Art, Ambition, and Integrity in Twilight and What Makes Sammy Run
This paper compares perspectives on art, ambition, and artistic integrity in Anna Deavere Smith's 1992 introduction to Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992 and Budd Schulberg's 1941 novel What Makes Sammy Run. Through an analysis of secondary characters Al Manheim, Kit Sargent, and Sidney Fineman alongside Smith's authorial voice, the paper explores how each figure grapples with the tension between commercial success and authentic artistic expression. It argues that while all four figures acknowledge the importance of originality, Smith's approach — grounded in community collaboration and philosophical commitment — stands apart from the compromises made by Schulberg's characters in the glamour-driven world of Hollywood.
- Introduction: Diverging Views on Art: Smith and Schulberg's characters compared on artistic originality
- Al Manheim: Artistic Humility and Self-Doubt: Manheim's confidence in writing but doubt in selling
- Moral Principles and the Nature of True Art: Community, collaboration, and artistic integrity explored
- Hollywood as an Inhospitable Environment for Artists: Hollywood's commercial culture threatens genuine artistic work
- Success, Glamour, and the Threat to Artistic Capacity: Profits and glamour erode artistic motivation and identity
- Conclusion: Literature, Inspiration, and Artistic Integrity: Literature's enduring role as philosophical and creative inspiration
✍️ How to write this paper — guide, tools & examples ▾
What makes this paper effective
- The paper establishes a clear comparative framework early, identifying both the shared ground and the key distinctions between Deavere Smith and Schulberg's characters before developing either in detail.
- It uses textual evidence — including a direct quotation from Deavere Smith's introduction — to anchor its claims, grounding the argument in the source material rather than relying solely on plot summary.
- The discussion of Sidney Fineman adds useful depth by illustrating how even a character who genuinely values talent can be undone by the commercial environment, reinforcing the paper's central thesis.
Key academic technique demonstrated
This paper demonstrates comparative literary analysis by reading two works against each other to illuminate a shared thematic concern — the tension between commercial ambition and authentic artistic expression. Rather than treating each text in isolation, the writer uses characters from Schulberg's novel as foils to Deavere Smith's authorial stance, allowing the contrast to do analytical work.
Structure breakdown
The paper opens with a thesis establishing both similarity and difference among the figures compared. It then works through each character or perspective in turn — Manheim, Sargent, Deavere Smith, and Fineman — before broadening to a general reflection on Hollywood, artistic motivation, and the role of literature in society. The conclusion returns to the philosophical dimension introduced at the outset.
Introduction: Diverging Views on Art
Even though it is presently regarded as one of the most important concepts in contemporary society, art is perceived differently by individuals depending on their personal convictions and on how they understand it. Anna Deavere Smith's 1992 introduction to the play Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992 and Budd Schulberg's 1941 novel What Makes Sammy Run? put across diverging perspectives on the concept of art. To a certain degree, one can believe that Al Manheim, Kit Sargent, and Sidney Fineman — three secondary characters in Schulberg's book — and Deavere Smith are similar, given that they all acknowledge the importance of originality in a play. However, while Deavere Smith focuses on being solely responsible for producing and promoting her plays, these three individuals adopt a different strategy and consider that it is very difficult for them to make it in a community dominated by image and glamour.
Al Manheim: Artistic Humility and Self-Doubt
Although he initially feels that Sammy is one of his best friends, Al Manheim, the narrator in What Makes Sammy Run?, acknowledges that his friend has little to nothing to do with the world of artists. Manheim even contrasts Sammy through his own work and through his general approach to life as a whole. In spite of his certainty regarding his qualities as a writer, Manheim lacks confidence when it comes to his ability to sell his work and loses his self-esteem as a result.
By feeling "more than once, an increased humility" (Deavere Smith xxii) at the time when she wrote the play, the playwright and actress expresses her personal convictions and makes it possible for readers to understand where she stands on art. Manheim considers that art is similar to a business where one needs successful people to act as representatives, while Deavere Smith considers it a philosophical concept that one must address without being interested in profits. In spite of partially agreeing with Sammy on the financial aspect of art, Manheim is much more modest than his friend and shares Deavere Smith's convictions concerning an artist's life.
Moral Principles and the Nature of True Art
Both Manheim and Sargent are attracted to the glamorous world of Sammy and are even willing to compromise their principles in order to remain within it. It is certainly difficult to determine whether they do so because they appreciate Sammy's lifestyle or simply because they want to remain close to their friend regardless of his determination to act immorally. It appears that these characters are not reluctant to sell themselves to Sammy, despite being well aware that they are worth far more than him as artists because of their genuine dedication to their craft. The two characters perceive Sammy as more than a simple opportunist and probably believe that he possesses an artist's personality — which is why they continue to appreciate him even in situations when they are disgusted by the choices he makes.
It is very important for an individual to have moral principles in order to consider himself or herself a true artist. Art is fundamentally meant to provide other people with something they can appreciate and something that fuels their inspiration. Deavere Smith claims that it is very important for an artist to collaborate with people from the environments he or she addresses. She believes that a successful artist must acknowledge the significance of people in his or her life, and she largely holds that a play is the result of a community collaborating and making it possible for an individual to produce a complex artistic work.
Deavere Smith's interaction with collaborators in writing a play does not consist only of moments during which she absorbs their ideas. She develops a strong bond with the people she works with in an attempt to understand more about the general context of the topic she addresses. These people are very important to her, as she acknowledges that it is almost impossible for someone to write a successful play without possessing a thorough knowledge of the subject they wish to explore.
Life provided Manheim with the opportunity to enjoy simple things, and his life as an artist made it possible for him to understand that one's ambition should relate only to the quality of his or her work. He did not consider money essential to happiness and thus came to be far richer than Sammy by the end of the story. Being a true artist apparently provides people with the chance to appreciate life as it is.
It is likely that Deavere Smith would have adopted a different attitude had she encountered someone like Sammy. The fact that she places her work first makes it possible for her to understand art exactly as it is — unique. She expresses no interest in producing artwork for the sake of money, as she is more concerned with the effects her writing will have on people and with her own evolution as an artist. Manheim and Sargent know that they are artists but are unable to exploit that identity to its full extent. It is very probable that they think similarly to Deavere Smith and simply enjoy making art for the thrill that comes with it.
Sidney Fineman appreciates talent and initially believes that Sammy is a very good artist. However, when he realizes he has been deceived, he is unable to recover his losses and comes to acknowledge that an artist does not belong in a business environment. Deavere Smith, by contrast, is largely confident in her identity and is reluctant to yield to society's values. Even though she appears uninterested in profits, she does not hesitate to take full advantage of her work, as she feels it is perfectly natural to be rewarded for the ideas she brings into the world.
Conclusion: Literature, Inspiration, and Artistic Integrity
Literature is — and has always been — an essential segment of society, given that practically anyone can claim that a certain text has caught his or her attention at a particular moment during his or her life. This domain provides individuals with the opportunity to discover a philosophical environment that enriches their personal knowledge through interpreting an author's point of view on a particular matter. Art and literature are very important in helping people search for inspiration or simply in presenting something captivating when they feel disengaged from their daily routines.
Works Cited
Deavere Smith, Anna. Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992. Dramatists Play Service, 2003.
Schulberg, Budd. What Makes Sammy Run? Random House, 2002.
Create your account
Always verify citation format against your institution’s current style guide requirements.