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Bloom has a collection of critiques and analysis from various writers including himself. On page 11, in the first sentence of Neal Dolan of Harvard University's "Thematic and Structural Analysis" of the story, he states that a "great scholar of the western literary tradition" (whom he does not identify) has defined realism as the "serious" representation of the ordinary and of the life of the lower classes. This provides answers to many questions that I have had throughout most of my life regarding why so much modern literature is so depressing and uninspiring. Bloom's collection of critiques dates from 1949 to 1992, and the book is copyrighted in 1996. Over time, the critiques evolve from treating the characters of the play as self-determined agents to treating them as victims of society. This is an interesting trend, yet not entirely surprising given the events and news of the last 60 years. Even Bloom himself succumbs to this deterministic philosophy of morality when he says that "Miller,..., wants to give us a Willy Loman who is destroyed by social energies." But what exactly are social energies? Google reveals that "Social energy comes from spending time in a stimulating environment with other people." However, my impression is that Willy Loman finds himself in a rather exciting and stimulating environment, filled with personal and business challenges. Nevertheless, Willy didn't experience his life in this way. The best line in this book can be found on page 27, in "Arthur Miller on the Genesis of Death of a Salesman [1957]." Arthur Miller says, "... nothing in life comes 'next' but that everything exists together and at the same time within us; that there is no past to be 'brought forward' in a human being, but that he is his past at every moment and that the present is merely that which his past is capable of noticing and smelling and reacting to." This is an intriguing perspective on existence, echoing the ideas of the multi-verse that have become so popular in recent fiction (2022). However, what seems to be missing is the idea of possibility. This most interesting line from this book is truly thought-provoking and adds depth to the overall discussion.
