USA TODAY:… A suddenly jobless Willy must also confront the reality that, despite his lofty expectations, his adult sons, ex-high school football hero Biff and younger brother Happy, are also finding it difficult to gain a foothold in the tight job market and build successful careers. Biff is unemployed, confused and sees little future for himself. “I don’t know what the future is. I get the feeling that I am not getting anywhere,” he admits to his brother. Happy is stuck in a dead-end clerk’s job.
Miller’s portrait of economic insecurity in postwar America more than 60 years ago is eerily similar to the economic angst now being felt coast-to-coast today in the U.S. after the Great Recession. The play’s themes of dashed dreams, economic inequality and the brutally competitive capitalist system that creates a society of haves and have-nots are no doubt the No. 1 topic of conversation today in middle-class living rooms across the country.
If Willy Loman were alive today, he would be one of the “99%,” a modern-day middle-class working man wondering if it’s still possible to get ahead. Willy would probably be protesting across the land, picket sign in hand, clamoring for a bigger piece of the economic pie, a better job, a fatter paycheck and a fairer shot at realizing the American Dream… (more)
EDITOR: In its day, “Death of a Salesman” was about a man who lived on the margin of making a living and was subject to the loneliness and frustrations of his occupation. Today Willy and his family, rather than being an exception, sadly represents the problems of a significant portion of the population.
