Review of Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman - A Salesman in Bejing
... philandering side of his father, he has a complete transformation – going from a confident, cocky teenage jock, to a sad lost soul. Willie understands this and it is at this time, I believe Willie begins his slow and sad downfall from reality. Nothing improves from that point forward. The most interesting thing about Miller’s play is the lack of any reference to spirituality. Willie, Biff, Happy, or Linda never once references any kind of religious belief. I do not know if Miller does not reference spirituality on purpose. It is possible that Miller chose not to reference spirituality to make his point – that the American Dream is atheistic. The story of Willie Loman would have been profoundly different if it were told with a Willie who had a belief in either Christian, Jewish, Islamic or other religious values. I suspect that even those who are religious, the feelings of despair and sense of failure are present, but the truly spiritual individual would be able to overcome their feeling by placing them in perspective. I believe the lack of reference to spirituality enchanted the Chinese without infringing on the philosophy of communism. I believe the leaders of China would have openly rejected a play where the dominant character sought guidance from a religion, yet the lack of ref...