Death of a Salesman

The Death of a Salesman is a playwright that was written by Arthur Miller in 1949. Written just after World War 2, the Death of a Salesman reflects the great boom in literature and playwrights postwar during the Eisenhower era, which lasted from 1952-1960. The playwright also reflects how society was at the time, where everyone was so focused on living the "American Dream". I remember seeing mention of the playwright in my AP US History book and so far after reading the first couple pages, I can already see the similarities and reflections the characters in the play have so far with how people from that society were at the time. For one thing, the play opens with a man (Willy) who is having problems at work just like much of society in the 1940s-1950s, where many people also had to struggle with work. Furthermore I noticed that the patriarchal roles of men and women at the time were still reflected in the play as Willy's wife, Linda, was there to take care of Willy, while he just focused on his job. Although the time in which the book was written saw a change in womens' roles, in terms of the availability of more service and clerical jobs for women, many women still continued traditional gender roles in being the chef and maid of the household, there to serve their families and husbands. So far the book has been interesting and I have been predicting events that could possibly occur (such as maybe a change in traditional gender roles or family issues that arise), but just like with any play, it was tough for me to understand what was going on at first, considering that playwrights are just all dialogue with the exceptions of  monologues and stage notes. The jargon used throughout the play is also different considering that the play was published in the 1940s, which also makes it sort of harder to understand, but other than that I look forward to seeing how the story will unfold and getting to understand the characters in the play so far.