Miller’s Family & The Great Depression
English Lit: AQA A Level Death of a Salesman, topic 8.1.1
Miller’s Family & The Great Depression
Miller knew the fear of failure and of financial collapse that had been experienced by millions of Americans and he was able to draw on this in his drama.
Achievement of the play
- Much of the praise given to Death of a Salesman focussed on Miller’s achievement in weaving together the public and the private – in giving the domestic family drama of the Loman household such power that it was able to speak to all of America about its hopes and fears; its successes and failures; its past, present and future.
Miller's family
- Miller’s own family history most probably contributed much to this.
- He grew up in a prosperous German-Jewish family thanks to his father’s successful manufacturing business and his mother’s position as a schoolteacher.
Experience of poverty
- But the onset of the Great Depression after the Wall Street Crash in 1929 meant that Miller and his family faced a period of poverty and upheaval.
Miller's perception
- Miller knew the fear of failure and of financial collapse that had been experienced by millions of Americans and he was able to draw on this in his drama.
The Depression
- At the peak of the Depression in 1933, over 13 million Americans, a quarter of the labour force, were unemployed.
- Poverty and suffering were widespread.
Test yourself on Miller’s Family & The Great Depression
What caused Miller's family to face a period of poverty and upheaval?
How many Americans were unemployed at the peak of the Great Depression?