Glengarry Glen Ross Play Analysis

One study at UC Berkley showed that in a game of Monopoly, in which a random player receives a larger sum of money to begin the game in comparison to their opponents, that over time, this player will begin to feel entitled to the money he or she started with. This same idea of entitlement is prevalent in the play, Glengarry Glen Ross. The play demonstrates how a competitive, unfair work environment skews the perspective of the workers by making the people who lose feel mad at the system and the winners feel entitled to their earnings. At first, everyone besides the top seller, Richard Roma, feels that their office's selling competition is unfair since they are all losing. Levene yells at the office manager Williamson saying, "Bulls***. April,
Roma, the top seller, is arrogant and thinks he can win the sales contest easily. He yells at Lingk, the manager saying, "Don't f*** with me, fella. I'm talking about a f***in' Cadillac car that you owe me . . ." (53). The winning prize for the sales competition is a Cadillac, which Roma boasts as deserving it. Roma knows that he is a valuable asset to this team, but he goes too far by yelling and trying to "prove" his worth. Additionally, it is no wonder that Roma continues to do well because the top-sellers receive the best leads meaning simply, that the successful become more successful. Due to the system, Levene sees himself as the best salesman and no the person with the best leads. Levene's attitude changes due to his new found sense of entitlement. At the beginning, Levene was complaining about his lack of success, but now he has succeeded and beings boasting. Leven lectures, "You look around, you say, 'This one has so-and-so, and I have nothing . . . Why? Why don't I get opportunities . . . ? . . . You do get the opportunity. . . . You get them. As I do, as anyone does . . ." (68-9). Once Levene has done well for himself he now views his company as fair. He thinks that he had finally seen the opportunity and taken it, although this is quite false. Levene had actually stolen the good leads and now has succeeded, proving that the system is unfair In this company, cheating is the only way to be successful. As seen in Levene, Moss, and Roma, success and failure change the perspective on the fairness of the system. The American Dream is about reaching success, but Glengarry Glen Ross proves that once successful, one is more susceptible to be ignorant of the unfair advantages that the successful have. Fulfilling the American Dream often times leads to ignorance and an unjust sense of