All My Sons
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
All My Sons
Written by
Arthur Miller
Joe Keller
Kate Keller
Chris Keller
Ann Deever
Characters
George Deever
Frank Lubey
Lydia Lubey
Jim Bayliss
Sue Bayliss
Bert
Original language English
Setting
The Keller's yard in late August, 1946
IBDB profile
All My Sons is a 1947 play by Arthur Miller.[1] The play was twice adapted for film;
in 1948, and again in 1986.
The play, which opened on Broadway at the Coronet Theatre in New York City on
January 29, 1947, closed on November 8, 1947 and ran for 328 performances, was
awarded the 1947 Tony Award for Best Authored Play.[2] It was directed by Elia
Kazan (to whom it is dedicated) and won the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award,
beating Eugene O’Neill’s The Iceman Cometh. It starred Ed Begley, Beth Miller,
Arthur Kennedy, and Karl Malden and won both the Tony Award for Best Play and
the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play.
Contents
[hide]



1 Background
2 Characters
o 2.1 Unseen characters
3 Synopsis
o 3.1 Act I
o
o











3.2 Act II
3.3 Act III
4 Timeline of events in the play
5 Links to Greek tragedy
6 Themes
o 6.1 Responsibility, Society and the Generation Gap
o 6.2 American Dream
o 6.3 Wartime Profiteering
o 6.4 Death
7 Arthur Miller quotation on All My Sons
8 1948 film
9 1986 film
10 Other adaptations
11 2008 Broadway production
12 References
13 See also
14 External links
[edit] Background
Miller wrote All My Sons after his first play The Man Who Had All the Luck had been
a complete failure on Broadway lasting only four performances. Miller wrote All My
Sons as a final attempt at writing a commercially successful play - if the play failed to
find an audience Miller had vowed to "find some other line of work."[1]
All My Sons is based upon a true story, which Arthur Miller's then mother-in-law
pointed out in an Ohio newspaper. The story described how a woman informed on her
father who had sold faulty parts to the U.S. military during World War II.
Henrik Ibsen's influence on Miller is evidenced from the Ibsen play The Wild Duck,
where Miller took the idea of two partners in a business where one is forced to take
moral and legal responsibility for the other. This is mirrored in All My Sons. He also
borrowed the idea of a character’s idealism being the source of a problem.[3]
The criticism of the American Dream, which lies at the heart of All My Sons was one
reason why Arthur Miller was called to appear before the House Un-American
Activities Committee during the 1950s, when America was gripped by anticommunist hysteria. Miller sent a copy of the play to Elia Kazan who directed the
original stage version of All My Sons. Kazan was a former member of the Communist
Party who shared Miller's left-wing views. However, their relationship was destroyed
when Kazan gave names of suspected Communists to the House Un-American
Activities Committee during the Red Scare.[1][4]
[edit] Characters
Joe Keller - Joe Keller was exonerated after being charged with shipping damaged
airplane cylinder heads out of his factory during WWII, inadvertently causing the
deaths of 21 pilots. For three and a half years he has placed the blame on his partner
and former neighbor, Steve Deever. When the truth comes out, Joe justifies his
actions by claiming that he did it for his family. At the end of the play he kills himself
in a sad attempt to rid his family of the problems he has caused them and perhaps also
to stop Kate from hating him.
Kate Keller (Mother) - Kate knows that Joe is guilty but lives in denial while
mourning for her elder son Larry, who has been MIA for three years. She refuses to
believe that Larry is dead and maintains that Ann Deever - who returns for a visit at
the request of Larry's brother Chris - is still "Larry's girl" and also believes that he is
coming back.
Chris Keller – Chris, 32, returned home from World War II two years before the play
begins, disturbed by the realization that the world was continuing as if nothing had
happened. He has summoned Ann Deever to the Keller house in order to ask her hand
in marriage, but their obstacle becomes Kate's unreasonable conviction that Larry will
someday return. Chris's idolization of his father results in his devastation when he
finds out the truth about what Joe did.
Ann Deever - Ann, 26, arrives at the Keller home having shunned her 'guilty' father
since his imprisonment. Throughout the play, Ann is often referred to as pretty,
beautiful, and intelligent-looking. She had a relationship with Larry Keller before his
disappearance, and has since moved on because she knows the truth of his fate. She
hopes that the Kellers will consent to her marriage with Larry's brother, Chris, with
whom she has corresponded by mail for two years. Ann soon finds out that the
neighbors all believe that Joe is guilty, and eventually finds out the truth after a visit
from her older brother George. Ann is the knowledge-bearer in the play: finally,
unable to convince Kate that Larry is gone forever, Ann reveals a letter from Larry
stating his intention to commit suicide having heard of her father’s imprisonment.
George Deever – George, 31, is Ann’s older brother: a successful New York lawyer
and WWII veteran, and a childhood friend of Chris. He initially believed in his
father’s guilt, but upon visiting Steve in jail, realizes his innocence and becomes
enraged at the Kellers for deceiving him. He returns to save his sister from her
marriage to Chris, creating the catalyst that destroys the Keller family.
Frank Lubey – Frank, 32, was always one year ahead of the draft, so he never served
in World War II, instead staying home to marry George's former sweetheart, Lydia.
He draws up Larry's horoscope and tells Kate that Larry must still be alive, because
the day he died was meant to be his 'favorable day.' This strengthens Kate's faith and
makes it much harder for Ann to reveal the letter to her.
Lydia Lubey - Lydia, 27, was George's love interest before the war; after he went
away, she married Frank and they quickly had three children. She is a model of
peaceful domesticity and lends a much-needed cheerful air to several moments of the
play.
Jim Bayliss – Jim is a successful doctor, but is frustrated with the stifling domesticity
of his life. He wants to become a medical researcher, but continues in his job as it
pays the bills. He is a close friend to the Keller family and spends a lot of time in their
backyard.
Sue Bayliss - Sue is Jim's wife: needling and dangerous but affectionate, she too is a
friend of the Keller family, but is secretly resentful of what she sees as Chris's bad
idealistic influence on Jim. Sue confronts Ann about her resentment of Chris in a
particularly volatile scene, revealing to Ann that the neighbors all think Joe is guilty.
Bert – Bert is a little boy who lives in the neighborhood; he is friends with the
Bayliss' son Tommy and frequently visits the Kellers' yard to play "jail" with Joe. He
only appears twice in the play. The first time he appears, his part seems pretty
unimportant , but the second time he appears his character gets more important as he
sparks a verbal attack from mother when mentioning "jail," which highlights Joe's
secret.
[edit] Unseen characters
Larry Keller - Larry has been MIA for some years at the start of the play, however
he has an effect in the play through his mother's insistence that he is still alive and his
brother's love for his childhood sweetheart. Comparisons are made in the story
between Larry and Chris with their father describing Larry as the more sensible one
with a "head" for business. At the end of the play, Ann reveals a letter written by
Larry pronouncing him committing suicide out of shame for what his father did.
Steve Deever - ("Peter Smell" in the 1947 movie) George and Ann's father. Steve is
sent to prison for the shipping of faulty parts - a crime which he and the successfully
exonerated Keller committed.
[edit] Synopsis
[edit] Act I
The Penguin edition of All My Sons
The play begins on a Sunday in late August 1946. Joe Keller is reading the Sunday
paper and talking to his neighbors, Dr. Jim Bayliss and Frank Lubey. Frank talks
about a horoscope for Joe's son Larry that he is compiling for Kate Keller, Joe’s wife.
Jim's wife, Sue, and Frank's wife, Lydia, each make brief appearances.
Ann Deever, the Kellers' former next-door-neighbor, has come to visit the family and
is asleep upstairs. While waiting for her, Joe and Chris talk about Larry's memorial
tree, which has blown down during the night. Larry was reported missing during
World War II and is presumed dead, as there has been no contact with him for more
than three years. Kate clings to the hope that he will come back, but Chris feels that it
is wrong to keep up such a pretence for her. Bert comes by to play jail with Joe and
runs off to patrol the neighborhood.
Chris admits to his father that he wants to marry Ann; however, Ann was Larry’s
girlfriend before he served in World War II, and since Kate does not believe Larry to
be dead, Ann is still technically "Larry's girl." By marrying Ann, Chris is effectively
pronouncing Larry dead, so Joe fears that Kate will object to the proposal of marriage.
Kate emerges and describes her nightmare from the evening before; it is about Larry
falling from his plane and crying her name. She objects when Chris tells her that the
family should try to forget Larry. Kate admits to Joe that she is suspicious about why
Ann has come to visit; she tells him that she knows that Ann believes with her that
Larry is still alive, and tells Joe that he must keep believing also. Bert reappears, but
is harshly banished by Kate.
When Ann finally comes down, everyone talks about how beautiful and mature she
looks, and the family engages in smalltalk until Kate asks Ann if she is still waiting
for Larry. Ann says that she is not, and realizes for the first time how deeply Kate's
hope runs.
It is revealed that Steve Deever, Ann’s father, is serving time for the deaths of 21
pilots who crashed over Australia due to the faulty cylinder heads shipped out by the
Keller/Deever factory in 1943. Keller insists that it was Steve's crime and recalls how
he successfully appealed against his conviction for the crime while Steve remained in
prison. Keller reacts strongly to Ann's conviction that her father is guilty. Ann has
refused all contact with her father since Larry was reported missing, and insists that
her father's actions may have related to Larry's death.
When Chris and Ann are left alone in the yard, they reveal their love for each other;
however, Ann senses that Chris seems somehow ashamed, and asks him to tell her
about it so their relationship can be an honest one. Chris recounts his experience of
losing his company during a battle in the War. He is still angry that at home, life has
continued as normal, and this affects his ability to accept the gift of having Ann.
Joe emerges and tells Ann that her brother George is on the phone from Columbus.
Joe tells Chris that he mustn't feel ashamed of the family money; then Ann comes out
and reveals that George is coming back to the house after visiting his father in prison
for the first time, and Joe is clearly worried.
[edit] Act II
As they come out, Chris is removing Larry's fallen tree and the family is inside
getting ready for dinner. Kate confides in Chris Keller's concern that George may
bring up the case again, and says she won't live through it if he does.
Ann emerges and is met with Kate's acerbic wit and Chris's assurance that they will
tell her of their marriage plans tonight. Sue Bayliss interrupts Ann's solo reverie by
searching for Jim, and they share a drink of juice. Sue asks Ann to move away from
the area if she and Chris marry because Chris’ idealism is negatively affecting her
husband Jim. Jim had always wanted to become a medical reseacher but never
followed through because Chris' idealistic ideas kept him from doing so. Sue implies
Joe's guilt and insists that Chris and everyone else know something about it. Ann
defends Chris, saying that he wouldn’t take money out of the plant if there was
anything wrong with it, but she becomes disturbed because Chris told her that the case
was all forgotten.
Chris reassures Ann by telling her he wouldn’t be able to forgive his father if he had
murdered the pilots. Ann's faith in Chris is restored, and they and Joe share
conversation in the yard. Joe offers Steve a job for when he gets out of jail, but Ann
insists that Joe owes Steve nothing and Chris refuses to have him at the plant.
Jim enters, having gone to pick George up from the train. He warns Chris and Ann
that George is angry and should be driven somewhere to talk, a proposition which
Chris promptly refuses. A loud argument ensues, in which George tries to convince
Ann that Chris knows Joe is guilty, having allowed his father to take the blame for
shipping the damaged parts, and Ann is caught between the two men that she loves,
unable to make them reconcile with each other. Kate enters, causing Chris and George
to halt their argument; she is extraordinarily happy about seeing "Georgie" and
pacifies him enough to settle everyone down for a time. Keller then enters; George
reluctantly greets him. Then Lydia emerges and her past relationship with George is
then revealed. Lydia has had three children and shows George the life on which he
missed out while he was serving in World War II.
Ann goes inside to call a cab for George, having insisted that he must leave on the
next train and not start a fight. Keller asks George about Steve and then argues that
throughout Steve’s life he never took responsibility for his own actions, so he must be
guilty now. Just when it seems that George is convinced and he agrees to stay for
dinner, Kate tells him that Keller has never been sick in fifteen years, thereby
disproving Keller's earlier alibi that he had the flu on the day that Steve allowed the
cracked heads to be shipped, and was not able to come to the office. George latches
on to this slip of the tongue and begins to interrogate Joe.
Frank rushes in with Larry's finished horoscope and asserts that the day Larry was
supposed to have died was his "favorable day" and he must therefore be alive
somewhere in the world. Kate believes him unhesitatingly and tells Ann that she
packed her bag and that Ann must leave with George. Ann insists that she will stay
until Chris tells her to go, and reluctantly tells George to leave, running after him to
try to make amends.
Chris tries to insist that he will marry Ann, but Kate finally tells him that if Larry is
dead, Joe killed him. Chris understands this to mean that Joe was guilty of shipping
the faulty parts. Which means that Joe would have been responsible for Larry's death.
Keller at last admits his guilt, but justifies his actions saying that if he had done it for
his family. And if he went that day the factory would have been shut down and he
would have lost money needed to support his family. Chris rejects this explanation,
telling Joe that his responsibility to his country sometimes outweighs that to his
business and family. Chris storms off, leaving Joe worn out and heart brokenly guilty.
[edit] Act III
Kate waits on the back porch for Chris- he took the car six hours before and has not
come back yet. Jim enters and consoles Kate before the entrance of Joe. Ann has
stayed in her room for those six hours: having seen Chris storm out of the house, she
now knows the truth about Keller’s guilt. Joe insists that Chris just doesn't understand
what responsibility for family means, and that Larry knew better what the business
was all about. Joe tells Kate that he did it all for her and their two sons.
When Ann emerges, she asks Kate to tell Chris that she knows Larry is dead, so that
Chris will no longer feel ashamed about his love for Ann. Kate still insists that Larry
is alive; Ann insists that she loved him and wouldn't have even considered marrying
anyone else if she weren't sure he'd died. Finally, Ann asks Joe to go into the house
and produces a letter that Larry wrote her the day he died; she tells Kate that she
didn't bring the letter to hurt the family, but both are devastated by the final
destruction of Kate's hope.
Chris returns and tells Ann and Kate that he is going away to Cleveland to start over;
he rejects Ann when she begs to go with him, saying that he can no longer bear to
look at his father but can also not bring himself to send him to prison as he deserves
and therefore is not a moral and strong enough man for her. When Joe enters, he
confronts Chris and they argue about Joe's guilt. Ann rushes forward and gives Larry's
letter to Chris; Kate tries to take it away from him and to prevent Joe from hearing it,
but it is too late. Chris reads the letter aloud: it describes how, upon learning about the
investigation into the incident and his realization of his father's guilt, Larry couldn't
bear to live anymore; he told Ann that he knew he'd be reported missing and that she
mustn't wait for him. All realize that Joe was responsible for Larry's death: Although
Larry's plane did not have a cracked cylinder head in it, Larry found out that his father
was not the kind of man he thought he'd been. He took his own life by crashing his
plane during a mission rather than face the disillusionment he could now see through.
On hearing this news, Keller goes inside the house to get his jacket and turn himself
in; but while Chris and Kate argue about sending him to prison and Ann watches the
results of the letter unfold, a shot is heard. Joe has committed suicide. Ann runs off to
find Dr. Bayliss, and Chris and Kate are left alone in a final tableau of their grief.
[edit] Timeline of events in the play
The precise date of events in the play are unclear, however it is possible to construct a
timeline of the back-story to All My Sons using the dialogue of the play. The play is
set in August 1946, in the mid-west of the USA with the main story set between
Sunday morning and a little after two o'clock the following morning.[5]








Autumn 1943: Joe allows Steve to supply the USAAF with faulty cylinder
heads which cause the planes to crash.
Autumn 1943: Twenty-one planes crash and Joe and Steve are arrested
November 25 1943: Larry crashes his plane off the coast of China having read
about his father's imprisonment.
1944: Joe is released from prison
Friday in August 1946: Ann visits Chris
Saturday in August, 1946: Larry's memorial blown down
Sunday morning in August 1946: George visits Steve
Sunday morning in August 1946: Opening of the play
[edit] Links to Greek tragedy
Arthur Miller’s writing in All My Sons often shows great respect for the great Greek
tragedies of the likes of Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides. In these plays the tragic
hero or protagonist will commit an offence, often unknowingly, which will return to
haunt him, sometimes many years later. The play encapsulates all the fallout from the
offense into a 24 hour time span. During that day, the protagonist must learn his fault
and suffer as a result, and perhaps even die. In this way the gods are shown to be just
and moral order is restored. In All My Sons, these elements are all present; it takes
place within a 24 hour period, has a protagonist suffering from a previous offense, and
punishment for that offense. Additionally, it explores the father-son relationship, also
a common theme in Grecian tragedies. Ann Deever could also be seen to parallel a
messenger as her letter is proof of Larry's death.
The Greek plays, and those of Shakespeare two thousand years later, are about kings,
dukes or great generals, because at that time these individuals were thought to
embody or represent the whole people. Nowadays, we do not perceive the upper
classes as most representational. When writers want to show a person who represents
a nation or class, they typically invent a fictional “ordinary” person, the Man in the
Street or Joe Public.
In Joe Keller, Arthur Miller creates just such a representative type. Joe is a very
ordinary man, decent, hard-working and charitable, a man no-one could dislike. But,
like the protagonist of the ancient drama, he has a flaw or weakness. This, in turn,
causes him to act wrongly. He is forced to accept responsibility - his suicide is
necessary to restore the moral order of the universe, and allows his son, Chris, to live
free from guilt and persecution. Arthur Miller later uses the everyman in a criticism of
the American Dream in Death of a Salesman, which is in many ways similar to All
My Sons.
[edit] Themes
[edit] Responsibility, Society and the Generation Gap
The play focuses on Joe Keller’s conflict of responsibilities, his responsibility to his
family and that to wider society. He originally believes that he is justified in sending
cracked cylinder heads and causing the deaths of 21 pilots, as this allowed his family
to make money and allowed his son Chris to inherit the family business.
Keller justifies his actions as he thinks he has a higher obligation to his family over
society, to Keller there is nothing greater than the family - "I'm his father and he's my
son, and if there's anything bigger than that I'll put a bullet in my head!" - and Miller
criticizes what he would consider a "myopic" world view.
The major theme of All My Sons is Arthur Miller’s belief that people have a wider
responsibility to the society in which they live, and this is something that Chris, Joe's
son, is aware of and believes in. Unlike his father, Chris feels society and other people
play a main part in a person's responsibility, as when he finds the truth out about his
fathers actions; he is horrified - "What the hell are you? You’re not even an animal,
no animal kills his own, what are you? What must I do to you? I ought to tear the
tongue out of your mouth, what must I do?" - and here it is possible Chris has become
a sort of spokesperson for Arthur Miller in the play. Keller seems to still not
understand his sons anguish, as his responses are "Chris...my Chris..."
Not until Larry's letter is revealed to him, does Keller finally see the point of view of
the next generation. Only after hearing Larry's letter does he reply to Chris' question
"Do you get it now!?" with "Yes...I think I do" and then lead into where the play's title
comes from when Joe Keller eventually realizes that "they were all my sons" in one
sense. Keller kills himself in the final few pages of the play, leaving Kate on her own,
the one thing she has always been said to fear, but the truth seems to give her a sort of
strength in itself, as she tells her hysterical son Chris in the last line of the play, to
"live...forget now...live" - finally freeing him of the obligation of living with any
feeling of responsibility for Keller's suicide.
Sources Needed
[edit] American Dream
All My Sons is a criticism of the American Dream. Joe Keller, a representative type
who would be considered an ordinary American, has lived through the Depression
and despite a lack of education he has been able to own a factory, which he hopes his
son will inherit. However, Keller’s quest for money leads to his responsibility for the
deaths of 21 American pilots.
Keller has apparently achieved the 'American Dream' - he lives in a 'comfortable'
house despite being an 'uneducated man.' Miller is emphasizing the hollowness of the
American Dream and that one should 'think about the consequences of our actions.'
However, this material comfort which Keller has worked to provide his family with
the very best is of little consequence. His strong family unit is an illusion - his wife is
ill, Chris is discontent and Larry has committed suicide as a result of his father's
narrow-minded and reprehensible decision. It is through the letter from Larry that
Keller realizes that he has not only killed one son but all of his sons, a theme which is
reiterated by the title of the play. In conclusion, the American Dream has become
more like an American Nightmare. Chris shows moral responsibility while his father
Joe shows intense family responsibility.
[edit] Wartime Profiteering
Another theme of All My Sons is wartime profiteering. As there were large contracts
when America entered the war on two fronts, the conditions were created for what
Arthur Miller described as profiteering on a vast scale. Chris Keller is particularly
angry that his selflessness in fighting in the war is contrasted by the selfishness of
those making money off the war.
[edit] Death
Death is another key theme in All My Sons. Kate Keller refuses to accept her son’s
death. She denies the possibility of this death for a long time. Recognizing the death
of her son would mean that she recognizes that her husband was responsible. This is
an issue that constantly weighs on Kate throughout the work. The tree is a symbol that
represents that Larry is still alive, and when the tree gets knocked down Kate still
refuses to believe that her son is in danger.
When Chris finds out his father is responsible for killing the 21 pilots, he replies "I
was dying every day and you were killing my boys" - and it is very notable Chris
refers to the pilots as 'his boys' and says 'I was dying every day'; making them closer
to himself and trying to indicate to the audience the extent of which he feels he has
moral obligation to society.