"The Only Thing You Got, is What You Can Sell"

Q: Prompt: Willy is a salesman, but as Charley tells him, what he doesn’t seem to understand is that “the only thing you got in this world is what you can sell” (1256). What do you think Charley means by that? How does it reflect the America of the late 1940’s? How does it reflect the America of 2012?

A: The context of Charley’s statement came after Willy had just informed him that Howard fired him. Willy commented “That snotnose. Imagine that? I named him. I named him Howard.” Willy was suggesting that Howard should have taken into account his long years of work and personal relationship before letting him go. That is when Charley says “Willy, when are you going to realize that [those] things don’t mean anything? You named him Howard but you can’t sell that. The only thing you got in this world is what you can sell” (1256). Charley is implying that the business world is indifferent when considering an individual’s needs when compared to the needs of the business. Whatever is in best interest for the business outweighs what is in the best interest for an individual.  I believe it was Miller’s intention to reference the lack of sentimental values business possessed during that time in America. Howard had said “business is business.” Perhaps Arthur Miller used Howard’s corrupted moral character to vilenize the business world (during that time period).

Although I lack considerable knowledge on how business is truly run today, I believe that although it is somewhat cut throat, there seems to be a lot more safety nets for employees. There is unemployment, and one can actually sue if there is not a valid reason for termination. However it also seems to be that the business world is always moving forward and looking toward the future, and that newer, and more efficient always trumps traditional and familiar.  Imaginably,  business has not changed all that much since the 1940s.