"Arthur Miller: American Witness"

 Arthur Miller wrote "Death of a Salesman" in a kind of dream-state; the play seemed to spill out of him. This was *not* a product of years and years of toil.

Charley's famous speech is an analysis of Willy's career. A salesman doesn't have a practical skill--a salesman is really selling himself. In a superficial world, appearance and youth have great weight. There can be a moment when the world decides it no longer wants you; you become invisible. (This seemed to happen to a neighbor of mine--who could no longer afford the house she grew up in. She was falling behind with her taxes; the town chose to drum her out of her home, and she attempted suicide. It's still strange to me that there was no other "solution" to the problem.)

Oddly, Charley's speech seems to be about Arthur Miller himself. After the Marilyn Monroe fiasco, Miller lost his standing in American culture. "The Crucible" and "A View From the Bridge" found some American admirers, but "After the Fall," "The Price," and "Broken Glass" were dismissed by American critics.

To his credit, Miller just kept writing. One of his children--Rebecca Miller--also became a major voice in U.S. literature.

Nobody dast blame this man. You don’t understand. Willy was a salesman. And for a salesman, there is no rock bottom to the life. He don’t put a bolt to a nut, he don’t tell you the law or give you medicine. He’s a man way out there in the blue, riding on a smile and a shoeshine. And when they start not smiling back—that’s an earthquake. And then you get spots on your hat, and you’re finished. Nobody dast blame this man. A salesman is got to dream, boy. It comes with the territory.