All My Sons

by Arthur Miller

Book Overview

Joe Keller and Herbert Deever, partners in a machine shop during the war, turned out defective airplane parts, causing the deaths of many men. Deever was sent to prison while Keller escaped punishment and went on to make a lot of money. In a work of tremendous power, a love affair between Keller's son, Chris, and Ann Deever, Herbert's daughter, the bitterness of George Keller, who returns from the war to find his father in prison and his father's...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0822200163
• ISBN13: 9780822200161
• Release Date: October 1948
• Publisher: Dramatists Play Service
• Length: 70 Pages
• Weight: 0.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.2" x 5.3" x 7.8"

Customer Reviews

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The voice of conscience, morality, and idealism

The late Lord Bertrand Russell once said, "Actions have consequences." Arthur Miller makes it clear: Bad actions have bad consequences in his early play, "All My Sons." Set not long after the end of World War II, the play concerns big issues: life and death, and the necessity of living a moral life. The conflict pits the idealistic son, Chris Keller against his pragmatist father, Joe Keller, owner of a manufacturing plant that shipped out defective airplane parts during the war. As a result, twenty-one pilots died when their planes crashed. This early play foreshadows the disillusionment by the son of the father that plays so predominantly in "Death of a Salesman," the flagship of Miller's dramatic output. Miller also introduces the idealist's version of moral behavior. When younger son Chris discovers his father's flawed decision to continue production of cracked engine parts, he berates him for lacking the high caliber of character of which he thought his dad was made. His father sincerely asks Chris: "What could I do?" The key line and one which comes to fruition in "The Crucible" is "You could be better." Actions have consequences. Yes, I am revealing a key secret in the play, but it is the consequences of this revelation that is really the clincher of Miller's powerful morality play. That I will not reveal. But lack of idealism, lack of moral turpitude show the inner essence of a person. Everyone is born with this pure core. Time and circumstances chip away, a day at a time, a person's idealism. Only the few survive. Joe Keller has revealed a seriously hacked core; Chris's is still intact. But at what price? Two other stories deal with the consequences of idealism. Miller's The Crucible (Penguin Classics) shows John who can confess to witchcraft (although not guilty) and live, or deny his involvement, be found guilty, and die. He must sign a document; in doing so, he besmirches his name. Because of his idealism: "It is my name, I have no other," he cannot sign and thus dies. In the other story, Gone Baby Gone Casey Affleck's character believes it to be just to turn in the kidnapper and return the child to her neglectful mother and a probable miserable life, or leave the child with the kidnapper who would inevitably give the child a good home. Each decision shows the impact of idealism. Actions have consequences. Good or bad? Chris forces his father to acknowledge his misdeed by realizing he caused the pilots' deaths. Joe says, "Yes, they were all my sons." Even this is not the end of the misdeeds. Two other secondary plots involve moral choices and evil consequences when morality is not chosen. Ann Deaver, the girl next door who was engaged to the older brother when he went to war, and now recently engaged to Chris, must live with a flawed decision she made. The other plot line goes to Ann's father and the consequences surrounding him. "All My Sons' is a powerful play that holds up to scrutiny an American story of success at a high co

A conflicting emotional drama

A challenging aspect within great literature plays is to find out why the title was named so, whether the title is hidden metaphorically or literally. The title for Miller's first successful play, and not as well-knows as Death of a Salesman, derives from a line "they were all my sons", when the main character, Joe Keller, refers to the twenty-one P40 pilots killed because his company knowingly shipped out cracked cylinder heads. Although sent to prison for 14 months, he was exonerated, because he shifted the blame to his worker, Herb Deever, who still sits in prison. The emotional drama is lengthy and considered in the book series Best American Plays from 1945-1951 edited by John Gassner. The themes run gamut from family, employment, greed, betrayal, denial, lies, anguish and most of all, responsibility. The plot evolves, a twist here, and a turn there! Pain, sorrow and confusion permeate the mood. And like Miller's plays, there are lengthy emotional monologues. Set in the back yard of a home in an American town, it takes place in one long night and it opens as family keeps remarking on the tree planted for their 27 year-old son Larry, missing-in-action for 2 years, and some presume him dead. The broken tree keeps popping up throughout conversations as it is symbolic of the demise of the family. The night the tree breaks, the chain of action begins. Larry's girlfriend Anne is expected to come back to town, but now, she is about to marry Chris Keller, the other brother. The tension & conflict arises because, once childhood neighbors to the Kellers, Anne and her brother, George, now an attorney, are the children of the man, Herb Deever, the one who was forced to take the blame for the death of twenty-one pilots. Like most plays, they are always better than the movie versions, (if any). If you see an exact play performed, then it is worth it. ......But the books are always better....MzRizz I recommend two excellent Miller plays: A View from the Bridge (Penguin Plays): The Price (Penguin Plays)

The predecessor to 'Death of a Salesman'

Miller writes the tragedy of the ordinary citizen of America, the common man. The tragedy of the businessman Keller who is responsible for sending faulty parts to plane manufacturers leads to the death of many pilots. Miller is the master of writing of family relationships, of tensions , ambitions, betrayals. He writes here as in 'Death of a Salesman' of a son who discovers his own father's failings, and who is tragically destroyed by this. There is also as in many other Miller plays the implicit condemnation of the corruption of the 'capitalistic system'. The dialogue is that apparently simple colloquial which often becomes profound and moving. This play precedes 'Death of a Salesman' shares many of its themes, is not as powerful as it is.

War crimes

The action takes place in less than 24 hours. According to the introduction by Christopher Bigsby, Miller is most concerned with the fractures in relationships. The main character, Bigsby contends, Joe Keller, does not understand the social contract. In the opening it is established that Keller had two sons and now has one. His neighbor is a doctor. Keller lives in a substantial house with, it is evident, a tree-shaded yard. The doctor's wife wants him to treat patients to get the fees, even if the treatment is unnecessary. Kate Keller wants to believe the dead son, Larry, is coming home again. Chris, the remaining son, wants to confront his mother with the truth. Chris also tells his father he is going to ask his brother's fiancee to marry him. Ann has been in New York for three and a half years. Kate Keller doesn't understand why she is visiting now. His mother, Kate, surmises that Chris wants to marry Ann. Ann's father has been imprisoned for causing defective parts to be sold for military planes. The actual culprit is the owner of the business, Joe Keller. At an earlier stage in the drama Ann doesn't know her father is innocent. Chris was moved by the comraderie and loyalty of the men with whom he served in the armed forces. The doctor's wife tells Ann about Joe's perfidy. Chris had not yet learned part way through the action of the play that his father was responsible for the defective parts. Joe was acquitted at his trial. Ann's brother George tells her that Chris's father destroyed their family. It seems that Joe had told their father to weld over the defective cylinder heads. Joe wouldn't come down to see the parts. He was sick with the flu he claimed, but he promised to take responsibility. In court Joe denied making the phoned instructions. George wants to go and talk to Chris's father. Kate Keller tells Chris his brother is alive because if he's dead his father, Joe Keller, killed him. Through his mother's statements Chris learns that his father did have a role in releasing the defective parts. Joe Keller claims he kept the family factory profitable for Chris's sake. The writer of the introduction claims that the success of the play scared the playwright who had produced nothing comparable yet in his career when the play was produced in 1947. It is very very good. Nothing about it is dated.

YOU MUST READ THIS FORGOTTEN PIECE OF AMERICAN LITERATURE!!!

After searching long and hard for this book to complete my English requirement (I also had to read Miller's "The Crucible" and "Death of a Salesman") the payoff came when I finally got to read this highly suspenseful and fast-moving play. The characters are so real and the script reads like you would never imagine. This play is very good for two reasons: 1) It is interesting to read one of M iller's very first plays to see how he has evolved into one of the most famous playwrights ever. 2) The enlightening parallels to "Death of a Salesman" are very interesting and numerous. If you liked DOAS, then you will enjoy this play just as much, if not better.