Arthur Miller

Essay by jhhc1998High School, 10th gradeB, February 2014

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Arthur Miller

Sometime during the late 1800s, two distinct Jewish families emigrated from a Polish town called Radomyśl Wielki to escape from anti-Semitic prejudice and to attain the prosperity of the "American Dream". Both families lived in an area surrounded by garment factories and sweatshops, and they were unified together by the marriage of Ishidore and Augusta Miller. Both Ishidore and Augusta, as their future children did, followed the fashion of rejecting their ethnic background and becoming entirely American. Ishidore Miller, whom had received almost no education even though he had a talent for mathematics, began to start his own company systematically in the textile industry. His company became one of the leading companies of the female coat industry. He had three kids- Kermit, Joan, and on October 17, 1915 -in Harlem, New York-, Arthur Miller, one of the greatest playwrights of American history, was born.

The major events in Arthur´s lifetime led him to become the humane, just, social dramatist man we know today.

In his early adolescence, Arthur´s father lost most of his hard-earned fortune due to the Wall Street Crash. This caused Arthur´s frustration in the American Dream and his belief that capitalism caused only pain and suffering, since those who reached the top (as Arthur´s grandfather had) would deprive those who could see the top from reaching it, even if they are related. Another major event was he befriending Kazan, who taught Arthur Marx´s ideals and shaped his point of view of the world. Another major event occurred when he attended a radical political labor protest as a journalist, which he decided to write a play about, called No Villain. This was his first successful debut as a playwright. Since then, Arthur based his writing on the social and political problems in society. The final...