Analysis Of Dishonesty In The Film Glengarry Glen Ross

In the iconic film Glengarry Glen Ross, screenwriter David Mamet portrays a controversial and yet satirical message of survival through competition and dishonesty. The competitiveness of the masculine world calls for such methods, as is illustrated throughout the film. Through his message, he provides a nineties cult classic representing the crisis of manhood and its definition. We follow four highly stressed and over-pressured real estate salesman who are forced to turn on each other for survival in a capitalist system. When their corporate office announces that within a week, the company will downsize the sales department down to only two surviving salesman. A trainer is sent for motivating the men and aggressively cutting through to the worthy candidates. Seeking out a dominant, alpha male type distinction, they each place themselves in various ethical conundrums over the course of two days to underhand and connive their ways to monetary success. After all, only the top two will win and get to keep

Society is so concerned with the place of a man and a woman. Various outright characteristics are generally assigned to each gender. With toughness, power, and authority given to men and softness, submissiveness, and domesticity assigned to women. The message throughout Glengarry Glen Ross is one of masculinity portrayed through deceit and exploitation of others to gain power. Yet as the film progresses, viewers see that the cutthroat behaviors and personalities are a mask used to hide shattered confidence and devastating fear. And as the salesmen each allows greed and the insatiable desire for power to rule their judgment, they slowly lose everything they held high, including what they perceived as masculinity and what it means to be a man. As the story comes to a close, the audience is left to see that what started out as a quest for true manhood, what was really the prize was attainment of money, and power in order to conceal dishonesty, weakness,