Miss

In what ways have the changing values and attitudes of different times been shown by the study of your two texts' While many aspects of life, mainly in the fields of knowledge, science and family have gone through tremendous changes over the last 50 years, some human characteristics seem to be imperious to change; the desire to achieve better and the most of everything seems to be one of these. The two texts, The Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller and American Beauty by Sam Mendes demonstrate this. Particularly through the characterisation which is the focus of my essay. The belief in the American Dream has been a thread running through American society since the Great Depression. When World War2 ended, America embarked on a period of economic prosperity, which fostered in the population a desire for status and material comfort. Willy is a typical American who displays his preoccupation with being ‘well liked’ However he suffers from relying too much on credit, ‘what do we owe'’ struggling to keep up the payments. Individuals like Willy and Biff are the focus of Miller’s censure of a system that discards those who no longer ‘belongs’ to the society, ‘…we don’t belong in this nuthouse of a city!’ The use of seeds represent for Willy the opportunity to prove his effort to cultivate and nurture his children. And yet his attempts to grow vegetables signify his shame about having nothing to leave his children when he dies. Through Willy Miller criticises the notion of American Dream. Similarly, this faith in the American Dream is criticised by Mendes. The film shows the frustrations and catatonic daze that hide under the perfectly manicured surfaces of their lives. Carolyn represents American consumerism and the belief that things can replace relationships. She devotes her life to cultivating the image of success, ‘Act happy tonight’. Lester tries unsuccessfully to bring back their relationship into focus but he gives up as he realises that the ‘sofa upholstered in Italian silk’ is what she values more than him, ‘this is just stuff. And it's become more important to you than living.’ Her material success and independence, undreamt of by Linda, have not provided the fulfilment that she craves. Some changes do happen in between the period of the composition of the two texts, particularly in relation to the roles in women. Linda represents women in America in the post war period. She has no status or economic independence in the society and is constantly marginalised and dismissed. But she has the ability to face the certain reality and see people as they are, as opposed to Carolyn, and this is reflected in her descriptions of Willy, ‘his name was never in the paper. He’s not the finest character that ever lived. But he’s a human being…’ Linda’s language is without Willy’s hyperbole but her insight is not acted upon, her lack of economic independence prevents her from fully facing the truth. We as the audiences can depict the reversal of gender roles that occurred in fifty years since the post war period. Every time we see a scene in the car, Carolyn is the one driving with Lester sitting in the back seat. Lester has been emasculated by Carolyn’s ‘drive’ and both Burnhams have been ‘burnt up’ by the effort of maintaining the image that society demands. Carolyn has also begun to make choices to break free from the misery of her life. She starts to meet Buddy Kane for lunch and she doesn’t seem to be doing anything wrong. In another scene we are shown Carolyn standing in a shooting range, shooting a gun directly at the camera, which elucidates the power that she possesses. She ‘loves shooting this gun.’ Hence this is a huge contrast to the post war period. A text’s most enduring insights are when the characters come to a self realisation. Despite the desperate search, Willy fails to recognise his personal failure and the love given to him by his family. This is shown when Willy says, ‘… I still feel kind of temporary about my self.’ Despite these concerns from his family, Willy decides to make the most extreme sacrifice to leave an inheritance that will allow Biff to fulfill the American Dream. Willy keeps reminding himself that, ‘I was right…’ and this mantra has reinforced his belief in American Dream. While Willy and Happy are unable to accept the reality of their lives, Biff realises his failure. In the end he is the one that manages to confront the truth, ‘I’m just what I am, that’s all.’ Correspondingly, the film suggests the idea of re invention of an individual. At the beginning of the film, Lester realises that despite the bad nature of his state, it is still possible for him to become happy once again. Lester has some similarities to Willy but he is aware of his situation and therefore is able to reinvents his life in order to save himself from a similar end. He begins to pursue happiness by following his true desires and ignoring the commands of society, the American Dream, ‘I feel like I've been in a coma for about twenty years, and I'm just now waking up.’ The film effectively conveys the message by it starting with Lester narrating the situation and then showing Lester’s family through Ricky’s digital camera. Ricky’s video shows us what Lester has discovered for himself, that beauty is found not in a drudgery that pretends to be ordinary but in the overlooked simplicity of life. On these accounts the idea of one’s reinvention is capture in the film. In conclusion, the audience can extract some of the changes in attitudes and values that have occurred over time but also there are attitudes that have remained consistent. The two texts, The Death of a Salesman and American Beauty, attempt explore the vanity of the notion of the American Dream.