by Tim Middleton
For many years, a popular book to be studied at school for English examinations has always been the play entitled, Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller. It is studied because it is a masterfully-written play, gaining the 1949 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and Tony Award for Best Play yet its theme and message are tragic, futile and, let it be said, still very relevant to young people. It follows the story of a divided and dysfunctional family led by the travelling salesman father who pursues the Great American Dream, the all-encompassing vision of hope for a better life, the acquisition of material goods, the achievement of success, which always appears to be just round the next corner. Ultimately, he achieves it only by committing suicide with his family benefitting from his death insurance. The mother is caught between supporting her husband and encouraging their two sons who in turn are divided within themselves, not least by struggling to know whether to do what they want or what their father wants. Despite the dream, there is no vision, only division.
We have considered previously the “great divide”, the “great barrier grief”, in a world which is divided between the “haves and the have nots”. Yes, the world is divided into those who have money and those who do not, those who have opportunities and those who do not, those who have determination and those that do not, but also between those who have morals and those who do not, those who have strength and those who do not, those who have influence and those who do not. More significantly, however, the world is divided into those who have vision and those who do not have vision.
The fact is, where there is no vision, division will follow. This thought is supported by the well-known and often-quoted scripture from Proverbs 29:18 which states that, “Where there is no vision, the people perish”. This statement has been variously translated as “Where there is no teaching / revelation / dream, the people cast off restraint / do their own thing / go nowhere”. People have no vision when they are in the dark or when they are blind (though those who are physically blind are more often than not more ‘seeing’ than those who have sight but cannot ‘see’). In a darkened world, people crash into each other, clash with each other and cash out of each other because they cannot see the damage they are doing, the hurt they are causing, the divisions they are introducing.
Division comes when there is no vision. There is no vision not only when people are blind or in the dark but also when people do not know what they are looking for, when they are not looking in the right direction, when they are deliberately not looking (because they do not want to see what is there, as it goes against their own desires, plans or agendas).
Of course some people make it their business to cause division, to ensure there is no vision (or that there is a different vision). People benefit from the approach of divide-and-rule. They cast doubt over what others actually see; they ensure others do not see the truth or reality by presenting other illusions. A lack of education is often presented as a significant barrier to achieving dreams yet such a view fails to see that even with education many people have not achieved their dreams; it is false myth that anyone with education will flourish and prosper. Two visions lead to division.
It is certainly not this writer’s intention or desire to cause division. Rather we want all our youngsters to have a common vision, not division. Children must learn to see the importance of vision and the danger of division; they must see how the two are inextricably linked. Can our youngsters see clearly what vision to follow or are they being blinded by those who will gain from division? Can they divide correctly what is truth from illusion, fact from fiction, reality from dreams and then see the need to follow the vision? We cannot underestimate the importance of this exercise and ability.
Are we giving our youngsters a vision for the future? If we are not, then all we will have is further division. If we fail to do so, then their story will be even more tragic than what we read and see in Death of a Salesman. Vision is an essential part of education; it is not simply something we read in books or see in plays. “Die, vision” and division will come. And there will be no awards or prizes for that. If we do not have such a vision, our youngsters will perish. Do we not see that?
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- Tim Middleton is the executive director of the Association of Trust Schools [ATS]. The views expressed in this article, however, are solely those of the author in his private capacity and do not necessarily represent the views of the ATS. Email: [email protected], website: www.atschisz
