everyone who is crushed by it.
Career of Salesman helps to shed light on what it means to be a salesman as well as what is required. Willy could not make it as a salesman because according to Robert A. Whitney, “He just didn’t have it—the background, the training, the preparation. He was the product of an era which is happily long since past.” Willy was not prepared for what being a real salesman was, he didn’t know anything about his products, he had no contacts, no personality… he had nothing. Miller did not want Willy to be seen as crazy, “They knew he wasn’t crazy. They were right up there with him. See, let me not underestimate it. I was ironically stating all the things that they always take seriously. A man can get anywhere in this country on the basis of being liked. Now this is serious advice, and that audience is sitting there almost about to smile but the tears are coming out of their eyes because they know that this is what they believe. This man is obviously going down the chute and he’s telling them exactly what they believe. So I don’t have to make a speech that this is wrong. The irony of the whole situation is what is making it work.” Everyone can agree that being liked is what ultimately puts you ahead of everyone else and will make you go places. But being liked and believing you are liked are two different things. Willy believed he was liked when no one actually liked him at all, let alone respected him this is what sets him on his downward spiral towards his pathos.
To succeed all that is needed is hard work. By putting effort into what you do, success is sure to follow. If Willy had realized that being successful takes work, and that there is no shortcut to getting there, he would have realized that he was not cut out to be a salesman. With the Career of a Salesman short film, audiences were shown that Willy was not successful because he did not work hard, and that he was lacking the aspects that make a true salesman.
When one goes to the theatre to watch a movie or a play they go because they want to get away from real life and enter a new world that they can enjoy and also learn from. Movies and plays have the ability to take audiences to new worlds and also show aspects of their world that they never even knew. Arthur Miller’s Death of a salesman is a play written in 1949 and it showcases a completely different kind of American life than what was considered normal at the time. Willy Lohman was a man who is struggling in his life and having many problems with his family. He fails to achieve the American Dream and does not want to fit in with the changing society. Willy is the complete opposite of what the average American man was supposed to be at the time and his family was not the average Nineteen Forties American family. Audiences were simply amazed by the play and the way it showed them how hard Willy’s life was as a salesman. The audience could make comparisons between their lives and Willys and thus, the play became a huge seller on Broadway.
The play’s success caught the attention of Columbia Pictures, a film making studio and they were very enthusiastic as to create a movie version. The job would not be easy as controversy started to grow over the play. Many started to claim the the film is showing a wrong type of American man, family and overall life. Thus, the writers created a short film before the movie called Career of a Salesman. This showed Willy Lohman as a non-modern man and also to assure audiences that the play was not anti-American. In the short film Willy is seen as a man who is not successful and they explain why he is not successful and has not fulfilled the “American dream”.
In the play Willy does not want to work hard to get where he wants in his life and he believes that the only way to be successful is to have a great personality man contacts. Robert A Whitney is the head of the National Sales Executives and he delivered his own critique on of the scenes.’ No wonder poor Willy was such a failure! He just didn’t have it- the background, the training the preparation. He was just the product of an era which is happily long since past.” Whitney says that Willy just did not have what it takes to become a salesman simply because he was not having the right educational background. His career choice was not meant for him and he does not want to work hard to find his true path in life. Willy did not want to work hard to achieve his dream, the American dream and he always wanted to ease his way through the world of work.
Career of a Salesman shows the audience what to avoid if they do not want to be like Willy Lohman. They need to work hard and know that it is not just personality, connections and a smile that gets one far in life but hard work and dedication. This short movie is not attacking the American system, like many people thought. It is simply showing a man who wanted to ease his way through life and where that type of thinking has gotten him. If Willy had worked hard and done his best he would not have suffered the tragic end he endured.
Kerrane’s essay reflects on Arthur Miller’s message in Death of a Salesman, and in Columbian Pictures’ prologue, Career of a Salesman, in its effort to de-emphasize Miller‘s original message. Miller created Death of a Salesman, to show his materialist driven audience, that society is made of money and power, where the spirit of the common man is crashed and forgotten, “the only thing you’ve got in this world is what you can sell”, and the only thing that matters is business. While Career of a Salesman tries to disguise this message as something from the past.
The Loman family is the typical all-American family, with the nice cozy home, the hardworking husband, the loving wife, and the two handsome boys. The family is perfect from the outside, but Willy represents the flaw in this seemingly perfect dream. For Willy nothing is ever good enough; there is always something he lacks, and even when he could have been a happy carpenter, he wanted more; he wanted a beautiful young women, and to be successful, successful like David Singleman with his green velvet sleepers. By pursuing the American stereotype, Willy failed himself and his family, “he had the wrong dreams. All, all, wrong”. [Miller, 138]
The play was so truthful to the American audience that it became a huge success in 1949 when it was first released, “[the] audience is there almost about to smile but the tears are coming out of their eyes because they know that this is what they believe”, and sadly enough people identify themselves with poor Willy and his flawed dream. Seeing the success of the play, Columbia Pictures proposed to make a film of Death of a Salesmen; an idea which Miller found trilling because of its potential, “there are scenes constantly fading in and out of each other, and the whole play can practically be shot the way it was originally written”. The problem came when Columbia pictures made Career of a Salesman, a short prologue to introduce the film, in which they tried “to reassure the public that Willy Loman did not represent the ‘modern’ salesman and, by implication, that the story was not anti-American”. They had to reassure their audience that Willy Lomans were long extinct, and that “he was just the product of an era which is happily long since past”. They attributed Willy’s failure to his incompetence and lack of education. The film was to be shown as merely “the tragedy of a man who went into selling with the wrong ideas, a man who had been improperly trained by today’s standards”. But this of course contradicted Miller’s original message and Arthur threatened to sue the company, “I was being asked to concur that Death of a Salesman was morally meaningless”.
The fact that Columbia Pictures made such an effort and investment into trying to prove that Death of a Salesmen was meaningless today, only shows how meaningful it actually is. Columbia Pictures knew the relevance of the play, and knew that Miller is not barely talking about professionalism, but that he is also shading light into the lack of soul and value that society gives to people, “it suggested that American business more often than not were more interested in profits than people”. Willy symbolizes everyone who wants to appear flawless and perfect but that are indeed consumed by trying to pursue the dream that was given to them by society since the day they were born. Everyone can identify with this, everyone has once had a dream of "greatness" and while most of us abandon our unrealistic dreams, Willy blindly tried to constantly pursue his, until finally, the dream that he had never understood consumed him.
In Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman, honesty and maturity rise as predominant themes. These themes cause repetitive events in the constant struggle between one's dreams and reality. A postmodernist critique of Arthur Miller's play, the Death of a Salesman also describes how Miller utilizes realism and dreams to further cement his place as part of the postmodernism movement in American literature. Dramatists are often inspired by contemporary issues that are running a moment in their lives. In the plays Death of a Salesman and A Doll's House, the authors of both plays introduce current important issues of their days and their views on them to the audience by using various techniques. Is society responsible for the sacrifices an individual makes? Both F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel “The Great Gatsby” and Arthur Miller's play “Death of a Salesman” explore the notion of individual sacrifice in pursuit of the American Dream, which society created along with the means through which to pursue it. The protagonists in both stories gave the ultimate sacrifice in this pursuit. How much responsibility for this sacrifice should rest with society, and how much should rest with the individuals themselves.
Death of a Salesman is a true and intelligent criticism of the American Dream. Willy Loman's dreams are unattainable, thus pointing out that the American dream can be insurmountable for many people. The Loman's displays of dishonesty and immorality prove that the American Dream can often diminish any respectable values an individual may have. In Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman, Willy Loman's outrageous and narrow-minded beliefs and actions greatly affect those around him and ultimately lead to his own tragic downfall. Willy forcefully instills his values and views into his sons Happy and Biff.
Comparison of Volker Schlondorff's cinematic version of Death of a Salesman to the original play by Arthur Miller. In the play and movie, Willy Loman tries to live up to false or unrealistic ideals and impressing the consequences of those choices and ideals on those around him. Death of A Salesman, by Arthur Miller, is a play that tells the story of a traveling salesman, Willy Loman, who encounters frustration and failure as he reflects on and experiences his own life. Willy’s quest for the American Dream leads to his failure because throughout his life, he pursues the illusion of the American Dream and not the reality of it. His mindset on perfection, his obsession with success, and his constant reminiscence of the past and foretelling of the future, all contribute to his defeat in the end.
Willy Loman epitomizes American culture—past and present—because he pursues an unattainable dream: the American Dream. His very profession, the salesman, is an embodiment of the inevitability of failure that accompanies such a dream. It is because of this, that the play affected audiences so greatly, and consequently, why Columbia Pictures aimed to diminish the power of Loman’s story, Death of a Salesman, when the award-winning play was set to become a motion picture.
By constructing a prologue entitled, Career of a Salesman, which would air before every screening of the film, Columbia’s goal “was to reassure the public that Willy Loman did not represent the ‘modern’ salesman”. It was a blatant attempt to conceal from American citizens, the truest representation of themselves up until that point. They reduced Willy Loman to a lunatic, blaming his failure on a lack of training, “No wonder poor Willy was such a failure! He just didn’t have it—the background, the training, the preparation,” explains Robert A. Whitney, the president of National Sales Executives, in Career of a Salesman. The truth is, the generation from which Willy Loman was drawn was made up entirely of untrained employees. Men like Willy were not expected to be trained in their professions. Does that mean that the entire generation was made up of suicidal, delusional men and women? Willy Loman was not a lunatic and, despite Columbia’s attempts to convince the public otherwise, the Willy Lomans of the world are not extinct.
In an unstable, Cold War environment, Columbia Pictures took all measures in making Miller’s Death of a Salesman more palatable for the American public. Scriptwriter Stanley Roberts “‘had managed to chop off almost every climax of the play as though with a lawnmower,’” Miller noted. Entire scenes were omitted and the play’s original flare was being reduced to a morally meaningless pile of junk. Under direction, Frederick March, the actor who had been cast as Willy Loman, “incorporated gestures and pacing that suggested a pathological case study rather than a representation of social problems”. Columbia Pictures went so far as to propose Miller sign an anti-Communist declaration. According to producer Stanley Kramer, Death of a Salesman “implied that the American free-enterprise system was in some measure responsible for the tragedy of people like Willy Loman. It suggested that American business more often than not was more interested in profits than people”. In fact, that is exactly what Miller’s Death of a Salesman suggests. That is what made it such a success on Broadway, and that is why audiences were, and continue to be, so moved by the piece. Columbia’ attempts to make the film less controversial, and more acceptable for the politically-cautious American public, were essentially destroying Miller’s play. “And one reason Miller was so upset by the film’s portrayal of a ‘lunatic’ Willy was that it weakened the audience’s identification with him.”
Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman is easily one of the most accurate depictions of the defective American Dream. It has the ability, when it is not stifled or diminished by people such as those behind Career of a Salesman, to reveal to Americans, their own tragic flaws. The aim of Columbia Pictures to conceal this in today’s society seems silly, but serves as proof of the play’s moral power. Had it not a relevance in American culture, Columbia would not have gone so far in their attempts to alter the meaning of Death of a Salesman.
When Arthur Miller’s play Death of a Salesman hit Broadway on February 10, 1949, it was a rude awakening for the average American. The play that won the Tony Award for Best Play used the Loman family to portray the roles that exist within the modern family. The play showcased an important message, including Willy’s hamartia. When the movie for Death of a Salesman was to be released, Columbia pictures wanted to produce an accompanying picture called Career of a Salesman, however Arthur Miller was strongly against this production, even to the extent of threatening to sue. However by reading the transcript of Career of a Salesman one can see the implications it would have had if it had been released.
Death of a Salesman was quite a shock to the ordinary American or “Low-man”. Through the Loman family, they saw an ordinary family from an outsider’s perspective. This allowed them to see the problems that occurred, and the extent these problems can reach. Through Willy, they saw a man caught up in the American Dream, constantly looking for a shortcut and disregarding hard work. Willy is portrayed to be pathetic and thereby inspiring change in us, as one can see themselves as Willy. One can see the effects of hubris, as Willy rejects a job offer from Charley due to his hubris. Willy’s hubris prevents him from achieving many things, and recognizing who he is. In Linda, one can see a woman that rationalizes and excuses numerous problems. Linda is afraid of the truth, and does everything she can to excuse the obvious problems that exist within the family. Through Happy one can see a mirror image of Willy, and how, without growing up with a good father figure, one does not pick up good values. One can see this as both Happy and Willy are caught up in the American Dream, this may be due to the absence of a father figure in both of their childhoods. Lastly, Biff is the Loman that has a realization of what has happened to his family. Biff moves to the west, and finds out who he is. He realizes that the life of a salesman is not for him, and he also realizes the lies that surround his family, to excuse the problems that exist. Through this realization Biff transvaluates, sees the entirety of the problem, and sees that it is better to confront the problem, then to excuse it. Through the characters in the play Death of a Salesman, one can see many of the problems that occur in the American family. By analyzing the play, one is confronted by the harsh reality.
When Columbia Pictures decided to make Career of a Salesman, they completely disregarded the great value held by the characters. Similar to how Linda disregards Willy’s problem, Columbia pictures disregards the reality of the Loman family existing in real life 1951. This is the equivalent of taking the “Political Purpose” (Orwell, Why I Write) out of George Orwell’s novels. One can see this as the viewer is told “the Willy Lomans of this world are fast becoming extinct” (Career of a Salesman), the viewer is given a false assurance that this play cannot apply to them, and therefore tells them not to compare Willy Loman’s life to their own. Through viewing Death of a Salesman, one discovers much about themselves, but this cannot be achieved unless one compares it to their own life. The primary goal of the Career of a Salesman is to ensure the audience that they are not Willy Loman, which is ridiculous, as even to the present time there are people that are similar to Willy Loman. Career of a Salesman also changes the focus of Death of a Salesman from being about the psychological problems with Willy and his family, to being about Willy’s shortcomings in his career. Its goal is to keep the reputation of salesmen intact, even to the extent of saying “No young person today has a bigger opportunity than that offered by the profession of salesmanship”. In the end, Career of a Salesman encourages one not to compare themselves to Willy, changing the focus of Death of a Salesman, taking away some of the value that the play brings.
Despite these disadvantages, Career of a Salesman does have some advantages. If Career of a Salesman was shown prior to Death of a Salesman, it does give information that can help one understand the play better. Career of a Salesman does this by analyzing Willy’s problems, one can see this as they tell the viewer Willy’s faults, for example that one “can’t get by any better than Willy did without hard work.”, by doing this one notices things they might not have noticed otherwise. This is similar to how a play summary is sometimes shown before a play, by informing the audience what is going to happen, the audience now can notice things they would not have noticed otherwise and see the underlying motives that lead up to the climax. During 1951, America was not very liberal. This was due to the cold war with the communists, and the red scare. During this time Joseph McCarthy and other parliamentary leaders were very right wing, and as Stanley Kramer tells us, Death of a Salesman “implied that the American free-enterprise system was in some measure responsible for the tragedy of people like Willy Loman.”. Since Death of a Salesman implies this, Joseph McCarthy could make Arthur Miller look very anti-American and communist, and by doing this Mr. McCarthy could stop the release of Death of a Salesman, as stated in The Journal of American Culture, Career of a Salesman makes Death of a Salesman “less controversial” (282, The Journal of American Culture). An advantage of the release of Career of a Salesman is that it would have put an end to the protests against Death of a Salesman, as it justifies the “un-American” behaviour in the play, thereby leading to more ticket sales and more revenue for the film Death of a Salesman.
In conclusion, one can see that Career of a Salesman would have changed the film of Death of a Salesman significantly. One can see why Arthur Miller was against the production of Career of a Salesman, as it seems that it would have more of a negative impact on Death of a Salesman than a positive one. Arthur Millers decision to not include Career of a Salesman seems to be the correct one. One can see this as Northrop Frye tells one that one is presented with “the most vicious things to us as entertainment, but what it appeals to is not any pleasure in these things, but the exhilaration of standing apart from them and being able to see them for what they are because they aren't really happening.”(57, The Educated Imagination), however with Career of a Salesman one would not see the film of Death of a Salesman as it is, thereby not letting the experience reach its full potential. Wrapping up, it is quite interesting to see the enormous impact that Career of a Salesman had on the film Death of a Salesman.
Arthur Miller’s play Death of a Salesman became a success with it’s first appearance on Broadway in 1949. Those who attended the show where graced with the factual truths of what it was like to live the life of an American during that time period. Death of a Salesman became a hit in Broadway that astonished many. The connection made by the stunned audience was due to the relation that spectators could make to their own life. Though death of a salesman featured a mentally disturbed salesman who was oblivious to his true potential, Death of a Salesman truly captured the constant struggle one faces.
The successful Broadway play soon gave arise to the idea of a motion picture by Columbia Pictures. As any intellectual piece of literature may, Death of a Salesman struck a problem with the idea that many controversial issues would arise from the motion picture. The representation of Willy Loman being a unsuccessful salesman who is disowned by society, due to his journey for the American dream, became the first critique of the movie. This was due to the fact that Willy’s representation was of a non-average man who was destroyed by the American Dream. The characterization of Willy loman was thought up as a disloyal betrayal of America by Author Miller. The solution came as a short insert called Career of a Salesman that would be shown before the feature film. The insert would explain that Willy Loman did not represent something of the modern salesman but one of an extinct era. It would also prove to be a explanation that The Death of a Salesman was not based on an anti-American view. The insert contained Stanley Kramer‘s explanation that Willy belongs to a past era of Salesman who’s views on Sales come from one based on ‘Who you know’ rather than today’s ‘What you know’.
Career of a Salesman is used to contradict and state factual truths of what it truly takes to be a Salesman. Stanley Kramer explains that Willy Loman has come from a past era of Salesman ‘who used the credo of a smile and a shoeshine to be able to do business’, instead of hard work. He further describes the difference between Willy and the modern Salesman by stating “Salesmen are made, not born.” Schiff soon states, when referring to the modern salesman, ‘And he needs a lot more than personality. He needs a thorough
knowledge of his product, a real grasp of his customers’ needs, and a belief that he’s doing a service––a service––in bringing his product to his buyer.” When reading Death of a Salesman one may acquire that Willy’s methods are deep rooted in the thought that things should just come to you if you are well liked. Career of a Salesman is used to correct the understanding of Sales that Willy introduces by stating that success comes with knowledge and hard work. Willy Lomans beliefs are a controversial issue, therefore by inserting Career of a Salesman Columbia is clearing their name of such issues that may arise from the movie.
In Willie’s mind, the concept of success was never related with hard work in order to achieve greatness. Instead Willy based his believes on ‘who you know’ rather than ‘what you know’ and how hard you work. To Willy success is achieved through shortcuts, rather than hard work, this mentality brings Willy to his tragic downfall. In my opinion, Willy’s mentality is sure to bring anyone to their downfall. In my opinion success is only attainable through hard work that is repeated day in and day out. Career of a Salesman was not inserted to bastardize Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, but to clear up the fable that success comes with a shortcut.
In February, 1949, Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman took the stage in the biggest city in the world and touched the hearts and intrigued the minds of many Americans. Willy Loman, the salesman, is a man with a very unrealistic philosophy. He believes that there is one way to become successful, one moment in a person's life where they figure out "the secret" to success. This is what makes Willy a failure, because he does not realize that success is gained through hard work, and not some magical formula. This is a huge message that Miller wants to give his audience and he believes the motion picture of this play and the short prologue Career of a Salesman completely rendered it "morally meaningless".
In 1951, a successful producer named Stanley Kramer believed that Death of a Salesman had "commercial potential as a movie", so he decided to sign with Columbia Pictures and create a motion picture, with the Lomans reprising their stage roles. At first, Miller was optimistic about the film, but as productions developed, he became less and less impressed with the script, and more importantly, the new addition to the play, Career of a Salesman. He believed that "the movie was taking the sting out of the story – especially in reducing Willy Loman to a lunatic". Miller's opinion was that if Willy was crazy, he could not stand for anything. His hatred of Columbia Pictures grew when its executives showed him Career of a Salesman, stating "I was being asked to concur that Death of a Salesman was morally meaningless, a tale told by an idiot signifying nothing". The film's portrayal of a lunatic Willy takes away the pity and fear which the New York reviewers stressed upon in the original masterpiece. Obviously, Arthur Miller was not happy with this totally new adaptation.
During the time between the premiere of Death of a Salesman in 1949 and the release of the film in 1951, many different government-changing events were happening in other countries, such as the Communist government taking full control of China. In order to avoid any controversy, Career of a Salesman was to be shown before the actual film. The reason for this addition, Kramer recognized, was to avert a political threat. It also made Death of a Salesman less controversial, as it was attacked because it suggested that the American system was responsible for the tragedy of Willy Loman. There were major protests against not only Miller and his play, but also Kramer and Frederick March, the man who played Willy in Career of a Salesman. This prologue was used to illustrate how the tragedy of Willy Loman was due to his inexperience as a salesman with no professional background. Dr. J.S. Schiff, the technical director of Career of a Salesman, makes the point that "no salesman ever made a living selling to his friends. And he needs a lot more than personality. He needs a thorough knowledge of his product, a real grasp of his customers' needs". The purpose of this short subject is to assure the audience, more specifically the salesmen, that they are nothing like Willy Loman, and if they work hard, "no young person today has a bigger opportunity than that offered by the profession of salesmanship”. This concept can lead to another goal of Career of a Salesman, which is the intentional disconnection between Willy and everyone witnessing him fall apart. As Kramer states in one of his framing comments, "the Willy Lomans of this world are fast becoming extinct," which means that hardly anyone in this world today is like him. The reason for Willy's downfall is not the industry that took him in then shoved him out, but because he is insane. This is the very thing that annoyed Miller the most. Because of Career of a Salesman, no one would be able to relate to Willy and feel pity or fear, rendering the tragedy useless.
Arthur Miller eventually won the battle with Columbia Pictures, as they agreed to withdraw Career of a Salesman. Miller, as does any writer, believes that the message of a novel or play is the most important part of it. It is an exhilaration for the audience to stand apart from the work and appreciate what is going because it is not actually happening. If Arthur Miller had abandoned his principals as a playwright, the true message of Death of a Salesman would never be able to reach past the movie screen. As Kevin Kerrane concludes in his article, "Thus, Career of a Salesman now seems doubly obsolete, as a strained effort during the Cold War to defuse a political problem that no longer dominates discussion of the play [...] 'Never in show business history,' Miller concludes, 'has a studio spent so much good money to prove that its feature film was pointless'".
“Never in show business history, has a studio spent so much good money to prove that its feature film was pointless” (Miller, Echoes 276).
Career of a Salesman was a short film that Columbia Pictures commissioned in 1951. Columbia planned to have this short subject play to audiences before the feature film Death of a Salesman. The intent of this short subject was to reassure the American Legion and other conservative groups that the film was not anti-American. As well, Columbia hoped to reassure the public that the main character, Willy Loman, was not representative of the “modern” salesman. The public had mixed reactions to the film version of Death of a Salesman. The audience identified with Willy as the common man and his failure in the achieving the American dream, while businessmen thought he was a mentally unhinged fossil. This was one of the primary reasons Columbia Pictures wanted Career of a Salesman to be shown as an introduction before the main film. It wanted to break the link between Willy and the audience, so that it was not so much a critique of the American society. The feature tried to convey that being a salesman was a career, not a job! Furthermore, sales people required education and learned skills in order to be successful contributors to the American economy, rather than simply having contacts. Unfortunately, Arthur Miller was incensed by this short subject and proceeded to block its release. Miller was already unhappy with the film’s portrayal of Willy Loman as a “lunatic”, since this prevented Miller’s intended audience, your average Joe, from identifying with him. Career of a Salesman was the final straw. Eventually, Miller succeeded in forcing Columbia Pictures to withdraw the release of Career of a Salesman. The distinction between propaganda and art was at the heart of this conflict.
The timing of the release of the film Death of a Salesman had much to do with its failure to break even. Even though the stage version enjoyed a successful run, by the time the film was being produced, America was experiencing a negative backlash to the Cold War. The film was overshadowed by the political climate at that time. Society mainly held fast to a conservative outlook. Reminiscent of Orwell’s 1984, anyone who did not fall into this conservative mindset was deemed to be a Communist, rejected by society, and closely monitored. As well, Miller already had a reputation as a leftist. This was due to his previous play All My Sons, which was perceived to be “a Party line propaganda vehicle” (282). This new Cold War mentality overshadowed every aspect of society. Kerrane’s article highlighted a key comment by Miller when he was asked by Columbia studio executives to sign an anti-Communist declaration. “I declined to make any such statement, which frankly, I found demeaning; what right had any organisation to demand anyone’s pledge of loyalty? “ (Miller, Echoes 276).
Career of a Salesman was created to appease conservative groups. Its intent was to overhaul the outdated image of a salesman. Most specifically that being a salesman was no longer just a job, it had evolved into a career. Thus the focus of Career of a Salesman was to highlight that “the Willy Lomans of the world are fast becoming extinct” (286). That is not true as there will always be people who will not achieve “success”, even if they follow conventional wisdom. The title card indicated that Career of a Salesman was made with the cooperation of the Sales Training Unit of C.C.N.Y. Midtown Business Center and the National Sales Executives. It is evident that these two groups were at the helm. The main focus clearly revealed that Career of a Salesman was used to promote the changing climate of people making their living in the sales industry. Also, the sales force was of a younger and more educated demographic. In fact, both genders were “being trained by our colleges and universities in the selling profession” (286). Career of a Salesman effectively used the film Death of a Salesman as an example of what the sales industry was not. No longer was a “smile and a shoeshine” enough to guarantee success. In depth justification of the requirement for “a background of psychology, advertising, market research, and industrial production” (286) was pinpointed. The principal message was “Salesmen are made, not born” (286). The job of a salesman was reincarnated into a professional career! Career of a Salesman ends with Kramer stating “Death of a Salesman is a drama, a great human drama, applicable not only to Willy Loman but to any man – doctor, lawyer, merchant, chief. Willy Loman is definitely outmoded today, but his successor is the modern, progressive man and woman engaged in the business of selling.” (288)
The 1950’s mindset was definitely more conservative than in future years. This was highlighted in 1985 by the critical success of Dustin Hoffman’s Death of a Salesman film, which was quite popular. The success of this later version was due in part to a more relaxed and liberal mindset. Both genders were enjoying successful careers as salespersons. Therefore, not only had gender barriers been decimated, but education and a drive to succeed became critical. The American economy was also more stable. More importantly, the focus of the film shifted to the Loman family, and the awkward reconciliation between Willy and his son Biff. This shift in focus, allowed the audience to enjoy the artistic aspects of the film instead of the political issues of the past.
My mom goes to elementary schools and gives Junior Achievement presentations to grade 8 students, which stresses the importance of staying in school. Graduating students can identify with the emphasis on hard word and a good education in helping to achieve one’s goals in life. Good marks and higher education are essential to being successful in the business world. This is the core message of Career of a Salesman and the implications were far reaching. The short film’s intention was to highlight the difference between Willy Loman, an outdated stereotype, and the modern educated salesman. Towards the end, Schiff summarizes “that success in this field depends upon the new values of knowledge, of service, of forwarding not only oneself but also contributing to the growth of the nation’s economy; that selling is a professional field of endeavour; that nothing–nothing–happens in this great country of ours until something is sold (288). Perhaps instead of Career of a Salesman, the name should have been Evolution of a Salesman.
Arthur Miller vs. Columbia Pictures: The Strange Case of Career of a Salesman”
“Death of a Salesman” is a play written by Arthur Miller, and was made into a Broadway play in February 1949. In December 1951, it was then released into a film. Miller was not delighted with the movie; he had felt that the subject of the play was not apparent. Miller said, “That it was morally meaningless, and it is a tale told by an idiot signifying nothing”. The purpose of the introduction “Career of a Salesman” was to reassure the public that Willy Loman did not represent the “modern” salesman and that the story was not anti-American. Willy Loman’s character was misunderstood on many levels, one indicating that Willy was a maniac, which he wasn’t. The significance of the character Willy is that he thinks in order to be a successful salesman he must be well known, and of course liked. If he were to be liked, but not well liked then he would not be successful. Willy Lowman’s mentality is just absurd, he has such a different perspective on what it means to be successful and he also has no realization of himself and his best interests.
Before the film was released they finally decided to include a prologue so that Death of a salesman would be less controversial. Schiff was conducting a class at a Business center, and the class was called “principles of professional salesmanship”. Schiff tells the class that, “a salesman needs a lot more than personality. He needs a thorough knowledge of his product, a real grasp of his customer’s needs, and a belief that he’s doing a service”. Willy clearly does not have the outstanding qualities which is apparent throughout the play, or film of Death of a Salesman. “Willy Lowman was being fired from a job. No one can fire you from a profession”. This is quite significant, it defines how un- educated and weak Willy was. Unfortunately Miller was disappointed with the perspectives of the public after the film was released, “The film’s portrayal of a ‘lunatic’ Willy was, it then weakened the audience’s identification with him.”
Another perspective of Willy’s character could be that he tries to be something he is not, and that he cannot come to terms with himself. Willy cannot accept reality, and tends to fight it by making lies about his sons. Both Willy and his wife Linda cannot accept reality. The play Death of Salesman has really made an impact on my life. It is something that I can greatly relate to, by always aiming high for my dream. Willy’s dream of course is the American dream, but mine I feel is achievable with hard work and the right education. That was Willy’s flaw, he didn’t work hard to be a salesman, he felt as if he could be like Singleman who went into his bedroom and called people to buy his product. This is someone who Willy had admired because he felt that being a salesman was easy, and that anyone can do it.
The importance of “Career of a Salesman” was the hard work that was required.
You cannot be a teacher if you do not enjoy being around kids, or if you don’t have the patience. You cannot be a doctor if you are not educated to know what to do. It is always important to find out what attribute you have and how they can benefit yourself and the people around you. Kerrane had discussed several implications that had come up between Arthur Miller and Columbia Pictures. I believe that the story should never die, and the significance of the novel should never be taken away, because when the lesson learnt is gone then Willy’s character would not be as meaningful as he is portrayed. Death of Salesman is a remarkable play, and it is important that the significance of the play is apparent to the public.
Arthur Miller wrote the play Death of a Salesman to provide society with the understanding that tradgedy is common in every man, it is the penalty for wanting to understand where, who and what you are. In his essay Tradgedy and the Common Man, he states: “No tradgedy can therefore come about when its author fears to question absolutely everything, when he regards only institution, habit, or custom as being either everlasting, immutable, or inevitable.” In saying this, Miller means that when the author stops questioning everything it is the end of transvaluation. To the common man the American Dream is a right, without realizing the sacrifices and implications they must undergo to acquire it. Miller believes that the American Dream is fake, and therefore impossible for the common man to achieve. And he wants you to question everything. In his essay he also states that in the tragic plays we watch, “lies the belief - optimism, if you will - in the perfectibility of man.” But no man can be perfect. This idea should not deter you from trying to reach perfection, the path is more important then the achievement.
In the article, Arthur Miller vs. Columbia Pictures: The Strange Case of Career of a Salesman by Kevin Kerrane, he writes about the implements and controversy during the filming of Millers play, Death of a Salesman. He discusses Millers arguments with Columbia Pictures idea of putting a prologue titled, Career of a Salesman, in before his play. According to Miller, Career of a Salesman was controversial to the film itself, and therefore, it would deliver no meaning to those who watched it. “I was being asked to concur that Death of a Salesman was morally meaningless, a tale told by an idiot signifying nothing.”
Miller’s portrayal of Willy Loman is that of an old, tired and worn out salesman who is terrible at his job. Willy’s tragic flaw is that he does not realize where his real talents lie and he only sees success in being a salesman. He idolizes Dave Singleman, a man who was very successful in this trade. He sees this occupation as the only way to achieve the American Dream. Willy has grown up believing that the true American Dream is having a perfect, wealthy, happy, powerful and successful life and family. He does not realize that not everyone can achieve this state, he does not know the sacrifices he would have to make in order to get there. Miller is trying to convey a message to the audience, that everyone is Willy Loman. We are all trying to achieve the perfect American Dream while knowing that this perfection can never be attained. Columbia Pictures took the play for face value, not understanding the ideals that Miller was trying to convey to the audience. They believed that Willy was just an uneducated old salesman without any background on how to actually sell. The purpose of creating Career of a Salesman was to explain that all Willy Loman believed he needed to be able to sell was “a smile and a shoeshine” but there is more to being a salesman then that. The profession requires knowledge, background and hard work; everything Willy didn’t have. “No wonder poor Willy was such a failure! He just didn’t have it-the background, the training, the preparation.” They believed the play would put a bad name to the people in the sales industry and they had to make sure that the play didn’t deter the people from that important role in the economy. “young people who are going to make more than just a job of salesmanship, youngsters who will carve out a career of service in a profession that keeps the wheels of commerce and industry turning in our great American economic machine.”
Columbia Pictures uses Career of a Salesman as propaganda towards the field of merchandise. Explaining that the country cannot move forward without material items being sold. “In the film Death of a Salesman, the star and the producer dramatize the very things that we are trying to teach you here at City College about salesmanship- that success is this field depends upon the new values of knowledge, of service, of forwarding not only oneself but also contributing to the growth of the nation’s economy; that selling is a professional field of endeavour; that nothing-nothing- happens in this great country of ours until something is sold.” This contradicts Millers idea of the play which is to show that Willy is so caught up on materialistic things, the need for money, success in being a salesman and achieving the American Dream that it is what causes his downfall.
Miller was outraged by the way Columbia Pictures handled the filming of his play Death of a Salesman. The whole purpose of the play was to convey Miller’s message to an audience, but in doing so they cut out many of the most important climax’s, making the whole purpose of the play meaningless. They also destroyed the relationship that Miller wanted the audience to have with Willy Loman. “In effect, the movie was taking the sting out of the story-especially, Miller believed, in reducing Willy Loman to a lunatic.” For them to create Career of a Salesman on top of that made Miller furious. Columbia Pictures reason for creating Career of a Salesman was to, “avert a political threat: a warning to Columbia that movie theatres showing Death of a Salesman would be picketed by the American Legion and other conservative groups due to Millers reputation as a leftist.” The producer of the film, Stanley Kramer saw the threat that the film played. He believed it was being attacked because it “implied that the American free-enterprise system was in some measure responsible for the tradgedy of people like Willy Loman. It suggested that American business more often than not was more interested in profits than people, tending to throw marginal or older employees on the scrap heap.” This was not the message that Miller was trying to get across, but it was the reason for Columbia Pictures to create the short film. Miller fought the company against inserting this prologue and won.
Death of a Salesman, written by Arthur Miller, is a beautiful, powerful, yet tragic play about a deluded man trying to tackle and confront the reality of his own dismal, monotonous life. Though evoking and emotional, the play is rather pessimistic – about the “American Dream” – , and perhaps too oppressive to the general public, so much so, that when a movie was to be made, the uncomfortable, depressing content had to be diluted to appease the comfort and happy-ending seeking audience. This is when the Career of a Salesman was conceived, which was supposed to be a prologue to the movie that explained that the Death of a Salesman no longer applies to today's society.
The whole concept and ideology for the production of Career of a Salesman is, both, laughable and sad simultaneously.
The ongoing cold war, during which The Death of a Salesman was written and the movie was being produced, was certainly a major contributor to the conception of Career of a Salesman. "Career of a Salesman is a mere footnote, but it is also a fascinating piece of flotsam from the 1950s showing how filmmakers tried to make Miller's work more palatable during the Cold War." Some people – mostly those of right-wing supporters – saw The death of a salesman as communist propaganda because it attacked American ideals, societal structure, and the true, though perverse, nature of US economy and business. This play, they feared, would prompt a communist revolution in America, which, at that time in history, was seen as the most terrible catastrophe-the 'then-axis-of-evil' so to speak. Apart from making the Career of a Salesman, the distributor, Columbia pictures, also made Willy, the main protagonist in the play, into a mentally deranged lunatic so that he could not stand as a commentary against any American standard, never mind an ideal. The movie would just be an odd little tail about a man who lost his mind. "The studio needed to soften the story's social commentary to accommodate a new Cold War mentality [...] In this political atmosphere, Columbia wanted to reassure audiences that Death of a Salesman was not an attack on the system."
Any change, even if for the betterment of American people, was not even conceived, as it would be an open declaration and acknowledgment that there may be faults in the country's current system-a concept though to be very un-American.
However there was another, equally, if not more important reason for the making of Career of a Salesman: Fear. When people saw or read the play they saw a reflection of themselves, their current lives, their ideals, beliefs, and families—their pursuit of the all-American Dream and chase after the American Dollar. And this reflection was likely to trigger not only trepidation, apprehension, and anxiety, but also remorse. "I was ironically stating all the things that they always take seriously. A man can get anywhere in this country on the basis of being liked. Now this is serious advice, and that audience is sitting there almost about to smile but the tears are coming out of their eyes because they know that this is what they believe. This man is obviously going down the chute and he's telling them exactly what they believe." The play offered a startling reality-face, a 'slap', where the audience would realize the lies they had built their lives around and faulty foundations of the "all American Dream". People realized they were not living fulfilling lives, or had enjoyable gratifying jobs. They saw the tragic effect that a 'life of a salesman' had on the average American individual. Everyone would, in theory, connect with Willy and his family's situation—see a little bit of themselves in Willy's pathetic life. Many people were terrified of this exposed reality about themselves, and instead of dealing with their own issues, they decided to escape and ignore their conflicts, but instead attack the play in an attempt to destroy it. Generally, people do not appreciate reminders of how imperfect and deceitful their lives are, and become even more resentful when their deceptions are exposed. As a result, the play was viewed as 'an inconvenient truth', feared and likely to be avoided. However the audience, in attempt to avoid publicly acknowledging their societal shortfalls and explicitly expressing their fear, turned their angst against the play by raising it as a political issue in hopes of shutting it, and the potential movie, down. Thus, the element of fear of self identification, discovering who you are, and the realization of the sad reality of your life, was a major reason for the public outcry against this play and the attempt to soften it through Career of a Salesman.
Having said that, the purpose of "Career of a Salesman" is two-fold. Firstly, by talking at length about the sale and business world, the play gave an impression that the message pertained mostly to the salesmen and business persons, and perhaps not to all of society. As Kramer says "For Willy belonged to the lost tribe of drummers, who used the credo of a smile and a shoeshine to be able to do business. Certainly today this is far from enough, for the National Sales Executives tell us that there are over three and one-half million people making their living at the business of selling in this country today." This was done in order to reassure everyone that this play did not necessarily apply to them. However, Miller used Willy as a metaphor for people of any profession and social status. Willy stands for all people who live their life in misery and lie, in pursuit of an American dream, in a consumer geared society. Willy was a warning beacon that people should avoid. He was Miller's interpretation of an archetype for American society in general, and that is why his character and his struggle are so powerful. The "Career of a Salesman" was a direct and purposeful bastardization of this theme and value of "The death of a salesman" in order to make it more acceptable and palatable for the people. Secondly, and more importantly, "Career of a Salesman" drew attention away from the real issue that "The Death of a Salesman" dealt with, falsely making it seem that the "Willy species" is extinct, and not applicable to today's man. The element of fear was at play here again. Using several examples from the play, Robert R. Whitney says, "No wonder poor Willy was such a failure! He just didn't have it––the background, the training, the preparation. He was the product of an era which happily is long since past." His conclusions were wrong, but his commentaries were correct. The fact is that that is exactly why Miller wrote a play. He wanted to tell society that this idea of going into a job one does not like because one perceive it as either easy, or to gain prestige or make more money, without proper qualifications is wrong. This concept, however, is certainly not outdated as it is the "American Dream". This is what people in America strive for their whole lives. Willy embodies a chase of false ideals with often unattainable goals, which eventually destroys him. To extend Miller's ideas even further, and by pass Willy's lack of formal qualifications, the whole point was to do something in your life that you are meant for and are good at doing. Willy was obviously never meant to be a salesman, his personality was not made for the job. Everyone has their own special qualities and abilities, which should be capitalized on. Therefore this concept, as well as the concept of Willy will never be outdated. Career of a Salesman was borne, as Miller says, "to make Death of a Salesman as outdated and pointless," and "as morally meaningless, a tale told by an idiot."
In conclusion, creation of the "Career of a Salesman" and the dilution of Willy's character are proof of the great societal implications that Death of a Salesman has. This whole preface to Death of a Salesman is a result of the studio not wanting to offend anyone by making a true version of the play. The characters and the plot are so powerful and so relevant in then, and even now in our current society, to the point that they became uncomfortable to watch and relate to, thus they were a target for ridicule and despise. The Career of a Salesman also showed that the right of free speech is not as immutable as was thought to be, and one still has to watch what one says and how one says it, or else one will be censored and his or her works will be subjected to alteration and diminution, as was the case with Miller's "Death of a Salesman". The play hit Americans too deeply, and it took more than 30 years since its publishing for this play to finally be accepted, forcing people to deal with reality. Sadly, if this play were published today, we would likely fight against just as vividly as was done in the 1950's, even without the cold war as an excuse. Movies like Fast Food Nation and the documentaries of Michael Moore or Al Gore, did not hit the big screen cinemas, but rather were shunned to small independent theatres, and home TV video sets. Social commentaries like these and the "Death of a Salesman" are still too relevant to us, and we are still a weak society, unable, but more unfortunately, unwilling to face unpleasant truths.
Arthur Miller’s play “The Death of a Salesman” was popular play in 1949 and left an impression in that era. This impression is due to the realization that anyone can become a Willy Loman, “[…] Miller’s play as a masterpiece stressed the element of pity by describing Willy Loman as an Everyman.”(Kerrane,284).Even though Willy is a salesman, his job and his flaws are similar enough that most people can relate to him. When analyzing the criteria essential for a salesman it is crucial for a person to have necessary knowledge, the work ethic and to establish a balance between personality and ones work.
When reading Arthur Millers play “The Death of a Salesman” it is unclear as to what product Willy the salesman sells. Even though the importance is not as to what Willy sells but the idea that his job is a salesman. This lack of information provides yet another proof that Willy is not a good salesman. “ He needs a thorough knowledge of his product, a real grasp of his customers’ needs, […]” (Kerrane,287). In order to be a good salesman that person must understand the product enough to persuade clients into purchasing this item. In the skit for "The Career of a Salesman" they try to explain that to be a talented salesman they must take it upon themselves to be educated on the product. The character Willy in Miller’s play does not appear to have taken the time to understand the product and does not seem to have the knowledge to excel in his job. Education is of immense importance to excel in any career, “Today the axiom holds: “Salesman are made, not born”.(Kerrane, 286). This meaning that though there is a certain talent that a person has they must work at it to enhance this talent. Now it is more prevalent that a person needs a knowledge of the job techniques before entering one. Several career choices require an apprenticeship, college or University type of education before being able to apply to a job. Essentially everyone needs a foundation, which is the basic knowledge of their career and from there on they can build on towards a career.
Once a person has enough knowledge to follow their career choice it does not necessarily mean that the hard work is over. "The Career of a Salesman" script encapsulates that in any career there is room to grow to a higher level and that it requires constant work, “[…] youngsters who will carve out a career of service in a profession that keeps the wheels of commerce and industry turning.“ (Kerrane, 286). A good worker causes a chain effect out of their hard work by helping the company they work for. By evaluating ones self to see where they can improve and to do so, allows a prospect for greater opportunities. The problem with Willy the salesman in the play is that he simply ignores his flaws, therefore leaving no room for improvement. No one can be perfect enough to have no need to enhance themselves. When people avoid their own flaws they are essentially trying to take a short cut in life. People are similar to Willy in the sense that sometimes they are blinded by the end goal that they dismiss the hard work that is required, “No young person today has a bigger opportunity than that is offered by the profession of salesmanship, but he can’t get by any better than Willy did without hard work.”(Kerrane, 287). Hard work applies to everyone since all careers require hard work to excel in it. There is no short cuts in life, everyone must work hard to make it far. The pity people feel for Willy is due to the audience having the false idea that there can be a short cut to attain the greatest success, when there is not.
Hard work is essentially the most important to succeed but in a career of sales, the biggest misconception is that personality is above all importance. As children everyone has been told their personality will shine, showing how special they are. In the working world this does not necessarily apply to work due a persons work being what shines not their personality. When reading an article or watching a movie, a person judges the work rather then their persona. “’It is not what you do, but who you know,’ Willy said. What a tragic misconception.”(Kerrane,288) , in "The Career of a Salesman" script it emphasizes the common misconception of a salesmen career. In any job there has to be great work ethic or they will not be useful, despite how great of a personality they have. It is crucial to be a great worker and having a great character is simply a bonus. Having enthusiasm in ones work is great to a certain extent as Fuller warns people, “Enthusiasm is the driving force behind any human enterprise.[…] it can become a force of evil unless handled with intelligence.”(Fuller, 79). Fuller describes a need to be able to balance the two, to succeed instead of being held back by ones enthusiasm. A great example from Arthur Millers play is when Biff gets caught up with the idea of going to the University of Virginia since he has already received a scholarship. Rather then doing his work to insure that he can go to the University, he gets too caught up in the excitement and does not try. Biff let the excitement take over instead of following it with work and fails math. At one time or another, everyone has gotten caught up in excitement that they end up more disappointed in the end. Procrastination is a perfect example of when people put other excitements before the tasks that they need to complete. A loveable personality is important for the social aspect of life but in the working world it is not as significant as ones own work.
When reading Arthur Millers play “The Death of a Salesman” the flaws of Willy are illustrated in a vivid way that allows the audience to see where he went wrong. While in "The Career of a Salesman" script it put emphasis on the flaws found within people and what is necessary to be successful salesman. What is necessary to be a salesman is necessary for all types of careers. By using both Arthur Millers play and Columbia Pictures script people can recognize their flaws and prevent them by following the core necessities of any career. The requirements for a career as a salesman is to attain knowledge for that career, to work at their skills, and to realize the fine line between work and personality. These requirements are essential for all types of careers and will help a person to become successful.
In 1950’s America the country was experiencing a post-war economic boom. The biggest aspect of the American dream was to make money and be wealthy. At the same time that they are experiencing this post-war economic boom, they are also paranoid about the communist way of life - so anybody who didn’t appear to be trying to obtain the American dream was suspected of being a communist or anti-American. In Arthur Millers Death of a Salesman he is trying to show that the American dream was not something that everyone could attain. Some people viewed this as being an anti-American statement and pressure was brought to Columbia Pictures because of that view.
First released on Broadway in 1949, Death of a Salesman was a success, although even at that time business people criticized it as “a cautionary tale about ‘enthusiasm’ without governing intelligence” (Fuller Brush Company). In 1951 prior to the release of the film version of Death of a Salesman, pressure was put on the film studio to show a short film ‘Career of a Salesman’ before showing the film. The purpose of this short film was to “reassure the public that Willy Loman did not represent the ‘modern’ salesman and by implication that the story was not anti-American.” (Kevin Kerrane) This 10 minute film appeared to be a commercial glorifying the sales profession. It took away the meaning from Death of a Salesman, making it seem that every point that Miller was trying to make was untrue. The focus of the play/movie was not to bastardize salesmen - it was about a man trying to attain the American dream by being a salesman when really he was not cut out for that job. They took the fact that he was a salesman and used to it to revolve it around the sales world and advertise a career in sales. “The Willy Loman’s of this world are fast becoming extinct; For Willy belonged to the lost tribe of drummers, who used the credo of a smile and a shoeshine to be able to do business. Certainly today this is far from enough, for the National Sales Executives tell us that there are over three and one-half million people making their living at the business of selling in this country today.” (Stanley Kramer) It is ironic that they are trying to sell the salesmen as someone who can attain the American dream when in reality it is just showing how trapped their profession is in the pursuit of the American dream. “Death of a Salesman is a drama, a great human drama applicable to not only Willy Loman but to any man – doctor, lawyer, merchant, chief. I think that Willy Loman is definitely outmoded today, but his successor is the modern progressive man and woman engaged in the business of selling.” (Stanley Kramer) In reality Willy Loman could have been a shallow individual working in any profession but the fact that he was a salesman caused the insecurities of the sales world to come out, which forced the production of Career of a Salesman. The screenplay used some high powered speakers to try and promote the professionalism of a salesperson including Stanley Kramer the producer of the film, Doctor Jack Schiff the Technical Director, and Robert A Whitney the president of the National Sales Executives; each of them working hard to promote the education, training, and values of a salesperson. Although this short film was never viewed by the public, the fact that this was even considered is an insult to Arthur Miller and the ideas that were embodied in his play Death of a Salesman.
Would Columbia Pictures been wrong to produce Career of Salesman? I believe that for them to allow an organization to pressure them into creating a ‘commercial’ on their behalf shows a type of censorship that shouldn’t exist in publishing, music, or film. The conservative pressures of the day caused the creation of Career of a Salesmen but the resolve of Arthur Miller resulted in it never being shown.
The reason Arthur Miller wrote his play “The Death of a Salesman” is to show its audience how ludicrous the American Dream is. However, the script “Career of a Salesman” totally disregards the notion. It shows instead that the fault lies in Willy, who is actually the epitome of everyone who lives his or her whole lives trying to achieve such a dream. As Miller says, “the tears are coming out of their eyes because they knows that this is what they believe in.” So in placing the fault in Willy, it allows the ‘everyman’ to believe that there is an ‘easy way’ – albeit a different one than that of Willy’s – and this article proves that.
Kramer believes that the “American free-enterprise system was in some measure responsible for the tragedy of people like Willy Loman.” But how is that any different than Schiff telling his students that a salesman “needs a thorough knowledge of his product”? In the competitive business of selling, only half the salespersons will gain the customers. This leaves the others with no business, but a thorough knowledge of their product. It will eventually lead back to the Willy Loman thinking of: there must be a shortcut.
Another underlying message from Arthur Miller is that one must do what he is best at and he will enjoy it. Such is the case of Biff Loman. This goes against Kramer’s statement: “Salesmen are made, not born.” Biff id not made to be good at farming; he is just naturally good at it. In the same way, even if Willy went to a business program at CCNY’s Business Center, he would not be able to achieve what Dave Singleman has because he is not a salesman.
Another point the article makes is that the generation of the American Dream is the thing of the past, that men and women today are more realistic. Whitney even says that Willy is the “product of an era which is happily long since past,” a statement which is very much untrue. To observe the world today, one will notice that this world is filled with Willy Lomans. There are shortcuts that people attempt to apply in daily life; shortcuts that Willy himself would definitely partake in.
Prime examples of this are the infomercials shown daily on television. They are the ones that focus on ‘healthier, sexier bodies’: the modern version of ‘The Dream’. So before Kramer claims that the “Willy Lomans of this world are fast becoming extinct,” he should look around and see how many people spend countless time on their bodies and ask himself: are they really?
There is a flaw to the point that “Career of a Salesman” tries to make. In criticizing Willy, they do not acknowledge the existence of the American Dream. By rendering “Death of a Salesman” meaningless, then they imply that the business world really is “cut and dried” by saying that “It’s what a doctor knows […] that makes for success.” However, this is not the case for many professions, otherwise journalism would not be so competitive.
It does not matter how large the words “Training for Business” are or how enthusiastic the students look going into their business class. The American Dream is a common goal for everyone, one that they will ultimately never achieve. In some ways, it is a form of propaganda, a method used to drive people into keeping the Western Civilization running. That is why it is unnecessary to deem “Death of a Salesman” meaningless because it captures the innermost feelings of the ‘everyman’, not just the salesman. And, as Kramer says, “it is applicable to any man – doctor, lawyer, merchant, chief.”
Arthur Millers’, Death of a Salesman, was seen as a very controversial movie when it was adapted from the screenplay in 1951. Although Millers’ screenplay was very successful, when he first released Death of a Salesman there were many concerns that viewers would get the wrong idea about the movie and would lose the message that Miller was trying to send with the movie and the play. When the play was released, it was mostly successful because of the connection the audience could make with Willy Lowman and his chase of the American Dream, but when being adapted to the big screen, directors and producers started to worry viewers would get the wrong ideas and decided to make a transcript called The Career of a Salesman.
In the transcript The Career of a Salesman, one point the director of it, Dr. Jack S. Schiff, is trying to make clear is that Willy Lowman was not successful because he did not have proper training and because that is not how you become successful in a profession. When becoming a film made my Columbia Pictures, the y wanted to ensure Americans that this was not the life Salesman lived. The President of National Sales Executives goes on to say that “Being well liked and having a fine appearance is important in selling today, but there’s a greater opportunity for each of you if you will continue your training … “, trying to get the point that Willy Lowman had no background in sales; he had no training what so ever and did not know what it truly meant to be Salesman. As you read the play, you often see Willy saying that he always thought if you were well-liked you could be successful, and what Schiff is trying to say is that, not only do you need to be well-liked but also put in some hard work. Willy also thinks if you have the right connections, you can become a successful salesman. The Career of a Salesman was trying to tell Americans that you need so sort of training and knowledge of what you are selling to become successful and that Willys philosophy is wrong. The Career of a Salesman was trying to avoid some issues that may become controversial when watching to movie but in doing so, took away from the movie.
Arthur Miller was not a fan of The Career of a Salesman because he felt it was taking away from the true meaning of the play. He felt by having it that it took away what he was trying to get across with Willy and him trying to achieve the American Dream. Part of the reason the original play was so successful was because the audience could relate to it. When Schiff decided to have the transcript before the movie, it was so clarify to the audience that what Willy Lowman believes is not what it takes to become successful, but Miller gives Willy those characteristics because it is part of his downfall and part of what makes him so relatable. In Career of a Salesman they explain that to be successful in any career you need to have some knowledge and background of what you are doing. Miller was not trying to imply that you don’t have to have knowledge of something to be successful, but instead the opposite. And in doing so, he gives Americans something they can relate to. He gives them the opportunity to see that perhaps the idea they have of success and a good occupation is wrong, which could inspire them to change their ways.
Arthur Millers’ Death of a Salesman is a play that many Americans can relate to. They can often see themselves as Willy Lowman, trying his hardest to achieve the Dream but are incapable of doing so. Miller is teaching Americans that the Dream is not what you need to be successful in life, but what you do need is hard work. The Career of a Salesman was clarifying to Americans what was meant by Death of a Salesman but Miller found it to be an unnecessary part for the movie, and that it was just taking away from the true meaning behind the movie.
Arthur Miller’s “ Death of a Salesman” portrays what it was like to be a salesman in the 1940’s. It was made into a Broadway play in 1949, and due to its high praises it was made into a movie in 1951.The movie was produced by Columbia Pictures, and they decided to put a short clip in before the movie called “ Career of a Salesman”. That short clip was to show what it meant to be salesman in that time, and that Willy Loman is nothing like an actual salesman.
Miller was very upset with how the movie was done and especially with that clip that would be showed before the movie. Miller says that the characters ‘‘all sounded like Willy Loman with a diploma, fat with their success.” That does not portray who Willy Loman really is. Willy Loman was a man trying to achieve the American dream, but failed to do so. Nothing was ever good enough for Willy, but he believed that there was a trick to achieving the American dream, when all it is, is hard work. Any business cares more about making money then their employees. Kramer states that “It suggested that American business more often than not was more interested in profits than people, tending to throw marginal or older employees on the scrap heap.” In Death of a Salesman Willy is fired from his job, he was not making money anymore, and was no longer useful to the company.
In Career of a Salesman it describes what it mean to be a salesman and explains why Willy was not a salesman. It was put into the film, actually before the film to explain that the American system is not to blame for what happened to Willy, because then it would be a shot at the American system which would cause controversy( which it did). In Career of a Salesman it stated that to be a salesman you need to have training, background and preparation, and that Willy had none of those things because he was from an era that no longer existed. Columbia Pictures tried to make it seem as if Willy was a lunatic, but he was actually just a man trying to achieve a dream. It is false to say that there are no Willy Loman’s walking around society today. Many people are chasing dreams, and many people don’t succeed, and yes many people also attempt suicide as a way out. Jack Shiff states that a salesman ‘‘needs a lot more than personality. He needs a thorough knowledge of his product, a real grasp of his customers’ needs, and a belief that he’s doing a service—a service—in bringing his product to his buyer. Willy Loman was being fired from a job. No one can fire you from a profession.’’ In Willy’s mind the key to being a good salesman is who you know and to be well liked by other people.
The key to success in the 1940’d and 50’s is the same as it is today. The key to achieving your goal is hard work and not giving up. People need to realize the difference between reality and illusion. If you do not achieve your dream the only person you can truly blame is yourself. Everyone controls their own fate. Unfortunately for Willy Loman and the ones just like him, they couldn’t distinguish between reality and illusion and were not able to achieve the American dream, but it is no one else’s fault but their own. For those who are seeking the dream, the key, or better yet “ the secret” as Willy Loman would say is hard work.
The implications of the screenplay Career of a Salesman are two fold. First of all, it undermines the message in Arthur Miller’s play Death of a Salesman by suggesting that it cannot be viewed on its own merit and needs to be put into context before an audience can view it, which is an insult to the intelligence of the audience. Secondly, given the political and economic conditions of the time, it is an attempt to soften the social commentary of the story and downplay the negative perception of the career of a salesman by promoting the importance of the intelligent salesman to the American economy and way of life.
When Arthur Miller’s play Death of a Salesman opened on Broadway in February 1949, it was seen as a very powerful play that many people to this day can relate their lives to. As people watched Willy Loman chase after the American dream and saw the effects of what happened to him when he didn’t achieve the dream, it appeared that this play was an assault on the American system that employed Willy for many years and then put him out on the curb. When the movie was released by Columbia Pictures in 1951, it was viewed as ‘leftie’ and as ‘Commie propaganda’. Without the ten-minute prologue Career of a Salesman, audiences were left with Miller’s intended effect, which was to experience and relate to the struggle and failure of Willy Lowman. This is pointed out in Kevin Kerrane’s essay, “Arthur Miller vs. Columbian Pictures: The Strange Case of Career of a Salesman,” when he refers to playwright John Guare’s experience when he saw the movie Death of a Salesman with his father. Guare’s father, was so moved by the movie, that he opened up to him about a ‘guilty secret’ he had which was that he was a salesman once and it didn’t work out for him either. Miller’s intended theme of the ‘American shame of failure’ was evident in Guare’s father’s response since he revealed this secret as if he were confessing a sin. In an effort to restore the importance of the salesman from a business perspective, the president of the Fuller Brush Company responded to the play Death of a Salesman by defending the salesman as a modern professional by writing a critique in Fortune magazine referring to the salesman as “the real hero of American society.” If the screenplay Career of a Salesman was played before the movie and the play, it may not have had the same moving effect on Guare’s father, and the president of the Fuller Bruch Company may not have felt the need to critique it, since the screenplay would have covered his concerns.
As a result of the political and economic setting in the United States at the time the film Death of a Salesmen was being made, Career of a Salesman was seen as a necessary preamble to soften social commentary of the story and to downplay the negative perception of the career of a salesman. The political setting between the play’s premiere in February 1949 and the film’s release in December 1951, included the explosion of the first atomic bomb by the Soviets, Communism taking over China, and the beginning of the Korean War. Columbia Pictures decided something was needed to divert the audiences’ attention away from the story’s social commentary which was that “it implied that the American free-enterprise system was in some measure responsible for the tragedy of people like Willy Loman. It suggested that American business more often than not was more interested in profits than people, tending to throw marginal or older emplyees on the scrap heap, p.282.” The screenplay, Career of a Salesman, promotes the importance of a career in sales by educating the audience on the difference between Miller’s character Willy Lowman, who lacks intelligence, therefore making a sales career look hopeless, while impressing upon them the importance of the intelligent salesman to the American economy and way of life. This is illustrated in the screenplay when Stanley Kramer tells the audience that “Willy belonged to the lost tribe of drummers, who used the credo of a smile and a shoeshine to be able to do business, p. 286.” He then goes on to reinforce to the audience that a career in sales is important for the American economy by saying, “young people who are going to make more than just a job of salesmanship, youngsters who will carve out a career of service in a profession that keeps the wheels of commerce and industry turning in our great American economic machine. They’ll have a lot more than a smile and a shoeshine, p. 286.” Through this excerpt, the screenplay is implying that what happened to Willy Lowman could not possibly happen to the salesman of today because, unlike Willy, they know you need more than a smile and a shoeshine. It is almost as if Columbia pictures thought that without the screenplay, no one would want to pursue a career in sales and society would suffer, both economically and politically.
In reading Kerraine’s essay, it is clear that the screenplay Career of a Salesman, implies that the American public is not capable of viewing the film Death of a Salesman and dealing with the tragedy of Willy Loman without being reassured that the American way of life is economically and politically in tact. One can understand why Miller was against Career of a Salesman as a preamble to his Death of a Salesman, as it takes away from his intended meaning of the story, which is for the audience to empathize with Willy’s inability to live the American dream.
Every salesman’s wish is to become successful and to try to obtain the American Dream. In the attempt to release Death of a Salesman, Columbia Pictures was threatened to be sued by Miller. As the film was about to be released Miller started to complain about the short screening of Career of a Salesman because of the portrayal of Willy Loman as a “Modern’ Salesman.”
The release of the movie caused many implications and had offended Miller in many ways. It was said that “Today, this odd artifact looks like a parody, and Miller characterized it as such at the time. To him the speakers in the film all sounded like Willy Loman with a diploma, fat with their success”. The movie clearly did not represent the protagonist within Miller’s play. Being the author of Death of a Salesman Miller had characterized and envisioned Willy’s character in a certain way, therefore when screenwriters had recreated the author Miller saw it as flat. “Stanley Roberts had managed to chop off almost every climax for the play as through with a lawnmower” To Miller his play was clearly not being portrayed correctly. Miller’s disapproval of the rewrite and portrayal of the play first begins with the actual character of Willy.
Willy Loman is the main character in the play with many unique characteristics can be very difficult to portray. Miller created the character in a specific way to depict the everyday “salesman”. Therefore Miller was quite disappointed on the film’s portrayal of this character. As mentioned earlier, Willy’s character was seen as flat and “Miller was upset the film’s portrayal of a “lunatic” as well. Willy also believes that anyone can be successful as long as they are liked but he dies not knowing that. In the Career of a Salesman Schiff explains that a salesman “needs a lot more then personality” and “he needs a through knowledge of his product, a real grasp of customers’ needs and a belief that he’s doing a service-a service- in brining his product to his buyer.” In the feature film it shows the truth about a salesman and not just the dream that Willy wants. People today must be “enrolled in courses in selling”, “they receive a background of psychology, advertising, merchandising, market, research, and industrial production. Today the axiom hold: Salesmen are made, not born”. To become a high-quality salesman the person must work hard and obtain skills because being liked is only a small part of being of the profession.
Another issue that arose from the making of the film was the political and economic disability surrounding the play ad society in general. “Miller wanted the studio to soften the story’s social commentary to accommodate a new Cold War mentality”, and during this time there was many political issues including the soviets exploding their first atomic bomb. Therefore following the premiere of the film and Miller’s past work on all my sons; there was a warning to Columbia that movie theatres showing Death of a Salesman would be picketed by the America Legion and other conservative groups. This then caused many controversies. Even before the premiere miller was also asked by Columbia to sign an anti- Communist declaration but he refused. This soon led to more problems when Conservative groups continued to make threats, “not to defend America Salesman but to attack prominent liberals”. Even after all this, with the protests and damage with five Oscar nominations, Death of a Salesman was unable to break even.
People can only live in the dream world for so little time. In the works of the film many problems occurred from it, Miller was never satisfied with the way that the character was portrayed especially the Willy Loman. The way his character was displayed did not satisfy the Schiff, Kramer, Whitney and the environment that it was directed in. The career of a salesman is difficult to obtain unless the character is living within reality and that is if they have the skills and knowledge to sell a product and not just the personality.
Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller premiered on Broadway on February 10, 1949 at the Morosco Theatre, where it ran for an astonishing 742 performances. In Death of a Salesman, the Loman family is used to portray the modern family and the true problems that the everyday family has to face and deal with. Along with the problems and flaws that exist within the everyday home. Death of a salesman is a tragedy and what further emphasizes this is, the tragic hero, “Willy Loman” is the everyday man or a low man, hence the name Willy “Low man”. The audiences were able to relate easily to the play and often found themselves in tears, touched emotionally and intrigued by what they saw. Willy Loman is a man who is much narrowed in his thinking and in his philosophy of finding success. He thinks there is some secret to success and generally he always thinks there is some quick fix or solution to any problem. In his character you can see Willy is a man who likes to take shortcuts and is unable to realize that there are no shortcuts in life, and that the path to success is hard work. As the saying goes “you reap what you sew”. This is a common trait to many but yet it is the decisive flaw that leads to Willy’s downfall.
Within a few months of it’s opening on Broadway, Death of a Salesman received its first critique from a business perspective. Fuller praised the modern salesman as “the hero of modern society,” and argued that Miller’s protagonist lacked such stature: “Willy is essentially a self-deluded man who has lost the power to distinguish between reality and the obsessions that come to dominate his life.” Fuller ultimately saw Death of a Salesman as a cautionary tale about “enthusiasm” without governing intelligence. Fullers analysis, two years later would be echoed in Stanley Kramer’s framing for Career of a Salesman. Stanley Kramer believed that Death of a Salesman had "commercial potential as a movie", so in 1951 he decided to sign with Columbia Pictures and create a motion picture, with the Lomans reprising their stage roles. At first, Miller was optimistic about the film, but the first sign of trouble appeared when Miller read the screen play and found it flat. Script writer Stanley Roberts had managed to cut out every climax of the play. From then on everything went downhill and Miller would become less and less impressed with the script.
Carrer of a Salesman was essentially a ten minute prologue that would show before Death of a Salesman in order to avoid any controversy. The reason for it was to avert a political threat. It made Death of a Salesman less vulnerable to attacks. As Death of a Salesman saw attacks because it suggested that the American system was responsible for the tragedy of Willy Loman. However this is not what Miller was suggesting at all and Miller was furious when he was notified about the prologue. To Miller this was an insult, the speakers in the film, “all sounded like Willy Loman with a diploma, fat with their success.”
Career of a Salesman was literary a bastardisation of Death of a Salesman. It was a lie and went against everything Death of a Salesman stood for. Death of a Salesman was so great because it was able to depict the real problems in the world, and Career of a Salesman was pretty much against showing the truth and was made to make everything look great and magnificent. It took all the struggle out of life.
Miller then got even more upset with the way they portrayed Willy Loman. They portrayed him as a lunatic, when really he was the everyman. This suggested that Willy was just a case study rather than a representation of social problems and conflicts. This representation of Willy as a lunatic demolished everything that was real and devoured all meaning from the play.
To Conclude Career of a Salesman would have ruined the story, the meaning and message in Death of a Salesman. Thankfully Career of a Salesman was withdrawn and was never aired. In Death of a Salesman Willy’s downfall is that of an ordinary man (a "low man"). His flaw comes down to a lack of self-knowledge. He is obsessed with the question of greatness, and his downfall arises directly from his misperception of himself as someone capable of greatness. Or perhaps he loses conscious in what is his true skill which has lots of potential, and lives a life of shortcuts in which brings him into a world of illusion where he is a great successful salesman. Evidently enough this is Willy’s tragic downfall and Willy Loman is engulfed by failure because he is narrow minded and is unable to see his downfalls that the audience does. However this is what makes Death of a Salesman such a magnificent play, the fact that the audience can view his flaws, mistakes, and downfalls while he stays oblivious and unknowing to what he has done wrong in his life. The audience is then able to feel a close connection to the play; finding it is easy to relate to. Also the audience can often learn a lot about themselves and are able to become more aware, in not repeating the same mistakes as Willy. To conclude this is such a tragic book because Willy Loman is the everyday man and was engulfed by failure in the form of the American Dream; the dream that everyone chases, and wants. However the significance of Death of a Salesman and the message behind it is, “don’t let the dream control you.”
Death of a salesman by Arthur Miller is arguably one of the best written modern tragedies known to man. First appearing on Broadway Cinema in 1949, it broke the barriers of modern cinema while shocking the audiences and critics. Miller won several awards for his work but his most successful accomplishment was the fact that Death of a salesman ran for a consecutive 2 years on Broadway. The genius of Miller also managed to gain attention of film producers, one of whom was Stanley Kramer, a Hollywood producer who agreed to give Miller a deal consisting of “$100 000 and a small percentage of the film’s profits” (Arthur Miller vs. Columbia Pictures, Kerrane). The controversy sparked when Miller was asked to agree to let the producers make a few changes to the script and release a 10 minute prologue, titled “Career of a salesman”, which would contain a contradicting message. “Career of a Salesman” contained the belief that Willy Loman, the protagonist of Death of a salesman, was one of the people who chased a false dream and that his profession as a salesman would have nothing to do with salesmanship, as an actual profession. This enraged Miller as his beliefs contradicted this idea completely, leading to a train of events that eventually had a significant impact on the sales.
Death of a Salesman was a revolutionary play. It gave a new meaning to a modern tragic hero and proved Miller’s idea, as found in “Tragedy and the common man”, that tragedy doesn’t necessarily take place in royal or majestic situations, but it happens in every single household of a common man. After two years on Broadway, many thought that it would make a good production film, but this was not the case due to rising tension between the two superpowers of the world, the United States and Soviet Union. After the Second World War, the occupation of a salesman was looked at with respect and provided a good amount of income for families, but this was not the case for many. People like Willy Loman, from Death of a salesman, did not achieve this status through this occupation because the American Dream is not achievable. Miller believed that no matter how hard a man would try; the American dream would be un-obtainable and it would leave families damaged. Similarly the profession of salesmanship also promised too much which would not be achievable by a common man. This was the belief that Columbia pictures disagreed on due to pressure from many conservative organizations and also “National Sales Executives”, an organization dedicated strictly to salesmen.
“Career of a Salesman”, the 10-minute video before “Death of a salesman”, was an attempt by the production staff, to make the film less controversial and also to polish the very promising profession of salesmanship. This attempt was later abolished by Arthur Miller himself as he believed that it attacked the actual purpose of the play which is to tell the audience that chasing the American dream is like playing with fire and that the society one lives in, chews you like a fruit and throws you away after like a peel, but many took this the wrong way. Many thought that it was a direct attack by Miller to those who chose to be salesmen or that he was a communist who disliked the American society, but it was simply an attempt to save the society from heading down a path which would not be profitable in any way. This idea can be explained by Northrop Frye’s theory in “The Educated Imagination”, which is simply that an author writes a text with a vision in his mind to build a better world out of what he has, and what he envisions is the world he wants to live in. in the case of Miller, it was simply a world where people would stop chasing the so called American dream.
The aftermath of this crises resulted in many people protesting against the showcasing of the film, many of which literally blocked theatres, and many avoiding the film itself. Although the film could not even break even, it did manage to touch the hearts of people who watched the movie, including the playwright John Guare who, at the age of fourteen, watched the movie with his puzzled father who seemed to dislike the movie but ironically confessed of his unsuccessful career as a salesman, “After the movie, Guare’s father characterized it as ‘‘the usual Commie propaganda,’’ and yet he was sufficiently moved to share a guilty secret with his son: that he was once a salesman himself, and that ‘It hadn’t worked out.’”(Arthur Miller vs. Columbia Pictures, Kerrane). Arthur Miller’s genius in film production would be revived 25 years later when the cold war tension would settle, and this time the movie would end up being one of the best films of the decade. A similar event which this incident can be related to is that of the propaganda one is fed every day. People like Bill O’ Reilly have a reputation for being insulting to public figures and also accusing them of events which they might not be responsible for. The other day I had the opportunity to watch Michael Moore, the man who exposed George Bush’s propaganda on 9/11, on the Bill O’ Reilly show on FOX. This was an extraordinary experience as I witnessed Michael Moore being accused of many things that he is not even responsible for, which may even be many of the misconceptions of our society. This is similar to what happened to Arthur Miller as he was accused of being a communist by many people who fail to look past the misconceptions.
To conclude, it is evident from looking at the affair of the Columbia pictures clash with Arthur Miller, that people may have many misconceptions which can have drastic affects on the society we reside in. although Willy Loman may have been thought by many to be an attack on the American society by Miller, he is simply a description of what the American dream does to one. Many also thought that miller might have been a communist who did not like the democratic system that the American society dwelled upon; on the contrary, Miller was simply a man who wanted a better world for the common man.
The Implications and Effects of Career of a Salesman
In February 1949, Arthur Miller’s award-winning tragedy, Death of a Salesman, premiered on Broadway. The play’s tragic hero, Willy Loman, is a product of society who lacks self-knowledge and is encouraged by his wife and son to continue living in an illusionary state. Willy’s Harmartia is his belief that he is best suited for a salesman career, after witnessing Dave Singleman’s success at over eighty years old. He overlooks his potential in carpentry, a task which he enjoys completing. His notion of success, which is achieving the American Dream, is as unreachable as it is dangerous. This ignorance and pride is what leads him to his downfall. Audiences were intimately connected to Willy’s tragic story because they understood the implications of living in a materialist, postwar, American society. Individuals could also relate to Willy’s attempt at “securing his rightful place in his world," (Miller, 1949). Nevertheless, transforming the acclaimed Broadway play into a Hollywood film became a personal and political battle between Arthur Miller, Columbia Pictures and the American Public.
In 1949, Stanley Kramer saw Death of a Salesman in New York. He was intrigued by its commercial potential as a feature film and decided to purchase the rights “from Miller for $100,000 and a small percentage of the film’s profits,” (Kramer, 1997, p.79-80). This was to be Kramer’s first project working with Columbia Pictures, after being signed by Harry Cohn in March of 1951. The weakening of the play’s integrity began when Lee J. Cobb was disregarded for the role of Willy, despite his outstanding performance on Broadway. This was due to the fact that he was not yet an acclaimed Hollywood star.
From then on, the problems escalated and eventually Miller confronted scriptwriter Stanley Roberts regarding the deletion of an essential scene. The reasoning behind the discarded scene was moronic, and heightened Miller’s impatience. As the production continued, Miller observed that Willy’s character was being portrayed as a lunatic. He gathered that if the studio represented Willy as mentally unstable, “he could hardly stand as a comment on anything,” (Miller, Timebends, p.238) therefore his story would not be tragic, but unfortunate. Willy needs to be a sane, everyday man in order to connect with the viewers and achieve pathos. As the film’s director Benedek claimed, “the playing of Willy Loman had to have the quality of representing, thorough the tragedy of this one man, everybody in the vast audience,” (Kerrane, 2004, p.283). One way the audience may connect with Willy is his “intent upon claiming his whole due as a personality,” (Miller, 1949). It is widely known that hard work and “success in sale will be rewarded with promotion to the managerial hierarchy,” (Kerrane, 2004, p. 283). However in Willy’s case, after thirty years of dedication to his firm, he is downgraded. To Willy, this backpedaling is of no concern, which is another indication that he does not understand the implications of the business world. From this, the audience will generate pity and contempt for Willy.
The next complication Miller encountered was a threat against Colombia pictures from the American Legion and supporting conservative groups. Their attacks were toward the supposedly red-slanted producer, leading actor, and writer, Arthur Miller. In reaction to these threats, Columbia Pictures issued a short, entitled Career of a Salesman, to be played before every screening of the feature film. In addition to this parody, Columbia had the indecency to request that Miller “sign an anti-Communist declaration, but he refused,” (Kerrane, 2004, p.282). Miller would not have his work or reputation belittled, regardless of the trying times in which the film was being created, or the threats against the studio.
The studio took little action to sway Miller into changing his response and instead focused on creating Career of a Salesman. The purpose of the short “was to reassure the public that Willy Loman did not represent the “modern” salesman and [….] that the story was not anti-American,” (Kerrane, 2004, p.280). The short included an analysis of the feature film from a business perspective, by director Dr. Jack S. Schiff and Robert A. Whitney, president of National Sales Executives.
The set-up of the ten-minute prologue included obvious cue-card reading, dense accusation against Willy’s character, and a definition of what a modern salesman is. Stanley Kramer starts by praising the Broadway play, but slowly transitions into an attack against Willy. His claim that the “Willy Loman’s of this world are fast becoming extinct,” (Kerrane, 2004, p.286) overlooks the fact that Willy is an idea, and can therefore cannot become extinct. He is the notion of a misguided soul being driven by the American Dream, manifested in one man, or as described by the New York reviewers, “the Everyman”, (Kerrane, 2004, p.284). Kramer then established that being a salesman requires hard work and knowing your product. He asserts that “salesmen are made, not born,” (Kerrane, 2004, p.286). This is an agreeable, yet elementary concept. Nonetheless, this attempt to make the film less controversial warranted an expense amounting to “at least twice what [Miller] had been paid for the film rights to his play,” (Miller, Timebends, p.316). In the end, the prologue was discarded and the film was unsuccessful. Nevertheless, the story is accepted as a classic tragedy and is still applicable to the common man.
Although the Death of a Salesman production caused some controversy, its integrity endured and it remains one of the key tragedies studied in post-secondary administrations. The 1985 made-for-television version of Death of a Salesman was widely successful. It’s performance of “the reconciliation between Willy and Biff […] provided a powerful emotional climax,” (Shewey, 1985, p.23) for its twenty million viewers. It was later used in the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration in an exercise which “explored family dynamics and […] the human problems that employees bring to the workplace,” (Collins, 1985, p.1) Death of a Salesman is a classic tragedy that is applicable to every family in any era. Willy is a tragic hero, driven by the American Dream; he is the Everyman.
Works Cited
Collins, Glen. "Future M.B.A.s Learn Value of a Home Life." New York Time 16 Oct. 1985: C1.
Kerrane, Kevin. "Arthur Miller vs. Columbia Pictures: The Strange Case of Career of a Salesman," 2004. Retrieved online on 18 Jan. 2009
Kramer, Stanley, with Thomas M. Coffey. A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World: A Life in Hollywood. New York: Harcourt, 1997.
Miller, Arthur. "Tragedy and the Common Man," 1949. Retrieved online on 18 Jan. 2009
Miller, Arthur. "Timebends: A Life." New York: Grove, 1987.
Shewey, Don. "T.V's Custom-Tailored 'Salesman.'" New York Times. 15 Sept. 1985.
Upon surmising the totality of civilization and human nature, Friedrich Nietzsche once stated that, “Life itself is essential assimilation, injury, violation of the foreign and the weak, suppression, hardness, the forcing of one's own forms upon something else, ingestion, and - at least in its mildest form – exploitation” (http://www.mith.demon.co.uk/POSTMOD.html). Arthur Miller attempted to communicate this precise aspect of the American Dream within Death of a Salesman, an innovative exploration of modern tragedy that has evolved into a classic of American theatre. Much controversy has surrounded the 1951 film adaptation of this dramatic production, with particular reference to the prologue titled Career of a Salesman. This relatively brief disclaimer for the film’s content was directed during a period of global turmoil, where the economic systems of capitalism and communism competed alongside the political ideologies of the US and Soviet Union. Conservative America had argued that the prologue was entirely necessary, an essential component of the film that prevented a slandering campaign against the sales profession and American economic system. Those in favour of rejecting Career of a Salesman, among whom Arthur Miller himself was included, contended that the prologue would irrevocably alter the protagonist’s emotional connection with the audience- and therefore undermine the significance of the play. It is through this effect that Career of a Salesman conceals the unfavourable consequences of the American Dream- a pursuit of success at the cost of one’s humanity.
During the international tumult of the cold war, a period where political allegiances were clearly defined and US nationalism was strictly enforced, corporate and government officials believed it necessary to stifle any negative connotations surrounding capitalist America. Under this instruction, Stanley Kramer conducted the prologue to Miller's play through asserting that, “Willy Loman is definitely outmoded today, but his successor is the modern, progressive man and woman engaged in the business of selling” (http://sites.google.com/site/mrliconti/eng4u/eng4u-files). The idea that Willy Loman is merely a remnant of an earlier economic period implies that Death of a Salesman is no longer relevant in modern society. It is precisely this misguided interpretation that drew criticism from Arthur Miller, who passionately advocated against the production of the prologue. Miller’s predicament arose from the belief that Columbia Pictures had devalued the underlying significance of the play- what was once a cautionary tale warning of mass consumerism and the American dream had been censored by a nation under Communist threat. As a consequence of this inclusion, Willy is exposed as a relic and victim of utter foolishness, an isolated example of “what not to do” that effectively disassociates the audience from the intended focus of the play. This portrayal results in the inevitable destruction of Willy Loman’s humanity- a protagonist whom Miller had attempted to resonate with the audience- the “Low-man”, the “everyman”- is reduced to a, “product of an era which happily is long since past” (http://sites.google.com/site/mrliconti/eng4u/eng4u-files).
It is important to acknowledge, however, that the arguments presented in Career of a Salesman are not entirely without merit. Robert A. Whitney, for instance, comments upon Willy’s perception of success through stating, “‘A man can end with diamonds on the basis of being well liked.’ No wonder poor Willy was such a failure! He just didn’t have it––the background, the training, the preparation” (http://sites.google.com/site/mrliconti/eng4u/eng4u-files). The professor’s analysis of the protagonist provides one with valuable insight into the foundation of a profitable business career. Through exploring the underlying contributions to Willy Loman’s subsequent demise, Whitney encourages prospective business students to abandon a, “credo of a smile and a shoeshine to be able to do business”, and assume a, “thorough knowledge of the product, a real grasp of [the] customers needs, and a belief that [one is] doing a service-a service-in bringing [the] product to [the] buyer” (http://sites.google.com/site/mrliconti/eng4u/eng4u-files).
I recently inquired as to the exact nature of Willy Loman’s mental deterioration- suggesting, perhaps, that the protagonist succumbed to the progressive outbursts and hallucinations of senility. At this time I did not comprehend the implications of this claim, nor the reaction I received from faculty and peers. It is only now- while composing this discussion- that I find irony in mimicking the very position held by Columbia Pictures and conservative America during the cold war. Through reducing Willy’s gradual demise to a purely physiological event, one denies the detrimental influence of the American dream on contemporary society. To lay blame entirely on Willy himself, to allege that the whole of Willy’s predicament stems from an “outmoded and unrealistic philosophy”, is to reject the very principles upon which Miller’s play was composed. It is through this realization that I now see Willy Loman as Arthur Miller intended- a facet of humanity, who within his nativity and misplaced ambition, fell victim to the allure of the American Dream.
While presenting the film’s prologue, Kramer describes Death of a Salesman as, “... a drama, a great human drama, applicable not only to Willy Loman but to any man––doctor, lawyer, merchant, chief” (http://sites.google.com/site/mrliconti/eng4u/eng4u-files). Though Arthur Miller had publically criticized Career of a Salesman for devaluing the significance of the play, there exists a modicum of accuracy in its conclusions. The “American Dream” thrives within all professions- a temptation to those ambitious- or naive- enough to embark on its pursuit. One must therefore recognize the implications of the dream’s attempt- particularly, one’s potential for both considerable success, and substantial failure.
Works Cited
Kerrane, Kevin. (2004). Arthur Miller vs. Columbia Pictures: The Strange Case of Career of a Salesman. Retrieved January, 18, 2009, from http://sites.google.com/site/mrliconti/eng4u/eng4u-files.
Moore, John S. (1996). Nietzsche and the Postmodernists. Retrieved January, 18, 2009, from http://www.mith.demon.co.uk/POSTMOD.html.
We all have hopes and dreams we set at a young age but end up changing frequently due to the fact that what we believe we want is sometimes different from what we initially thought it was all about. This was not the case for Willy Loman in Arthur Miller’s play, Death of a Salesman. Although a very controversial play due to the depiction of the “everyman’s” everlasting passion to live the American Dream, audiences were able to set aside the somewhat negative aspect of the play and start to relate to the many different characters they met.
The trouble with making a movie out of this script was the fact that it would eventually become something worldwide that everyone knew about, and many were scared that this would give America a bad reputation about their lifestyle. That is why Stanley Kramer, the film producer, came up with the idea to create the short film, Career of a Salesman. Its purpose would be to show that the poor life that Willy Loman had was not common for all salesmen of America and would help reassure the viewers that becoming a salesman would not lead to such a hard life.
The only obstacle in the way of producing and viewing this short film before the actual movie was Arthur Miller. Just as any author would be, he was very excited to start producing the film and be able to see what he wrote be on screen instead of always acted out. It was when the media got carried away and started to influence the production of the movie and proposed Career of a Salesman, that Arthur Miller became upset. He started to see that the once simple plan of producing his award winning play would not be as easy as he thought it would be. He was even asked to sign a declaration stating he was not an anti-Communist, which anyone would agree that this was a little over the top just for a movie to be made.
Personally, I feel that it is very unfortunate that society at the time interpreted Willy Loman’s character so negatively instead of trying to apply it to their everyday lives. The fact that the whole controversy was formed about salesmen leaves me simply dumbfounded because I find it shocking that the viewers didn’t realize that this lifestyle could come with this type of occupation. The sad reality of the play was that Willy’s tragic flaw was his overload of ambition that blinded him from the fact that he may not be made to be a salesman. This aspect can still be applied to individuals today. For example, today there are many aspiring students who choose to become a teacher because they love children, which is an important part of the career, but some don’t have to ability to teach. Willy was the exact same. He knew he wanted to be a salesman and thought he could do it because he had the personality, but he didn’t have the necessity of being able to do fast math or even sell a product.
The story of Willy Loman affects me so strongly because I find myself begging Willy throughout the play to just realize that he is not fit for the life of a salesman. What I now realize is that what made me love Willy throughout all his blindness to how he was ruining his family’s life too was his constant effort. I understand after reading the article I have come to the conclusion that in a way, I am very similar to Willy in the sense that when it comes to the school soccer team and me, all I have is heart and enthusiasm. For the past three years, I have been fighting to prove myself to the coach and it truly has affected my family and friends because they have been the ones who had to see me upset every year when I was not successful in making the team. Why haven’t I made the team? Simply because I have always been a step behind the better players, just as Willy was behind the big-time salesman like Dave Singleman.
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