Sunday, April 22, 2018

Generational Differences Seen in Death Of A Salesman and Patrick MacAleeman's Article



Maile Danilchik
4/22/18
IB Language and Literature

In Death Of A Salesman by Arthur Miller, the reader is exposed to the dynamic of different generations through Willy Loman and his sons, Biff and Happy. Willy wants his sons to take after him, being able to handle different tools and be proficient at skilled labor to the point of harassing Bernard, Biff’s childhood friend, for being “too” studious. However, he is also conflicted when he scolds Biff for working on a farm and wants Biff to be a grownup man while telling him that he is “too young to be talking seriously to girl.”(Miller, 27) In the play, it is seen how Willy is having the struggle that many parents with generational differences from their children are having, with understanding the changing times and wanting their kids to be like them.  
 I think that while Patrick MacAleeman has a point that with the access to the internet that Generation Z has had for all of their lives can cause differences in how people are able to function in society. He claims that they are less “wise” meaning that they do not know as many facts or comport themselves the same way as the generations before them. However, I think that many of the points he raises, such as being extremely active on social media, are very large generalizations for everyone within the generation. Of course, it is impossible to account for everyone’s personal tastes and lives but taking his generalization from one quote “I’d say 95% of my time is spent on the internet” to represent an entire generation is disproportionate and an inaccurate way of portraying an entire group. Additionally, MacAleeman only focuses on one--albeit large--aspect of Generation Z’s life, he does not focus on non-internet related issues as much, such as how politically active this generation is in relation to others.

 I think as someone who leans toward the Generation Z time frame, there is definitely a separation of the era between figures in Death Of A Salesman and what I am used to. For instance, the atmosphere was different, with post-WWII America and a refocusing on national goals from abroad to domestic issues. The dynamic between people, such as Willy and his wife Linda, are seen by me as Willy being a disrespectful husband, but perhaps then it was seen as normal marital conduct. However, I think that being a different generation also helps me analyze the book better through history and being able to connect it with contemporary times without it being too detached. I find that my experience reading books about past generations rather than potential future ones is easier because it allows me to gather insight about our history and how events can affect individuals in similar ways despite a separation in time. 

Word Count: 463

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