Mamet on Manliness

In Mamet’s view, what is necessary to be considered a “man” in the eyes of the real estate sales agencies of the world require one to be ruthless, conniving and willing to be flexible with morals and ethics in order to make the sale. The maxim “always be closing” is repeated throughout the play as much as the repetition of the concept of a “man’s world”, at least in the sales agency. For the four salesman in the real estate firm, their livelihood is completely dependent on their image and their ability to close the deals they make, therefore to be looked upon as soft, weak or without initiative is to be seen as a sub-par man. For Moss, Aaronow, Levine and Roma, their habitual predatory vocation parallels their view on anything outside the real estate business- to them, the paradigm of the “man’s world” overlaps into the real world regardless of race, creed or culture. For them, the “Lingks” and “Nyborgs” of the world are viewed as subhuman, even as prey, because they allow themselves to get trapped within the pitch of a salesman’s spiel. There is no remorse in the sale of a piece of land to someone whether they need it or not because the end result is a desperate attempt to still have a job and have a steady paycheck. Roma is by far the “manlier” of the group, seeking any and all methods to close the deal, and as he is at the top of the contest throughout the play, he is both viewed in a jealous admiration and as a threat to the other’s jobs. Levine appears to be a washed up salesman, a man who used to be on top but is now floundering. He is the omega of the pack, only supplied with the leftover leads as the others- especially Roma, collect the lion’s share of the leads. He is only given enough to sustain him and no more than that. Mamet points out that the salesmen operate somewhat comically in their pursuit of their prey, and if they don’t close the sale, it is through no fault of their own- they blame it on the customer’s race, bad luck, or bad leads or a million and one other excuses. Yet, throughout the play, the desperation still remains the same. It is not an industry conducive to having good cardiovascular health, and Mamet likes to express this.