Joseph Hirsch "The New Masses", following the July 1946 lynching of two black men and their wives in Monroe, Georgia. "The Burden" (1947) depicts a hollow-eyed American GI installing white cross gravemarkers in a military cemetery, while in the background a second GI unloads yet another jeep-full. Hirsch's poster for the original 1949 Broadway production of Arthur Miller's "Death of a Salesman" depicts a beaten-down Willy Loman trudging onward with his heavy suitcases. Hirsch was of German-Jewish heritage, but occasionally explored Christian themes. In "The Crucifixion" (1945), we see a close-up of the cross from behind, and the thick timbers block any
Willy Loman and having contacts is the key to success. His older son, Biff, causes "old hopes and boiling resentments" to return by visiting home. Willy is loved by Biff, who nonetheless does not get along with him. Their relationship is the emotional lynchpin of the production. “In fact, Willy's logical mind becomes blind…” Biff attempts to help his father see what has become of him. In the end, Biff decides that he must force his father to see the truth rather than his fanciful images, for his own good, regardless of its toll on his father. This is the emotional climax