An Interview with Arthur Miller

 

by Vicky Oldham, August 11, 2021

An interview with one of the 20th century's most celebrated playwrights, Arthur Miller, is conceived with a feeling of anticipation and the privilege to learn more about him. Since he passed away in 2005, the ongoing stream of discussion surrounding Miller's iconic play, Death of a Salesman (1949), as well as scores of articles, past interviews, and essays, provide a virtual time machine for extended inquiry of his impressions and beliefs.  Questions concerning Miller's views on human nature, especially those posed by the actions of his play's protagonist, Willy Loman, loom ambiguously, beckoning us to understand his reasoning and motivation with greater depth. Each effort to explore Miller's thoughts reveals interesting new perspectives.  Although the play premiered in 1949, the issues it raises continue their relevance across times and cultures.

The Interview

Oldham:  Before I ask you about Willy and his views on life's meaning, I want to begin with Willy's wife, Linda, a character who appears to support Willy despite his decline.  Linda seems out of place in today's world, and I'm not sure if she's entirely likable because at first, she appears weak and superficial, enabling Willy's delusional state.  With the changing role of women since Death of a Salesman premiered in 1949, do you think today's audiences can relate to Linda sympathetically, or do they regard her character more negatively?

Miller:  Of course, Linda represents a woman of her era, but she's not that different from people today who find themselves in a similar situation. She's doing whatever she can within her power to keep her dysfunctional family from completely going off the rails.  That's the meaning of life to Linda—it's all about her role as a wife and mother.  She deals with two problematic sons and a husband who can no longer cope and contemplates suicide.  Linda's commitment to her family is the only glue still holding it all together.  She always considers Willy's fragile mental state before her own needs, and that's why she sharply admonishes her sons while revealing the truth about their father's decline and suicidal thinking.  There's no doubt that Linda knows the gravity of the situation (Miller & McMullan, 1998).

Oldham:  But what would Linda do if she learned about Willy's affair? Do you think she would be as understanding if Biff revealed the truth about Willy's infidelity?

Miller:  That's an interesting question and one that creates a certain tension the audience shares too.  You never know if or when that bomb is going to drop.  It also presents a question of morality that each member of the audience may react to differently.  Do we feel sympathy toward Willy and identify with his mistakes, or do we respond with indignation?  Whatever the reaction, Willy's unfaithfulness to Linda causes Biff's rejection of his father and further complicates his family's instability.

Oldham:  In your play, despite Linda's efforts, Willy tragically commits suicide at the end.  Did you see Willy's suicide as the result of a rational conclusion, in that he could find no other way out of impending personal and financial doom?  Or, is it because he has become even more delusional and further imagines that his death will give his life more meaning? Does Willy really convince himself that large crowds will attend his funeral, or is his motivation for suicide a simple nuts-and-bolts idea that his life insurance policy could provide Linda with the money to pay the bills?

Miller:  Actually, I think it's a little of both. Willy has been thinking about suicide for a long time, as evidenced by the hose in the basement, so we know his eventual suicide is not impulsive.  He vacillates between lucidity, realizing that his life is not going well, and delusion: the over-optimistic rationalization he relied on in the past.  It turns out that his false optimism was a defense mechanism, but its overuse for such a long time has built up unbearable stress.  Such a state of cognitive dissonance with no relief in sight caused Willy great pain, but he's incapable of adapting (Buckley, 2015).  Despite all his ramblings, deep down, he knows the truth.

Oldham:  Did you intend Death of a Salesman to be a modern tragedy? I discovered an article you wrote in 1949, around the time your play first premiered, on the subject of tragedy. You said, "I believe that the common man is as apt a subject for tragedy in its highest sense as kings were" (Miller, 1949, para. 2).  Then you brilliantly make sense of this idea showing how it is not the protagonist but rather an outside force that causes his untimely demise.  You write:

Now, if it is true that tragedy is the consequence of a man's total compulsion to evaluate himself justly, his destruction in the attempt posits a wrong or an evil in his environment. And this is precisely the morality of tragedy and its lesson. The discovery of the moral law, which is what the enlightenment of tragedy consists of, is not the discovery of some abstract or metaphysical quantity.  (Miller, 1949, para. 10)

So, in this context, would you agree that Willy Loman is a victim of his changing cultural and social setting, and his foray into fantasy and delusion is a reaction to incomprehensible pressures that accompanied it?

Miller:  Yes, he tries to cope in the only way he knows how.  In effect, his delusional state of mind and eventual suicide develops from "his inherent unwillingness to remain passive in the face of what he conceives to be a challenge to his dignity" (para. 6).

Oldham:  You also say that optimism results from tragedy.  In today's mode of thinking, tragedy equates with sadness and pessimism.  How is optimism possible?

Miller:  I know it's confusing, but that's because the present culture believes that everything is within and psychologically based.  But the message inherent in great tragedy raises human potential with the idea that we can prevail against forces beyond our control.  In my article, I explain it like this: "If the tragic hero is intent upon claiming his whole due as a personality, and if this struggle must be total and without reservation, then it automatically demonstrates the indestructible will of man to achieve his humanity."  There is a possibility of victory, not just to kings, but to the "heart and spirit of the average man" (para. 20 & 24).

Oldham:  That is a very optimistic viewpoint, and it makes sense within the framework of the entire story—the idea that Willy is willing to go "all the way," so to speak, to preserve his sense of value and purpose as a human being.  But if Willy is the modern version of the tragic protagonist, the effects of his downfall have far-reaching consequences beyond his own personal struggle.  For instance, he's brainwashed his son Biff to buy into his unrealistic notions of success, but when Biff fails in life, Willy becomes contentious and tries to blame him for his failures.  He disparages Biff one moment, then lapses into praise the next.  Are Biff's failures a direct result of the adverse effects of Willy's fabricated version of reality?

Miller:  Well, yes.  Willy is a flawed human being, and he's afflicted with a kind of original sin he's passed on to his sons.  Since high school, Biff has drifted through life, estranged from his father but plagued by a terrible aimlessness, which he can no longer tolerate.  Willy experiences a loss of identity, but Biff has never really known himself at all.  Then things change.  In the final scene of the play, the idea of redemption is key to Biff's transition.  It's too late for Willy, whose mind is all but gone, but then Biff recognizes that his father's sins are separate from Willy, the man.  Willy becomes the sacrificial victim of his changing world, overtaken by fate.  Once Biff understands this, he can love his father again.

Oldham:  Since your passing in 2005, Death of a Salesman continues to inspire controversy and dialogue about the meaning of life, movingly expressed by the interactions of protagonist Willy Loman with his family on his final day.  Preparing for this interview, I came across some surprising reactions to the play, from a scathing review by a book critic citing what he feels are superficial, overplayed tropes in the story, to self-help programs that demonstrate Willy's negative archetype as male behavior to avoid (Harvey, 2012, & Brett, 2021).  I also read that the play has been performed worldwide, including in China, where they fully embraced the story despite its anchoring in post-war, mid-20th century America (Kullman & Miller, 1998).  Did you ever imagine that Death of a Salesman would continue its relevancy over generations and bridge cultural barriers all over the world?

Miller:  It turns out that maintaining relevancy in a changing world is a problem everyone faces, everywhere.  People search for meaning, for their reason for being.  We don't know what the next day will bring.  We invent ourselves as we go forward, depending on our abilities and circumstances.  Our perspective usually comes from our experience, and that's your narrative, but everyone faces the same personal challenges.  That's why Salesman has universal appeal.

Oldham:  To some of your audience, Willy's memory loss and hallucinations of his dead brother might evoke issues surrounding mental illness or the onset of dementia.  There's also convincing analysis that pins responsibility for Willy's mental illness on unreasonable competition demands in business (Feldman, 2003).  Whatever the cause, do you think that people dealing with the mentally disabled might view your play differently?

Miller:  I am sure they would.  When I wrote the play, I was a young man. We experience the world very differently after a few decades have passed.  Then people close to us become afflicted with all kinds of ailments related to aging.  It's personal when someone close to you is affected by mental illness or dementia.  You want to be empathetic and non-judgmental, so yes, this definitely changes the perception.  Whatever of the true cause of Willy's sickness, the negative impact on his wife and sons is irrefutable, but eventually, they understand his desperation.

Oldham:  Regarding the meaning of life, I have read that your personal views tend to align with existential philosophers like Jean-Paul Sartre.  I was surprised to learn that Sarte did the screenplay adaptation for The Crucible (Centola, 1984), another of your famous works.  What is most appealing to you about Sartre's ideas?  Did you collaborate in person?

Miller:  We almost met several times but never had the chance.  I do agree with the ideas of existentialists, particularly Sartre. I believe that life is what you make it and that every person has unlimited potential. In all my writing, I try to acknowledge man's possibilities and, in the process, emphasize free will and social responsibility. I guess it's fair to label me as an existential humanist. Others have said so too (Centola, 1984).

Oldham: It's fascinating reading about your family, extended family, and friends who influenced your creation of the Willy Loman character.  In your autobiography, Timebends, you tell of your visits to your Uncle Manny.  I'm especially taken with his lasting impression on you when you write "... a play that would do to an audience what Manny had done to me... cut through time like a knife through a layer cake..." and evoking "past and present concurrently with neither one ever coming to a stop" (Miller, 1987, loc. 2377).  Is your Uncle Manny your primary inspiration?

Miller:  There were many sources I drew upon to create Willy Loman, but my Uncle Manny's personality always held my attention and imagination.  He was a man whose thoughts projected this constant barrage of big dreams and contradictions.  What I wrote in my book back in 1998 still haunts me: "That homely, ridiculous little man had after all never ceased to struggle for a certain victory, the only kind open to him in this society—selling to achieve his lost self as a man with his name and his sons' names on a business of his own.  I suddenly understood him with my very blood" (Miller, 1998, loc. 2355). I also met Manny's salesman friends and was struck by the fact that, as a young man, of all the people I knew who had committed suicide, 2 out of 3 were salesmen.

Oldham: Thank you for answering my questions today.  I have many more, but unfortunately, I'm out of time.  I enjoyed our conversation and learning more about you and your ideas about human nature.  I would love to have you back again soon.

Miller: Thank you—I'll be glad to return any time.  I hope that my writing inspires future generations, too, and helps people striving to find their own meaning in life.

 

 

 

References

Brett (2021, October 2). Lessons in unmanliness: Willy Loman. Art of Manliness. https://www.artofmanliness.com/articles/lessons-in-unmanliness-willy-loman/

Buckley, T. (2015, November 1). What happens to the brain during cognitive dissonance? Scientific American. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/what-happens-to-the-brain-during-cognitive-dissonance1/

Centola, S. R. (1984). The will to live: An interview with Arthur Miller. Modern Drama, 27(3), 345–360. https://doi.org/10.3138/md.27.3.345

Feldman, S. (2003). Weak spots in business ethics: A psycho-analytic study of competition and memory in "Death of a Salesman." Journal of Business Ethics, 44(4), 391-404. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25075045

Harvey, G. (2012, May 14). “Death of a Salesman”: A heartbreaking work of staggering mediocrity. The New Yorker. https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/death-of-a-salesman-a-heartbreaking-work-of-staggering-mediocrity  

Kullman, CH, & Miller, A. (1998). 'Death of a Salesman' at fifty: An interview with Arthur Miller. Michigan Quarterly Review, 37(4), 624–634. https://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?cc=mqr;c=mqr;c=mqrarchive;idno=act2080.0037.403;g=mqrg;rgn=main;view=text;xc=1

Miller, A. (1949/1981). Death of a salesman. New York: Viking Press.

Miller, A. (1949, February 27). Tragedy and the common man. The New York Times. https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/00/11/12/specials/miller-common.html?

Miller, A. (1987). Timebends: A life. Grove Press. https://www.amazon.com/Timebends-Life-Arthur-Miller-ebook/dp/B00GF2RADM/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=Timebends&qid=1627737249&s=digital-text&sr=1-1

Miller, A. (1998). Responses to an audience question and answer session. Michigan Quarterly Review, 37(4). https://doi.org/http://hdl.handle.net/2027/spo.act2080.0037.426