Advertisement
SKIP ADVERTISEMENT
You have a preview view of this article while we are checking your access. When we have confirmed access, the full article content will load.
Opinion
Supported by
SKIP ADVERTISEMENT
letters
The Tears at ‘Death of a Salesman’
April 26, 2026,
9:00 a.m. ET
Share full article
See more of our coverage in your search results.
Encuentra más de nuestra cobertura en los resultados de búsqueda.
Add The New York Times on Google
Agrega The New York Times en Google
More from our inbox:
A Remedy for Patients Who Use Chatbots
Image
Lee J. Cobb, left, Mildred Dunnock and Arthur Kennedy in the first Broadway production of “Death of a Salesman,” in 1949.
Credit...
Cecil Beaton/Condé Nast, via Getty Images
To the Editor:
Re “
Why American Jews Still Weep for Willy Loman
,” by Eric Alterman (Opinion guest essay, April 18):
Mr. Alterman’s wonder at why he and his father cried at “Death of a Salesman” (which I have done over the decades that I have seen the play) only confirms my long-held belief: that it changes perspective depending on the age of the viewer.
Sitting in the audience might be a young person who wonders if this is the story of his father. What does he do for a living? Will he be able to support us?
Beside him, his middle-aged father wonders: Will this be my fate? Will I be able to keep my job? Am I a good father? And the grandfather whispers, “There but for the grace of God go I.”
No other play, in my opinion, has this ability to be read differently by different generations at the same time. Not Shakespeare, Chekhov, Ibsen or Albee. And this is what makes “Death of a Salesman” timeless.
Mashey Bernstein
Santa Barbara, Calif.
To the Editor:
Surely you don’t have to be Jewish to weep while seeing “Death of a Salesman.” It’s enough to understand what propelled men like my father and two brothers to embrace salesmanship. Not just as a way to make a living but also — what Arthur Miller understood so well — as a way of life.
My father always told me, “Son, whatever you do in life, you have to sell yourself.” Which is why I never wanted to be a salesman.
Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and
log into
your Times account, or
subscribe
for all of The Times.
Thank you for your patience while we verify access.
Already a subscriber?
Log in
.
Want all of The Times?
Subscribe
.
Related Content
Advertisement
SKIP ADVERTISEMENT
댓글
0