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All My Sons by Arthur Miller [Characters, themes and summary]

All My Sons written by Arthur Miller takes place during World War II after America joined forces with Great Britain against Germany. The time frame was from 1941 to 1947. All My Sons follows Joe Keller and his relationships with his family; specifically, son Chris Keller and wife Kate Keller.  

All My Sons by Arthur Miller

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Short introduction to the play All My Sons

All My Sons is a play written by Arthur Miller in 1947, and first published in 1949. It is widely considered to be one of his best plays, and one of the finest American dramas ever written. The story revolves around Joe Keller, a successful business man who is accused of knowingly sending defective airplane parts to his military during World War II and as a result causing 21 plane crashes with many deaths.

All My Sons takes place during World War II after America joined forces with Great Britain against Germany. The time frame was from 1941 to 1947. All My Sons follows Joe Keller and his relationships with his family; specifically, son Chris Keller and wife Kate Keller.  

Detailed introduction to the play All My Sons

The play "ALL My Sons" by Aurther Miller is divided into three parts. This play's some events take place before Second World War, some events take place during world war and some events happen after Second World War. This play is about the tragic conflict between family loyalties and the social responsibility. All the characters in the play are concerned  with the establishment and maintenance of family life. This play also shows the loss and memory, wealth and its accumulation. This play reflects post- Second World War American society; the belief that the acquisition of wealth and material possessions was part of American power.

The play “All My Sons” centers around two family members. One family is Joe Keller's family.  Joe Keller has a wife named Kate Keller and has two sons; Larry and Chriss. Another family is Steve Deever's family. Deever had a son Gorge and a daughter Ann.

Before world war second, these two families had sound relation. Joe and Steve were business partner. Larry, Chriss and George were best friends. Larry and Ann had already engaged. George also had a girlfriend named Lydiya. The two families had a good relation .

When the world war begun, three boys (chriss, George & Larry ) go in war. Their father, then, makes a plan to supply defective parts of Airplane. They earn large sum of money by supplying defective parts. Even during the Second World War the both families had good relation.

After the war, two boys, George and Chriss return home. But Larry didn't return. It was believed that Larry was killed in the war. But Kate Keller believed that her son would return.

Joe and Steve were arrested for supplying defective airplane parts. But, Joe accused his business partner Steve for all that and he was released set free.

The sound family relationship of Deever started to destroy. Steve's children hated their father for his crime. George was sad because his girlfriend married with other when he was in war. Keller family was also in grief because Larry was missing. Kate knew about her husband's crime but she hide it because she wanted to preserve her husband’s pride.

Introduction to the major Characters

All My Sons is set in a factory town in America. The major characters are Joe Keller, his two sons and his two wives. The main character of All My Sons is a middle-aged man called Joe Keller. He owns an aircraft factory that produces parts for military planes during World War II. His plant is shut down because of wartime regulations and he plans to re-open illegally using parts from another company under his name. Joe has a wife, Kate who lives with him but does not know about her husband's plan to break laws or about her son being involved in air accidents caused by faulty parts produced by Keller Aeronautics Factory.

Introduction to the Minor Characters

The play also has a number of secondary characters who play a minor role, such as George Deever, Tom Junior, Ann Deever, and Larry Blake. There is one additional character: Al Benson from whom most of Joe's lies spring. He is mentioned but never seen on stage; however he has an indirect presence in many scenes (directly or indirectly).

Major Themes in the play All My Sons

Two major themes in All My Sons are greed and family. Joe Keller is a self-centered, greedy man who lives solely for money. His first and only thought at all times is of how to make money from his business. He does not care about what happens to others as long as he can benefit from it somehow, whether that be financially or through recognition.

Introduction to individual characters

1) Joe Keller: He is the husband of Kate Keller and head of Keller family. He is the business partner of Steve Deever.

2) Kate Keller: She is the devoted wife of Joe Keller. She is hopeful for her elder son Larry's return from the war.

3) Larry keller: He is the eldest son in Keller family who was missing in second world war. He had been engaged with Ann Deever before he went to war.

4) Chriss keller: He is the youngest son in Keller family. He returned home from second world war. He was in love with Ann Deever.

5) Steve Deever: He is the head of Deever family. He had a son and a daughter. He is the business partner of Joe Keller. His business partner Joe Keller accused him for supplying defective airplane parts and he was sentenced to live in prison.

6) George Deever: He is Steve's eldest son. He was the friend of Larry and Chriss. He returns home from Second World War. He lost his beloved Lydiya Lubey who had already married with Frank when he was in war.

7) Ann Deever: She is the daughter of Steve Deever. She is 26 years old girl. She had engaged with Larry but married with Chriss after Larry's death.

8) Dr.Jim Bayliss: He is forty years old man. He is a doctor and husband of Sue Bayliss.

9) Sue Bayliss: she is  Dr.Jim's wife.

10) Frank Lubey: He is an astrologist. He is the husband of Lydia .

11) Lydia Lubey: In the past, she loved t George but later married  with Frank .

12) Bert: He is eight years old boy who complained about Tommy's word with Joe Keller.

Setting of the drama All My Sons

This play is set during and after Second World War.

This play takes place in the backyard of the Keller's house in the outskirts of an American town.

Other themes in the play All My Sons

All My Sons is a play about moral ambiguity, with each character showing shades of gray. In other words, we see how it’s possible for one person to do something good, and yet also do something bad. For example, Kate Keller likes Joe even though he deserted his family in wartime; at first she seems incapable of condemning him. But when she learns that Joe has begun manufacturing defective airplane parts (which cause soldiers to die) she tries to break up with him. She realizes that her relationship with Joe has been built on lies; by ignoring his past behavior and staying silent about her disapproval of it, she’s been just as dishonest as he is.

All My Sons also dramatizes one of author Arthur Miller’s key themes: guilt. The play follows a family as they struggle to deal with their connection to World War II and their survival during that time period. The parallels between past and present are deftly handled and leave us pondering our own role in society, how we act and how we should act. These ideas are cleverly brought out through character development, symbolism, and theme.

Final notes of All My Sons

The play "All My Sons" is based upon a true story about a manufacturer who sells faulty parts to the military in order to save his business. It is a tragic and classic play. It deals with the tragic conflict between family loyalties and the social responsibility.

All the characters in the play are concerned with the establishment and maintenance of family life. Joe Keller is the head. He has run a successful manufacturing business both during and after the Second World War. Joe cares primarily about the happiness of his wife Kate and his son Chris, who works with him in the family business.

Lary, another son, was lost in a plane crash that caused the kind of difficult choices and forced Joe and Steve into their fateful decision to allow the production of cracked parts for American plane. This play also reflects post-Second World War American society: the belief that the acquisition of wealth and material possessions was part of American power. Joe believes that he must acquire wealth in order to please his family and make something of himself in the world. The play also attempts to parse who is guilt for Lary's death.

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