Arthur Miller is recognized as an important and influential playwright, not to mention essayist and novelist. Although he has had much luck in his writing career, his fame is the product of his ingenious ability to control what he wants his readers to imagine or feel. As one of his critics states, "Miller writes ingeniously, conveying the message that 'if the proper study of humanity is man, man's inevitable problem is himself (Broussard, 306).'" Miller accurately expresses a words what each person thinks and feels. , or worries, but often has difficulty expressing themselves. Using symbolism, Arthur Miller portrays Willy's (along with the other Lowman's) problems with family life, society, and himself in Death of a Salesman. Arthur Miller is an interesting author in the sense that many of his works reflect or are the product of events in his life. He was born in 1915 in New York City and was the son of a successful businessman, until the Great Depression, when his father lost much of his wealth. This has a great impact on Miller's life and influences the themes of many of his future writings. To make ends meet at home, Miller worked as a truck driver, warehouse clerk, and freight hauler; consequently, these little jobs bring him closer to that type of working-class people who will later be the basis of many characters in his theatrical works. It is while dedicating himself to these works that Miller forms his love for literature; he is very impressed by Fyodor Dostoevski's The Brothers Karamazov because it questions the unspoken rules of society, a concept he often wondered about, especially after the Great Depression. He believes that American society must be renewed; for this reason, many of his early works display sympathetic portrayals and compassionate characterizations of his characters. In 1956, Miller married the eminent Marilyn Monroe. This event significantly influences his writing as he focuses on female characters more than he had previously. He also looked back at themes foreshadowed in past stories and expanded or reconsidered them (Martin, 1336-7). Clearly, the roots of his works are the result of important events in his past experiences. Death of a Salesman is a play concerning the events leading to the downfall of Willy Loman, an elderly salesman who was once prosperous but is now nearing the end of his usefulness (Atkinson, 305).