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.From the start, he occasionally leaps for-ing the theater, politics, and life in general.“Theward in time to offer a contrasting perspective.Hedesire to move on, to metamorphose,” Miller sug-lays out a family dynamic in which, early on, hegests, “was given to me as life’s inevitable andis at odds with his older brother KERMIT MILLERrightful condition.To keep becoming, always toand is siding with his mother who encourages hisstay involved in transition.” It is a lesson that heartistic endeavors.He openly admits that many oflearned early from his family and one that he hashis characters share traits with people whom he hascarried through life.We get the sense that even atknown, but he denies there are any strictly one-age 72 (when he wrote this book), Miller wouldto-one portraits.He takes us through conflicts atyet surprise us with something new.home as his father’s business goes under, his ownMiller offers personal portraits of his family,flight to Michigan, and his subsequent return tofriends, and the many theatrical and political fig-New York, as well as how and why he became aures with whom he has been involved.He describesplaywright.the initial idealism and subsequent breakdown ofMiller admits to having a strong Jewish identity,his first two marriages, the first to MARY SLATTERYhaving fully absorbed the culture if not the religion.and the second to Monroe, and his later happi-It is this, he believes, that has given him his sense of ness with INGE MORATH, his third wife.We learn“power and reassurance” and has defined his moralof his childhood explorations within BROOKLYNoutlook.He recalls observing a Simchat Torahand his adult ones across the globe, his experiencescelebration at Temple with his great-grandfather,working at CHADICK–DELAMETER AUTO-PARTSand he suggests a connection between JUDAISM andWAREHOUSE and at the BROOKLYN NAVY YARD.HeAmerican Puritanism in terms of a shared idealism,relates beliefs that are closely informed by JUDA-devotion, “legalistic reductiveness,” and longingISM and his political and legal involvement in a“for the pure and intellectually elegant argument.”variety of causes from the Soviet Union to localRelating his youthful adventures in Harlem and hisConnecticut to create a fairly complete picture ofearly experiences with blacks, Miller asserts his rec-his life and its concerns.He also tells of his days atognition that racism is irrational and immoral andthe UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN when he first beganmust be fought.For Miller, racism and prejudiceto write and briefly covers his time with the FED-restrict the life of the self in that the perpetratorsERAL THEATER PROJECT and working with radiodeny the humanity of others.drama.Then each play from The Man Who Had AllMiller tells us that, aside from his belief thatthe Luck through to Danger Memory! is explicated playwrighting is the most effective means of liter-in terms of its evolution, production, and criticalary communication, he was initially drawn to itreception.Although more time is spent on theas a form of “self-discovery.” The autobiographybetter-known plays—recounting the Greek rootsoffers a different picture of a playwright who hasbehind All My Sons, the rationale in creating Death been described by others as a secure, self-certainof a Salesman and the relationship of Willy Loman moralizer, as Miller openly shares his doubts andto MANNY NEWMAN, and the decision to equateinsecurities, along with his sense that much of histhe House Un-American Activities Committee towork has been underappreciated and rejected.the SALEM WITCH TRIALS in The Crucible—MillerAlthough he may see himself as a prophet of sortsshares insights about them all, as well as a fewwho has the unpopular task of enlightening theprojects that never got off the ground, such as someunenlightened masses about harsh realities, he hasabortive screenplay fantasies from the 1960s thatreluctantly shouldered this role, although felt it toenvision the possibilities of world peace.be a necessary one.His motivation as a writer is toThe book begins with a child’s eye view of thehelp people connect and mediate between oppos-playwright’s mother, AUGUSTA MILLER, and pro-ing beliefs to find the common ground on which023-354_Miller-p2.indd 3275/3/07 12:52:52 PM328 Timebends: A Lifeall can meet.He describes the roots of his dramaticalso finds time to praise the social experimentationinterest as lying in the spiritual paradox of longingof the United States in its innovation and its stat-and rejection that people face as they seek to iden-ure in his eyes as “liberty’s home.” Miller’s politicaltify themselves.Life is a series of ups and downs,adventures, including his appearance at the Wal-and he tries to reflect in his work what he sees asdorf–Astoria Conference, the 1968 Democraticthe inevitable contradictions of life.Convention, and dealings with HUAC and PENFor Miller, art is meaningful and can make aare all recounted in informative detail, followed bydifference, and this validates the moral imperativeMiller’s opinions as to the lessons each conveyed.that informs his work.He traces a growing recogni-Miller’s opinions on the work of other play-tion that there is a necessary balance to be foundwrights, especially HENRIK IBSEN, EUGENE O’NEILL,between illusion and reality, in which the binaryCLIFFORD ODETS, and TENNESSEE WILLIAMS, aretensions of life and the duality of existence can beuseful in placing him within the field of dramareconciled.A philosophic outlook that welcomesand assist in our growing understanding of howthe tension between opposites and the connec-Miller uses language, symbol, and form in his owntive tissue of life is on display throughout the book.work [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]