Modernism, Tragedy and Postmodernism in Klager’s essay
Literature has always changed with time, and respective culture and values the population holds. The modern era, the time from the commencing of the 20th century to the present is no exception (Bigsby 44). Moreover, it is decided that there occurs a split in the era after the Second World War where the “modern” era is halved into modern, the first noticeable half of the 20th century, and postmodern/post-nuclear, the second noticeable half of the 20th century. Examples of their different cultural values, morals, and beliefs are revealed within their respective literatures. A common theme throughout a great majority of the twentieth century literature is the American dream of having the freedom to be financially successful and upwardly mobile in the economy to provide for one’s family. Unfortunately, the literature also shows the many corrupt perversions of the American dream. The lesson commentary, which focuses heavily on Mamet’s Glengarry Glen Ross and Arthur Miller’s masterpiece Death of a Salesman, discusses these two works’ places in the twentieth century history and the corresponding themes they portray (Bigsby 89). Furthermore, the commentary issues an ensuing challenge to the student, “Biff says of his father at the end of the play [Death of a Salesman], ‘He had the wrong dreams.’ This implies that there are right dreams to have. In this way, we might characterize Death of a Salesman as a modern work. One only need compare Death of a Salesman to David Mamet’s Glengarry Glen Ross to see how much this view changes in the post-nuclear period.” In taking on this challenge, the similarities and differences are clear within the plays. In the modern period, in Death of a Salesman, faith, hope and dreams still matter to the American population. However, in the postmodern period, from which Glengarry Glen Ross arises, sees a significant drop in these ideals.
It is mythical of people outside America to hold the belief that the country holds a positive future for them. Once they get to the country, they work hard to try to acquire wealth. However, many of them do not get to achieve this thought of getting money, which leaves them disappointed. They only end up building the nation with minimal returns, and this is the perfect example of modernism. The Death of a sales man mirrors the society perception of capitalism as one of high esteem. In addition, Miller enlightens the common notion that capitalism is the most efficient and reliable source of true wealth (Sadik 174). There is the use of tragedy in the play. Tragedy occurs when a play has a serious downfall especially of the main character. An excellent example is how Willy ends up.
Unlike classical plays, the works of Miller do have a modern disposition, since they have lessons on which readers may draw from them. The Death of a Salesman reflects on the contemporary America, and the challenges facing the nation due to using capitalism (Sadik 289). Millers urge readers not to have hopes in capitalism; instead he suggests to them a meaningful way of life, which is free from pursuits of money. He argues that money only corrupts the human mind. At the worst of state, like Willy, a man may lose his life in the pursuit of money and tying to attain a high social status in the society. Miller encourages his readers that life surpasses money. As a postmodern bolstering of Millers play, David Mamet gives a different approach to capitalism. Aristotle the famous argues that when money lacks, a person concerns himself on the welfare of others. The capitalism modification embraced by American society and institutions goes by the law of every man to fend for himself but only God for us all. This is because capitalism turned people into greedy creatures. Their central interest is to satisfy their personal interests (Sauer et al 122).
Mamet says that a person has to acquire meaning out of the capitalistic way of American murder or life-threat. When one is on a quest for meaning, Ross has no option other than to steal files at his workplace to save his job. In addition, Hoffa says that he has blessings to mobilize his colleagues to become accomplices on his selfish agendas to acquire wealth. Hoffa is a hypocrite as he opposes profit-oriented organizations yet deep down his intention is to acquire wealth (Juan 126). Glengarry Glen Ross, on the other hand, is rich in humor and rhetoric, in which Mamet uses it to display experiences that citizens and non-citizens go through unknowingly in a nation subjugated by capitalism. His argument is that what people go through in their daily activities. For example, Blake ignores his communal morals in order to embrace capitalism. He despises Moss, telling him that his watch is much more expensive than Moss car (Sauer et al, 129). The two display evidence of postmodernism.
Conclusion
Klage’s essay clearly shows that the death of a salesman is a modern play since it has morals on which a reader can draw from it. Postmodernism, on the other hand, is noticeable on Mamet’s play. He does not show meaning to his various characters. Tragedy is clearly visible on Willy on his eventual downfall. It is hard to make a clear draw out as to when postmodernism outgrew from modernism. However, it is a common feature in plays, arts or music. Differentiation between the two helps a reader understand the various consequences that come about when using capitalism.
Works cited
Bigsby, C W. E. The Cambridge Companion to David Mamet. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 2004. Internet resource.
Saddik, Annette J. Contemporary American Drama. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press,
2007. Print.
Sauer, David K, and Janice A. Sauer. David Mamet: A Research and Production Sourcebook.
Westport, Conn. [u.a.: Praeger, 2003. Print.
Sauer, David K. David Mamet’s Oleanna. London: Continuum, 2008. Print.
