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Poverty In Arthur Miller's Death Of A Salesman

743 Words3 Pages

Living In A World Of Poverty Today, poverty affects 14.5% of Americans. Many have tried to shed light on the subject of poverty through narratives. One of the most famous stories that deals with a family living in poverty is Arthur Miller’s Death Of A Salesman. Although the main focus of the story was not poverty, it showed how poverty can affect home life. Death Of A Salesman was written during the time of the Great Depression, where the rate of poverty was at its peak. At 30% there were 12 million people living in unemployment. Living in poverty can affect not only adults, but it can also have severe repercussions on children who grow up in that environment. When faced with unemployment and poverty, parents are put under an immense …show more content…

They have been prevalent for a long time. Arthur Miller wrote recognized them and uses them in his stories. In one of his more famous works, Death Of A Salesman, the Loman family is struggling with money. Biff, the eldest child, shows some of the signs of a child who has grown up in poverty, without a father. He is not good in school and he commits minor crimes, such as theft, during his youth. Although Willy, Biff’s father, was around for the entirety of his kids' childhood, Biff felt as if he did not have a father figure. Biff could no longer look up to Willy after Biff caught him cheating in a hotel room. After this event, Biff’s life went downhill. Willy;s youngest son, Happy, also shows signs of growing up in poverty. He is not the brightest kids and he does not apply himself in his school work. He has no one to push him to do better in school. Willy was never there for Happy and really only cared about Biff. So Happy too basically grew up without a father there to guide him. Throughout the story, there are many other examples of how the Lomans live with the little money they have. Arthur miller does a great job of portraying how, a seemingly normal family, can be struggling to pay bills and put food on the table because of poverty. Poverty will always be one of America's greatest flaws and constant

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