While both men were undeniably titans of their age, Miller would always retain a ‘blue collar’ mentality that Rockwell could only attempt to approximate. Rockwell was born in New York in the 1890s, and had enjoyed the roaring twenties as a beloved young painter rather than the son of a struggling immigrant. Unlike Norman Rockwell, the brilliant painter who captured the cozy atmosphere that many look back to when reflecting on the early 20th century, Miller didn’t see the ‘American dream’ through rose-tinted glasses. “From that, I think I contracted the idea that we’re very deeply immersed in the political and economic life of the country and of the world.”
As he stated in HBO’s “Arthur Miller: Writer” documentary, “I felt terrible pity for him.” Arthur found that a person’s humanity was linked to their ability to maintain a livelihood, and he learned how a lack of opportunity can crush a person’s relationships and sense of self-worth. His father never learned to write and derived much of his worth from his skill as a businessman. This would profoundly impact the playwright’s vision of the world. Playwright Lynn Nottage describes how this impacted Arthur: “Miller witnessed, first hand, the erosion of the American dream.” Growing up in the midst of the Great Depression, Miller watched his father, a Jewish immigrant from modern-day Poland, struggle to keep his family afloat while preserving his own basic dignity. There is no better play to convey this truth than 1949’s “Death of a Salesman.” In the midst of a public crisis driving many Americans into financial insecurity, it is worth reflecting on the powerful message that “Salesman” brought to the stage in the late 40s that reverberates to the present.Īrthur Miller was born in Harlem in 1915. The beauty of theater is both exceedingly illusive and profoundly lasting.
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