BookRags Literature Study Guide

All My Sons by Arthur Miller

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Introduction
All My Sons, Arthur Miller's first commercially successful play, opened at the 1oronet ,heatre in 6e" Dork on Eanuary ':, ):BF# *t ran for G'; performances and garnered important critical acclaim for the dramatist, "inning the prestigious 6e" Dork /rama 1ritics' 1ircle A"ard# Miller's earlier play, The Man Who Had All the Luck 8):BB9, had not done "ell and had

?uickly closed< therefore, at the time All My Sons opened, Miller's reputation as a "riter "as $ased almost solely on Focus 8):BC9, his lauded novel a$out anti%Semitism# All My Sons is no" regarded as the first of Miller's maHor plays# ,he "ork also greatly helped the career of -lia @aIan, "ho had first "on accolades for his direction of ,hornton 3ilder's The Skin of Our Teeth in ):B' and after directing All My Sons "ould continue to "ork "ith the plays of $oth Miller and ,ennessee 3illiams to produce $oth legendary stage productions and important films# *n All My Sons Miller evidenced the strong influence of $oth +enrik *$sen and Greek tragedy, developing a >formula> that he "ould $rilliantly e2ploit in his ne2t play, Death of a Salesman 8):B:9, "hich many regard as his finest "ork#

Author Biography
Arthur Miller "as $orn on 4cto$er )F, ):)C, in 6e" Dork 1ity# +e spent his early years in comforta$le circumstances, until his father, *sidore, a prosperous manufacturer, lost his "ealth in the economic devastation of the Great /epression# After completing high school, Miller had to take a Ho$ in a Manhattan "arehouse# +e had not $een much of a student, $ut after reading /ostoevsky's great novel The Brothers Karama o! he decided that he "as destined to $ecome a "riter# +e had trou$le getting into college $ut "as eventually accepted at the Jniversity of Michigan, "here he $egan his apprenticeship as a "riter and "on several student a"ards for his "ork# After college he returned to 6e" Dork and "orked $riefly as a radio script "riter, then tried his hand at "riting for the stage commercially# +is first Broad"ay play, The Man Who Had All the Luck 8):BB9, closed after only four performances, $ut it did "in a ,heater Guild a"ard and revealed the young "riter's potential# +e had more success "ith Focus 8):BC9, a novel dealing "ith anti%Semitism# *n fact, at the time he "rote All My Sons 8):BF9, his first dramatic hit, he "as $etter kno"n as a "riter of fiction than as a play"right# All My Sons esta$lished Miller's standing as a $right and e2tremely talented dramatist# ,he play had a good run and "on Miller his first 6e" Dork /rama 1ritics' 1ircle A"ard# -ven the least favora$le commentators recogniIed the play"right's great promise# Miller follo"ed All My Sons "ith three of his most critically and commercially successful plays Death of Salesman 8):B:9, The "ruci#le 8):CG9, and A $ie% from the Brid&e 8):CC9# *n these "orks, Miller attempted to sho" that tragedy could $e "ritten a$out ordinary people struggling to maintain personal dignity at critical moments in their lives# 3ith these plays, Miller Hoined -ugene 4'6eill and ,ennessee 3illiams in "hat in the post%3orld 3ar ** years "as generally recogniIed as the great triumvirate of the American theater# Miller, a political leftist, gained some notoriety in the ):C(s "hen he refused to cooperate "ith the +ouse Jn%American Activities 1ommittee and "as held in contempt of 1ongress# From this e2perience he found thematic material for one of his most famous and controversial plays, The "ruci#le, "hich focuses on the Salem 3itch ,rials of )K:'# After the ):CC production of A $ie% from the Brid&e, Miller took a nine%year hiatus from play%"riting# *n the interim, Miller married and divorced the famous actress, Marilyn Monroe# +e did adapt one of his stories, The Misfits as a screen vehicle for his cele$rated "ife $ut did

not complete another Broad"ay play until ):KB, "hen $oth After the Fall and 'ncident at $ichy "ere produced# ,he former play, considered Miller's most e2perimental play, is also his darkest "ork, "ith many auto$iographical parallels# +is last Broad"ay success "as The (rice, produced in ):K;# After his ne2t play, The "reation of the World and Other Business 8):F'9, failed on Broad"ay, Miller stopped premiering "orks in 6e" Dork# +e continued to "rite plays, and enHoyed some success, $ut nothing that matched that of his earliest "orks# Many of his later plays "ere short one%act plays and "orks comprised of sketches or vignettes# +is greatest triumphs remain Death of a Salesman and The "ruci#le# Both have $een revived "ith great success# *n ):::, for e2ample, the 6e" Dork production of Death of a Salesman garnered four ,ony a"ards, including one for $est revival and one for $est direction# At the age of eighty%four, Miller "as also presented "ith a special, lifetime achievement a"ard for his great contri$utions to the American theater#

Plot Summary
Act ne
,he play opens on a Sunday morning in August and is set in the $ack yard of the @eller home, located on the outskirts of an unidentified American to"n, a couple of years after the end of 3orld 3ar **# Eoe @eller, "ho has $een reading classified ads in a ne"spaper, $anters pleasantly "ith his neigh$ors, /r# Eim Bayliss and Frank Lu$ey# +e e2plains that the apple tree had split in half during the night# *t is a source of some concern, for the tree is a memorial for Eoe's son, Larry, and its destruction might upset Eoe's "ife, @ate# Frank refers to it as Larry's tree and notes that August is Larry's $irth month# +e plans to cast Larry's horoscope, to see if the date on "hich he "as reported missing in action "as a favora$le or unfavora$le day for him# ,he men ask after the @ellers' visitor, Ann, the daughter of Eoe's former partner, Steve /eever, "ho once lived in the house no" o"ned $y the Baylisses# Sue, Eim's "ife, arrives and sends Eim home to talk on the phone "ith a patient# She is follo"ed $y Frank's "ife, Lydia, "ho reports a pro$lem "ith a toaster# Eoe's son, 1hris, comes from the house, and a neigh$orhood $oy, Bert, darts into the yard# Eoe amuses Bert in a role%playing game in "hich Bert is learning to $e a police deputy under Eoe's authority# +e has sho"n Bert a gun and they pretend that the $asement of the house is actually a Hail# After the others leave, Eoe and 1hris talk a$out the tree and the fact that @ate "as outside "hen it fell# She has never stopped hoping that Larry "ill return, still alive# +er failure to accept his death is a maHor o$stacle for 1hris, "ho hopes to marry Ann# @ate can only think of Ann as Larry's girl, and she can not accept a marriage of 1hris and Ann "ithout first accepting her son's death# 1hris's proposed solution, much to his father's chagrin, is to leave the @eller home and $usiness unless his father helps him make @ate accept Larry's death# @ate enters and muses over the significance of the fallen tree and Ann's arrival# She also speaks of a dream in "hich she sa" Larry and e2presses her $elief that the memorial tree should never have $een planted# -2asperated, 1hris talks of trying to forget Larry# She sends him off to get an aspirin, then tries to "ring from Eoe an e2planation for Ann's visit# She also discloses that if she "ere to lose faith in her $elief that Larry "as alive, she "ould kill herself#

1hris returns "ith Ann, and a tense confrontation almost immediately $egins# Ann pointedly reHects @ate's hope that Larry is still alive# She also divulges that she is un"illing to forgive her father, no" in Hail, as Eoe once "as, convicted of providing the Army Air Force "ith )') defective cracked cylinder heads# ,he parts "ere used in the engines of 0%B( fighter planes, t"enty%one of "hich crashed# Eoe, "ho "as later e2onerated, attempts to defend his former partner as a confused, some"hat inept >little man> caught in a situation that he did not fully fathom# Ann is unmoved and holds her father responsi$le for Larry's death# Det @ate kno"s the truth Eoe ordered his partner to "eld the cracked cylinder heads and hide the defect# After Eoe and @ate leave, 1hris confesses his love to Ann, and she ardently confirms her o"n for him# She is mystified $y his long delay in disclosing his feelings, and he e2plains that it took him a long time to shake free from a guilt he felt for his survival in the "ar# ,hey are interrupted "hen Ann is told that her $rother, George, is on the phone# As she e2its, Eoe and 1hris discuss the fact that George is in 1olum$us, visiting his father in Hail# Ann is heard talking on the phone, trying to mollify her angry $rother, "hile Eoe speculates as to the possi$ility that George and Ann may $e trying to open the criminal case again# 1hris placates Eoe, "ho shrugs off his concern and $egins talking of 1hris's future and telling him that he "ill help 1hris and Ann make @ate accept their marriage# Ann then comes out to tell them that George is coming to visit that same evening#

Act !"o
*t is late afternoon on the same day# @ate enters to find 1hris sa"ing up the fallen apple tree# After telling 1hris that Eoe is sleeping, she asks 1hris to tell Ann to go home "ith George# She is afraid that Steve /eever's hatred for Eoe has infected his children, and she "ants them $oth to leave# 3hen Ann appears, @ate returns to the house# Ann "ants 1hris to tell his mother a$out their marriage plans, and he promises to do so that evening# As he leaves, Sue enters, looking for her hus$and# She and Ann discuss Ann's marriage plans# Sue encourages her to move a"ay after her marriage# She is $itter to"ards 1hris, "ho, as Eim's friend, has tried to convince him to pursue "ork in medical research, a lu2ury that the Baylisses can not afford# 3hen Ann defends 1hris, Sue suggests that 1hris is a phony, given the fact that 1hris has greatly $enefited from Eoe's ruthless and unethical $usiness practices# She also tells Ann that everyone kno"s that Eoe "as as guilty as Steve /eever and merely >pulled a fast one to get out of Hail#> 3hen 1hris returns, Sue goes in the house to see if she can calm @ate do"n# Ann tells 1hris that Sue hates him, and that the people of the community $elieve that Eoe should $e in Hail# 1hris $elieves in his father's innocence and tells her that he can not put any stock in "hat the neigh$ors $elieve# Eoining them in the $ackyard, Eoe tells the young lovers that he "ants to find George a good local Ho$, and then announces that he even "ants to hire Steve /eever "hen he is released from prison# 1hris is adamantly opposed, $elieving that /eever had "rongly implicated his father, and he does not "ant Eoe to give him a Ho$# Eoe e2its# +aving picked up George at the train station, Eim Bayliss enters ?uickly from the drive"ay#

Eim "arns 1hris that George has >$lood in his eye,> and that 1hris should not let him come into the @eller yard# +o"ever, 1hris "elcomes George as a friend, $ut from George's surly $ehavior it is soon clear that he is angry# As a result of visiting his father, he is convinced that Eoe kne" a$out the cracked cylinder heads $ut ordered /eever to ship them any"ay, and he is no" intent on stopping Ann from marrying 1hris# +e presents his father's account of the day the cracked cylinder heads "ere made, $ut 1hris, $elieving in his father's innocence, tries to make him leave rather than confront Eoe and upset his mother# ,he tense situation is defused "hen @ate and Lydia enter the yard# After some amia$le recollections are e2changed, Eoe enters and asserts that Steve /eever only $lames Eoe $ecause Steve, una$le to face his faults, could never o"n up to his mistakes# George seems almost at ease, $ut "hen @ate makes a critical $lunder, inadvertently disclosing that Eoe had not $een ill in fifteen years, George is once again upset# Eoe's ali$i "as that he had $een home "ith pneumonia "hen the defective parts "ere doctored up and shipped out $y /eever< George realiIes that Eoe's ali$i "as a lie# Frank Lu$ey enters "ith Larry @eller's horoscope, "hich speculates that Larry is still alive# @ate "ants Ann to leave "ith George and has even packed her $ag# 1hris tries to make his mother see that Larry is dead, $ut @ate, kno"ing the truth a$out the defective parts, insists that he must $e alive# 4ther"ise, she $elieves that Eoe is responsi$le for his death# Finally realiIing the truth, 1hris angrily confronts his father, "ho lamely tries to defend his actions as >$usiness#> 1hris, profoundly hurt and disillusioned, $eats furiously on his father's shoulders#

Act !hree
*t is ' (( AM of the follo"ing morning# Alone, @ate "aits for 1hris to return# Eim Hoins her and asks "hat has happened< he then reveals that he has kno"n a$out her hus$and's guilt for some time# +e contends that he hopes that 1hris "ill go off to find himself $efore returning# Eim e2its Hust as Eoe comes in# @ate tells him that Eim kno"s the truth# Mean"hile, he is concerned a$out Ann, "ho has stayed in her room since 1hris left# +e talks, too, of needing 1hris's forgiveness and his intent to take his o"n life should he not get it# Ann enters and hesitantly gives @ate a letter that she had received from Larry after Eoe and her father "ere convicted# 1hris returns and tells his father that he cannot forgive him# Ann takes the letter from @ate and gives it to 1hris, "ho reads it aloud# 1omposed Hust $efore Larry's death, it tells of his plan to take his o"n life in shame over "hat his father had done# *t suddenly $ecomes clear to Eoe that Larry $elieved that all the fighter pilots "ho perished in com$at "ere Eoe's sons# +e then "ithdra"s into the house, and 1hris confirms his plan to turn Eoe over to the authorities# Suddenly, a shot is heard from the house# 1hris enters the house, presuma$ly to find his father's $ody# +e returns to his mother's arms, dismayed and crying, and she tells him to forget "hat has happened and live his life#

Act #$ Part # Summary

,his emotionally and dramatically intense play e2plores $oth the lies and the truths at the

heart of the various relationships "ithin the mem$ers of the @eller family# ,he play uses a central and po"erful sym$ol, deceptively straightfor"ard $ut po"erfully evocative dialogue and e2plosions of ra" emotion to e2plore themes relating to the nature and necessity of delusion, loyalty, and integrity# As Eoe sits in his yard and reads his paper, he and his neigh$ors, Eim and Frank, make small talk a$out the "eather and all the $ad ne"s the paper contains# Eoe comments that he only reads the "ant ads $ecause he's interested in "hat people "ant# ,hey also talk a$out the tree in the $ack of Eoe's yard, "ith their conversation revealing that it "as planted at the same time Eoe's oldest son Larry "as $orn, that it "as $lo"n do"n $y a recent storm, and that Eoe is an2ious a$out "hat his "ife @ate "ill say "hen she sees it# 1onversation also reveals that Frank is "orking on Larry's horoscope % @ate "ants to kno" "hether the date on "hich Larry died "as his favora$le day, $ecause Frank has told her it's nearly impossi$le for someone to die on such a day# 1onversation then turns to Eim's son, "ho "ants to $e a doctor in spite of his father's "ishes that he find another profession, and then to the $eautiful young "oman "ho's come to visit Eoe and @ate % Ann, "ho left a couple of years ago a thin girl and "ho has come $ack an attractive young "oman# Eim's "ife Sue comes in, saying he's "anted on the phone# ,heir affectionately $antering conversation reveals that Eim is a doctor and is tired of $eing pestered $y people# After Eim goes out to take the call, Frank's "ife Lydia comes in, asking Frank to repair the toaster# As he goes, the "omen make small talk a$out the tree and a$out Ann, and then Sue leaves# Lydia asks ho" Ann is, and conversation reveals that she "as engaged to Larry, that he died three years ago, and that Eoe has am$ivalent feelings a$out having $rought him into the "orld in the first place# Frank yells for Lydia to come $ack to the house# As she leaves, Eoe's son 1hris comes out of the house#

Act #$ Part # Analysis

,his section introduces several of the play's most important elements % its history, its mystery, its sense of atmosphere, and its key sym$ol# ,he history of the @ellers, their pasts as individuals and as a family, defines the play's action and its themes# *t's a rich, complicated history, layers of "hich are gradually peeled a"ay like layers of an onion to reveal the painful truth at its core# ,his, in turn, is one of the mysteries of the story % not only "hether Larry @eller died, $ut ho" and "hy# 3hat makes this mystery particularly compelling is that it unfolds "ithin the conte2t of "hat seems to $e everyday life, amid conversations a$out ne"spapers, $roken toasters, and $ad "eather# ,hese conversations can also $e interpreted as having deeper meaning# For e2ample, Eoe's passing comment a$out $eing interested in "hat people "ant is an ironic commentary on ho" later in the play he responds negatively to e2pressions of desire from $oth his "ife and his son % @ate for support in her $elief that Larry is still alive, and 1hris for freedom# Another passing comment "ith deeper meaning is Eim's reference to not "anting his son to $e a doctor, "hich can $e understood to mean that Eim doesn't "ant his son to have the kind of life he's ended up "ith# ,his is a mirror image of the "ay Eoe, as is eventually revealed, "ants 1hris to follo" in his footsteps in the family $usiness# ,he tree, the >family tree>, sym$oliIes this particular father!son relationship, one of several in the play, and is the previously mentioned key sym$ol of the play# *t represents not only the destruction of Larry's life, $ut also the destruction of the family's sense of security and "ell $eing over the course of the play# ,here are several important elements of foreshado"ing in this section# ,hese include the references to Ann and @ate, $oth of "hom play key roles in the unfolding of the action and the eventual revelation of the painful truth at the core of the @eller family history# Mean"hile,

the reference to the horoscope foreshado"s the moment later in the play 8Act ', 0art G9 "hen Frank reveals the contents of the horoscope#

Act #$ Part % Summary

As 1hris and Eoe make small talk a$out the paper, the tree, and Ann, Bert the neigh$or $oy comes in# +e and Eoe play their familiar game of police chief 8Eoe9 and patrol cop 8Bert9, "ith Bert reporting on various goings on in the neigh$orhood and Eoe telling him to keep his eyes and ears open for trou$le# After Bert goes, Eoe "orries a$out "hat @ate "ill say "hen she sees the destroyed tree# 1hris tells him she already kno"s, e2plaining that she "as out in the yard at four in the morning "hen it fell# Eoe realiIes she must have $een dreaming a$out Larry again, and he and 1hris discuss "hether they should have let her continue to $elieve Larry isn't dead# Eoe says @ate thinks "hat she does $ecause of the ne"spapers, saying that every day there's an article a$out a lost soldier coming home# 1hris deli$erately changes the su$Hect, telling Eoe that he invited Ann for a visit $ecause he intends to ask her to marry him# Eoe tells him that @ate "ill $e upset, since in her mind Ann is still Larry's girl# 1hris offers his opinion that Ann is over him, Eoe suggests that 1hris hasn't dated enough to kno" "hether he's making the right choice, 1hris says he doesn't "ant to date anyone else, and Eoe tells him to consider "hat his decision "ill do to @ate# ,his leads 1hris to angrily tell Eoe that he's leaving home and the family $usiness, "hich in turn leads Eoe to ask him to reconsider, "hich leads 1hris to ask him to find a "ay to help him stay< in other "ords, find a "ay to convince @ate that it's all right for 1hris and Ann to marry# @ate comes out, and after an affectionately angry tiff "ith Eoe a$out taking out the gar$age she sits and trims some fresh $eans, complaining of having a headache# She comments that all of a sudden she seems to $e surrounded $y reminders of Larry, and refers specifically to Ann and ho" she's $een loyal to him for so many years# She refuses 1hris's offer of an aspirin, saying that "hat's $othering her is more than a headache# She speaks at poetic length a$out ho" she "as "akened $y a vivid dream of Larry calling for her, heard the "ind, came outside, and sa" the tree $lo"n do"n# +er speech reveals that it "as planted as a memorial "hen Larry "as killed $ut that she never "anted it planted at all since she $elieves he's still alive# 1hris suggests it's time for all of them to get over Larry and his death, adding that perhaps the family should go out for a fancy dinner that night# @ate agrees, and 1hris goes in to fetch an aspirin# @ate asks Eoe "hat he kno"s a$out "hy 1hris asked Ann for a visit, hinting that she kno"s 1hris is interested in Ann, that she 8@ate9 refuses to accept the idea, and that she 8@ate9 $elieves Ann feels the same "ay as she does % that Larry is still alive# She demands that Eoe and 1hris act the "ay she does, "ith the $elief that he's coming $ack, saying there's meaning in the destruction of the tree the very night Ann came % that Larry is alive in the same "ay that Ann's and @ate's faith in him is still alive# She concludes $y saying that Eoe a$ove all needs to $elieve that# Eust as Eoe is asking "hat she means Bert returns "ith neigh$orhood ne"s# @ate speaks sharply to him, sending him home and telling Eoe she "ants him to stop the game# Bert goes as Eoe asks @ate "hat's "rong "ith her# She doesn't ans"er, and tells him again to stop it#

Act #$ Part % Analysis

Further layers of history and relationship are revealed in this scene, such as the reason for Ann's visit, @ate's feelings a$out Ann and Larry and 1hris, and the origins of the tree# Among the most note"orthy of these is @ate's interpretation of the relationship $et"een the destruction of the tree and Ann's visit# @ate's right, in that there is meaning in the Hu2taposition, $ut not the meaning she "ants and!or hopes for# As the action of the play

reveals, the relationship lies in the "ay Ann's visit is a catalyst for the destruction of the family's sense of peace, security, and safety, "hich as previously discussed is sym$oliIed $y the destruction of the tree# ,he other particularly note"orthy element of this scene is @ate's reaction to Bert and his game "ith Eoe# 4n a superficial level, it seems as though Eoe has the situation pegged % @ate's reaction is the result of her $eing upset a$out the tree and the memories of Larry that it $rings into her mind# 4n a deeper level, ho"ever, and "hen considered in relation to later revelations related to the @eller family's history, her reaction relates to the past and to the future as much as it does to the present# Specifically, the game triggers memories of a police visit to the @eller home several years ago and to her fear that another visit cannot $e avoided# +er reason for this latter fear is hinted at in her comment that Eoe, more than anyone, needs to $elieve that Larry is alive# +er reasons for making this comment are defined later in the play 8Act ' 0art G9, at "hich point it $ecomes possi$le to see that in his moment of asking "hat she means, Eoe kno"s e)actly "hat she means, $ut is essentially daring her to go further in her accusations# +e kno"s that if she does, the family's already shaky sense of security "ill corrode even further# +e also kno"s that she "on't, $ecause that sense of security is Hust a$out the only thing keeping her from cracking up completely#

Act #$ Part & Summary

Ann and 1hris come out of the house# Eoe, 1hris and @eller comment on ho" $eautiful she is# As she comments on ho" her old house ne2t door has changed, Eim comes out of that house and is introduced to her# Small talk a$out Ann's happy memories of her childhood is interrupted $y another call from Sue for Eim to take a phone call# As he goes in, Eim offers Ann a piece of advice % never, he says, count her hus$and's money, even in her mind# After he's gone, Ann suggests that the family go out that night, the "ay they did "hen Larry "as alive# ,his leads @ate to triumphantly point out to Eoe and 1hris that Ann still thinks of Larry# Ann asks "hy she shouldn't, and then comments on ho" strange it is to her that @ate has kept Larry's room Hust the "ay it "as, even to the point of keeping his shoes shined# @ate changes the su$Hect, and she and Ann chat a$out Ann's parents, "ith their conversation revealing that Ann's father is in Hail# Jna$le to help herself, @ate turns the conversation $ack to Larry, asking if Ann is still "aiting for him# Ann tells her she's not and 1hris tells @ate that @ate is $eing foolish for continuing to "ait, $ut @ate angrily says there must $e hundreds of mothers every"here "ho feel the "ay she does, adding that deep in her heart Ann must feel the same# Ann says she doesn't, and asks "hy @ate feels Larry is still alive# @ate says simply that some things Hust have to $e, and again insists that Ann feels the same "ay# Ann, no" upset, says she doesn't# Frank appears, greeting Ann like an old friend# ,hey talk cheerfully at first, $ut then Ann cuts off a reference to her father, $ecoming silent as Frank heedlessly refers to her father getting parole soon# 1hris firmly changes the su$Hect# Frank takes the hint and leaves# Ann asks the @ellers if the neigh$orhood is still talking a$out "hat her father did and a$out Eoe's involvement# Eoe assures her that they're not< saying the only one "ho talks a$out it is @ate# @ate, in turn, says the only reason it ever comes up is that Eoe continues to play the cops and Hail game "ith Bert# 1onversation reveals that Eoe "as in Hail for a time and that Ann remem$ers people shouting that $oth their families "ere murderers# 1onversation also reveals the crime Eoe and Ann's father "ere charged "ith they allo"ed faulty military e?uipment to pass inspection, and "hen the planes stocked "ith that e?uipment crashed, and the pilots "ere killed# Finally, conversation reveals that Eoe "as eventually e2onerated, came $ack home, re% esta$lished his $usiness, achieved greater success than ever, and no" plays poker "ith the men "ho called him murderer# 1hris speaks of him "ith admiration, and Eoe says he hopes

that "hen Ann's father gets out of prison, he'll move $ack to the neigh$orhood, saying it's the only "ay feeling against him can $e chased a"ay# 1onversation reveals that Ann's father $lamed Eoe for "hat happened, that Eoe has forgiven him, that Ann and her $rother have cut themselves off from their father, that 1hris feels as angry at him as they do, and that Ann carries "ith her the possi$ility that Larry "as one of the pilots killed as a result of the faulty e?uipment# @ate insists that Ann never say that again, saying as she goes into the house that Larry isn't dead and there's no reason for her to say or think it# Eoe tells Ann that Larry didn't fly the kind of plane that carried the faulty e?uipment, and then speaks at length a$out the high%pressure circumstances under "hich her father made the decision he did# 3hen his arguments don't seem to $e changing Ann's mind, Eoe seems a$out to lose his temper, $ut 1hris changes the su$Hect to their plans for a fancy dinner# Glad to not $e talking a$out "hat happened at the plant anymore, Eoe goes in to make reservations# 1hris and Ann are left alone#

Act #$ Part & Analysis

,his scene introduces the second of the play's central mysteries the unkno"n truth of "hat happened at the plant the day the faulty e?uipment "as produced# ,his mystery is developed in "hat might $e descri$ed as a more conventional "ay, as a kind of Higsa" puIIle in "hich $its of information are the pieces that are slo"ly and methodically placed side $y side to eventually create a "hole picture# ,his scene contains several important pieces of that puIIle< revelations of events in the pasts of Ann and the @eller family that, for $etter or for "orse, define their present states of $eing# *t's important to note the emotions arising in the characters as the result of those pieces of information coming to the forefront of the conversation# *n several instances the reasons for those emotions, and the actions arising from those emotions, are defined and!or e2plained $y later pieces of information# For e2ample, Ann's uneasy reaction to @ate's insistence that Larry is alive is colored and defined $y her 8Ann's9 kno"ledge of the true circumstances of Larry's death, kno"ledge revealed later in the play 8Act G, 0art )9# *n this sense, it's also possi$le to see Ann's pained insistence upon denying @ate's hope as a kind of implied emotional foreshado"ing, as opposed to a more active, incidental or ver$al kind# Another e2ample of this kind of foreshado"ing is Eoe's insistence that Larry could not have $een killed as a result of "hat happened in the factory that day, and his parallel insistence that Ann's father should not $e $lamed# Later in the play, it's revealed that Eoe is in fact the one responsi$le for "hat happened, "hich means that "hat's really going on for him here is an insistence that he 8Eoe9 not $e $lamed % "hich in psychological terms is actually an insistence that he not feel responsi$le# *n other "ords, his actions here are a form of self%delusion, a kind of denial that, as revealed $y the action of the play, he needs in order to survive# +is suicide at the end of the play defines ho" desperately he relies on that denial, "hich in turn means that his insistence on Ann's father's innocence here, and $y e2tension his o%n innocence, is a manifestation of that desperation, "hich is again, emotional foreshado"ing#

Act #$ Part ' Summary

Gentle, intimate conversation $et"een 1hris and Ann suggests that Ann kno"s "hy 1hris asked her to visit, and "hy she agreed to come, that they're $oth finally "illing and a$le to proclaim their love for each other# ,hey do, and then talk a$out ho" long they've $oth $een "aiting for the chance, and then kiss# Ann, ho"ever, says that 1hris kissed her as Larry's $rother and not as himself, hinting that even in his many letters to her there seems to have $een something a$out him that "as ashamed# 1hris says there "as, adds that his shame is tied

up "ith a lot of things, and then speaks at length a$out his time in com$at % a$out ho" in spite of seeing so many good men killed, he felt an a"akening of a sense of "orth"hile responsi$ility for and to his fello" human $eings# +e goes on to say that "hen he returned home and resumed "ork in his father's plant, he felt as though he didn't deserve either to live or to $e happy, and as though no%one he "as "orking "ith had $een changed $y the "ar, or had even paid attention to "hat "as happening# +e concludes $y saying he felt he didn't "ant to $e part of that life, and that for a long time he felt he didn't deserve to $e "ith Ann# Ann assures him he's got nothing to $e ashamed of, and that he should $e proud Eoe is such a success# 1hris vo"s to make a fortune for her# As Eoe comes $ack out from the house, Ann comments that she "ouldn't kno" "hat to do "ith a fortune# Eoe tells Ann her $rother George is in the phone# As she goes in to take the call, Ann and 1hris discuss "hether it's the right time to tell @ate a$out their feelings# 1hris suggests they "ait until after dinner# Ann goes into the house as Eoe asks 1hris "hat they're talking a$out# 1hris e2plains that he and Ann are getting married, $ut Eoe seems more concerned "ith "hat George is telling Ann, saying it's strange that after all these years of ignoring his father George has apparently gone to see him# 1onversation reveals that "hen he "as on trial, Ann and George's father insisted that Eoe "as responsi$le for everything# Ann's conversation "ith George is heard in the $ackground as 1hris struggles to assure Eoe that Ann thinks nothing of the kind# Eoe changes the su$Hect, talking a$out ho" he "ants to put 1hris's name on the $usiness, saying he "ants 1hris to enHoy the family's success "ithout shame# +e $ecomes tearful as he tells 1hris that he'll support him and Ann "hen they talk to @ate# Ann's voice is heard, insisting that George tell her "hat their father told him# @ate comes out of the house as Ann's conversation reveals that George is refusing to tell her, and that he intends to come do"n and confront them all# After she hangs up Ann comes out of the house to say George "ill $e there at around seven# She seems upset, and asks 1hris to take her for a drive# Eoe gives them the car keys, and they go out# @ate "arns Eoe that George is a la"yer, and that something must have changed for him to "ant to see his father# She seems shaken, $ut Eoe assures her there's nothing to "orry a$out# @ate insists that he tell her he's sure, he says he is, and @ate urges him to $e smart# 6o" furious, Eoe slams into the house, leaving @ate alone "ith her thoughts#

Act #$ Part ' Analysis

,he gentle, romantic interlude $et"een 1hris and Ann makes the thematically relevant suggestion that there is hope for the future if the past can $e transcended# ,here is deep $ut su$tle irony here, ho"ever, in that the hope rests on a misconception a$out the past# ,he struggle for Ann and 1hris to hold on it once the truth a$out the past is revealed defines one of the key lines of action of the latter half of the play# Another significant irony in this section can $e found in 1hris's comments a$out the sense of responsi$ility a"akened in him during com$at# ,he irony here is that his father, as the action of the play later reveals, in essence ignored his responsi$ility to his fello" human $eings "hen he allo"ed the defective airplane parts to $e released from the factory# 1hris's sense of responsi$ility serves as a defining contrast to his father's eventually revealed lack of responsi$ility, and highlights the negative $y emphasiIing the positive# As that interlude concludes, the rest of the section $uilds to the Act ) clima2%George's telephone call and, perhaps more importantly, Eoe and @ate's reaction to it# ,he call itself is a turning point, sending the action of the play in a different direction and setting a chain of events in motion that result in all the layers of delusion and falsehood $eing forci$ly peeled

a"ay to reveal the deeply trou$ling truth $eneath# ,hat moment of revelation is foreshado"ed in the dialogue at the end of the section $et"een @ate and Eoe# ,he heightened emotion of $oth characters is a vivid indicator of something having gone on in the past that they for "hatever reason are fearful to face# At this point in the play, it "ould $e reasona$le to infer that this >something> has to do "ith the incident at the plant, and "ith the ?uestion of "ho $ears responsi$ility for the conse?uences of that incident# *n that conte2t Eoe and @ate's mutual fearfulness and Eoe's anger simultaneously serve to foreshado" the revelation of the truth and create a sense of suspense a$out ho" and "hen that revelation "ill come# ,his sense is triggered $y the reference to George's impending visit, and $y the repeated references to the unusual nature of his visit to his father#

Act %$ Part # Summary

Later that night, 1hris sa"s apart the fallen tree# @ate comes out, in the middle of getting dressed for their fancy dinner, and commenting that there's more light on the house "ith the tree gone# After making small talk a$out ho" she's prepared George's favorite Huice and ho" Eoe is sleeping a long time, @ate tells 1hris he has to protect her and Eoe from George and his accusations of Eoe's involvement in the incident at the plant# *gnoring 1hris's suggestions that she leave the su$Hect alone, @ate "onders aloud "hether Ann, deep do"n, feels the same a$out the @ellers as her father and $rother# Before 1hris can ans"er, Ann comes out and asks ho" @ate is# @ate dismisses her concern and goes in# Ann and 1hris agree that no" is the time to tell @ate a$out their marriage and urge each other to remain calm# 1hris then goes into the house to finish getting dressed for dinner# Sue comes over from ne2t door, looking for Eim# Ann e2plains that he "ent to the train station to pick up George# Small talk a$out Sue's hus$and leads to conversation a$out Ann's impending marriage to 1hris, "hich Sue seems to think is inevita$le and "hich she definitely thinks is romantic# She also talks a$out ho" Eim feels trapped $y $oth his Ho$ and her money, and then a$ruptly asks Ann to make her home in another to"n "hen she gets married, e2plaining at length that $eing around 1hris makes Eim feel as though his life isn't as "orth "hile as 1hris thinks it should $e# Ann's resentment gro"s as Sue hints that the money 1hris is earning "orking for Eoe is tainted $y the incident at the plant, eventually stating outright that every$ody thinks Eoe tricked his "ay out of Hail# Ann hotly denies the suggestion, $ut Sue tells her it's the truth# She adds that she doesn't $lame Eoe for getting out of Hail the "ay he did, $ut that 1hris shouldn't $e so idealistic and self%righteous, given the tragic foundation upon "hich his family's good fortune is $uilt# 1hris comes in and asks Sue, a nurse, to go in and see if she can calm @ate do"n# As Sue goes, she comments that it "on't take long for @ate to get used to the idea of Ann $eing in the family, saying that Ann is the female version of him % Larry# 1hris indicates that he thinks a lot of Sue, $ut Ann angrily tells him "hat Sue really thinks of him and demands to kno" "hy he never told her "hat people think a$out Eoe, saying he told her everything "as forgotten# 1hris says he didn't "ant her to think her visit "ould cause any trou$le, and insists that if he thought "hat other people "ould think he "ould have left home long ago# Ann e2presses her concerns a$out George# 1hris reassures her that the community resentment of him and his role in the incident at the plant is gone, and she calms do"n# Eoe comes out of the house, having Hust "oken up# Bantering conversation $et"een him, 1hris, and Ann reveals that Eoe is the supervisor do"n at the manufacturing plant, and that he's $een thinking a$out offering George a Ho$, saying that if his and Ann's father 8Steve9 kno"s that he's got a ne" life "aiting for him "hen he gets out of prison, some of his $itterness "ill disappear# 1hris angrily insists that he doesn't "ant Steve in the plant# Eoe comments that he doesn't understand "hy Ann is so determined to think $adly of her father# 1hris asks "hat $usiness it is of his, and Eoe sharply says a father is a father and is "orthy of

respect# A moment later, he calms himself and apologiIes for losing his temper# Lydia hurries on, saying she's there to fi2 @ate's hair, and goes into the house# Eoe follo"s her, going in to get dressed#

Act %$ Part # Analysis

,his act $egins the slo", methodical, inevita$le process of $reaking do"n the @eller family's illusions a$out itself and its history# ,he more o$vious manifestations of this process include Sue's pointed comments a$out 1hris, and Ann's "orries a$out the community's reaction to her# A sym$olic manifestation can $e found in 1hris's cutting up the tree and @ate's comment that "ith the tree gone there's more light, $oth of "hich represent the "ay that "ith the family's illusions gone and!or going, the light of truth and integrity can finally shine clearly# A manifestation of this process that can only $e seen as such in hindsight at the end of the play is Eoe's offering Steve a Ho$# ,aken on its o"n, the moment can $e seen as a manifestation of generosity, compassion and forgiveness, and as such seem to $e intended to paint Eoe as a no$le, positive character# ,his impression is destroyed, ho"ever, $y the eventual revelation that Eoe and not Steve made the decision to release the faulty e?uipment from the plant# ,his circumstance gives a "hole ne" meaning to Eoe's action here, "hich in that conte2t can $e seen as an attempt to $ri$e Steve "ith a Ho$ to keep him ?uiet a$out "hat really happened that day# Mean"hile, Eoe's passing comment a$out his $eing the supervisor at the plant is a su$tle foreshado"ing of the revelation of the truth % specifically, Eoe's anguished story of ho" Steve came to him as his supervisor to ask "hat to do "ith the faulty e?uipment# Further $reakdo"n of the @eller family's illusions is foreshado"ed in the references to George, "ho appears in the follo"ing scene and serves as a catalyst for the final, complete destruction of the @ellers' illusions# 3ithin the conte2t of that destruction, 1hris's comment a$out fathers $eing "orthy of respect has a po"erful irony# 3hen, at the end of this act, 1hris discovers the truth of his father's actions, any respect 1hris once had for him disappears# 1hris clearly feels his loyalty and respect have $een $etrayed, "hich is another e2ample of the "ay in "hich his e2perience of his father parallels that of George's "ith Steve# ,he irony, of course, is that $oth e2periences of $etrayal come into e2istence as the result of Eoe's determination to avoid responsi$ility for his actions#

Act %$ Part % Summary

Eim comes in, having $rought George from the train station# +e suggests that Ann and 1hris take George out and talk "ith him some"here other than the house, saying George has come to fight and "orrying that @ate can't handle it# Ann says she'll take George for a drive, 1hris says she doesn't have to, and that no$ody's afraid of George# Eim says 1hris is $eing an idiot % and then George appears# 1hris greets him, telling him he's "elcome# George moves coldly a"ay from him as Sue comes out of the house, having seen to @ate# George speaks coldly to her and Eim, and they go $ack ne2t door# 1hris offers George some of the Huice @ate made for him and attempts to make small talk, $ut is re$uffed $y George's dis$elieving comments a$out ho" strange it is to $e $ack in the neigh$orhood# ,ension soon arises $et"een them, $ut is defused $y Ann, "ho asks "hen George started "earing a hat# +e says it $elongs to Steve, makes pointed comments a$out ho" time in prison has changed him, and makes it clear that he has no intention of letting Ann marry into the family that put his father in prison# Anger again threatens to flare up $et"een him and George and is again defused $y Ann, "ho asks George to tell her "hat's happened to make him so angry# +e speaks at length a$out ho" $adly he feels a$out ho" he and Ann cut off all contact "ith Steve, and then tells her Steve's version of "hat happened at the plant# +e

says Steve discovered the fla" in e?uipment, called Eoe 8his supervisor9 for advice on "hat to do, and "as told $y Eoe to cover up the defects and ship the e?uipment out# +e goes on to say Steve "anted Eoe at the plant to $ack him up, that Eoe couldn't come in $ecause he "as sick "ith the flu, $ut that he 8Eoe9 promised to take responsi$ility# +e asks Ann "hether she still plans to marry into the family, no" that she kno"s the truth# Ann starts to talk a$out ho" the court found Steve guilty, $ut George insists that she kno"s in her heart that her father isn't capa$le of doing "hat he did# All this time 1hris's anger is $uilding, to the point "here he threatens to thro" George off the property# George confronts him "ith the apparent parado2 that Eoe, "ho is so specific and detail oriented that he kno"s "hen every "orker uses the toilet, let go of control over his plant in the "ay he says he did# +e also challenges 1hris to say again that Steve, "ho every$ody kno"s "as timid and una$le to make decisions on his o"n, did e2actly that in this case# +e concludes $y saying that he feels different having heard the story from his father's mouth rather than through stories from the courtroom, and demands that Ann get ready to leave# 1hris asks Ann "hether she $elieves "hat George says is true# George says 1hris kno"s it's true< other"ise, he "ould have let his name go on the $usiness# +e then says he'll settle the ?uestion once and for all, unless 1hris is afraid of "hat he might find out# 1hris says he doesn't "ant it to happen no" $ecause @ate isn't "ell# George says to Ann that this is proof 1hris kno"s the truth and doesn't "ant it to come out# ,hey see @ate coming out, and Ann tells George that he'll have to leave soon and that she doesn't "ant him to say anything a$out her and 1hris's "edding plans# George says that Ann is leaving "ith him, $ut $efore the argument can continue any further, @ate comes out#

Act %$ Part % Analysis

Aside from the development and deepening of the contradictory perspectives on "hat happened in the past, the key note"orthy element of this scene is the development of the parallel $et"een George and 1hris# Both sons are clearly passionate a$out their fathers, devoted to preserving their integrity, and intent on seeing "hat they perceive as Hustice $eing done# ,hey are e?ually o$stinate, e?ually close%minded, and unfortunately, e?ually determined to place Ann in the middle of a conflict in "hich she has no real place# She definitely has a stake in the outcome of the argument, ho"ever, and this is a fact of "hich $oth George and 1hris are fully a"are# For each of the young men, her support is validation of his perspective % for each of them, if she $elieves him, he's right# At this point in the play, the audience is in essentially the same place as Ann# ,he contradictory stories are e?ually plausi$le on $oth sides, $ut it's interesting to note that the emotional $alance is clearly tilted at this point to"ards the @ellers# George's evident $itterness and apparent insensitivity are a clear and unsympathetic contrast to Eoe's apparent generosity of spirit and capacity for forgiveness# ,his state of $alance makes it even more shocking, therefore, "hen it's later revealed that George and Steve have $een telling the truth all along# An important ?uestion at this point is "hether George is right< "hether 1hris does some"here in his soul $elieve that Eoe is guilty and that's the reason "hy, for e2ample, he hasn't put his name on the $usiness# Later in the play "hen the truth comes out 8Act B, 0art B9, 1hris's deep sense of $etrayal seems to indicate that he truly $elieves Eoe is innocent# Later in the play, ho"ever, it $ecomes clear that his $itterness has $een made stronger from having $een suppressed in his su$conscious for so long# ,his idea is supported $y 1hris's comments at the $eginning of Act G, 0art ', in "hich he confesses to having suspected the truth a$out his father# +is earlier comments in Act ), 0art B a$out responsi$ility, "hich indicated that his reason for not "anting his name on the $usiness had to do "ith feeling un"orthy, are at least to some degree true# But ultimately, the core of "hat motivates and defines 1hris is that in

spite of his protestations of integrity he has in fact $ought into the @eller family lie as much as his mother and his father# George's reference to Eoe's claim of $eing sick on the day the fatal decision a$out the fla"ed e?uipment "as made foreshado"s @ate's accidental comment in the follo"ing section that Eoe hasn't $een sick in fifteen years, "hich in turn serves as the trigger for the final, e2plosive revelation of the truth a$out that day at the plant#

Act %$ Part & Summary

@ate greets George, and their conversation reveals that they have a long standing and deeply felt affection for each other# @ate impulsively suggests they change their dinner plans and stay in# Ann offers to help her prepare, $ut George comments that the train is leaving at ; G(# @ate takes this as an indication that Ann is leaving, $ut 1hris and Ann reassure her, "ith Ann inviting George to stay longer# 1hris says that if George "ants to go, he'll drive him, $ut if he stays there are to $e no arguments# @ate insists that she and George have no argument, plaintively commenting that they've $oth suffered in the same "ay and for the same reasons# She points out the shattered tree and $egins to e2plain ho" she sa" the "ind destroy it, $ut is interrupted $y Lydia, "ho runs in and greets George# ,heir conversation reveals that they once had a relationship, and hints that they $oth "ish they'd have had a chance to marry# @ate asks Lydia "hether she kno"s if Frank has finished Larry's horoscope, and Lydia goes to find out# As she goes, @ate teases George a$out ho" he shouldn't have let her go and tells him to move home, saying he should let Eoe help him get set up in a career and let her find him a "ife# George seems surprised to hear that Eoe "ants him $ack, $ut @ate tells him he's too fond of him to hate him# She talks at length a$out one of the girls she has in mind for him and the conversation seems happy and playful % $ut then Eoe comes out, and everyone falls silent# Eoe and George greet each other "ith false politeness, they make strained Hokes a$out ho" the to"n has changed, and then Eoe turns the conversation to Steve, "hom George says isn't "ell# 1hris tries to change the su$Hect, $ut $oth George and Eoe indicate they "ant to keep talking# Eoe tells George he "ants to give Steve a Ho$# George comments that Steve hates Eoe, and Eoe says he's sad to hear that even after t"enty years Steve is still una$le to take responsi$ility# Eoe recalls other instances in "hich Steve "ouldn't admit his mistakes, and comments that >there are certain men in the "orld "ho rather see every$ody hung $efore they'll take $lame#> Ann, "ho had gone in to call George a ca$, comes $ack to say the ca$ is on his "ay# She, @ate, and Eoe urge George to take a later train, and after a moment of consideration, George agrees# ,hey $ustle "ith plans and arrangements, and 1hris goes into the house to call a date for George# George comments that @ate and Eoe are the same as they "ere "hen he moved a"ay, healthy and strong# Eoe comments that he hasn't had time to get sick, and @ate comments that he hasn't $een sick in fifteen years# Eoe reminds her of the time he got sick during the "ar, and @ate agrees# George seems to realiIe something, and "ith increasing intensity repeatedly asks "hy @ate said Eoe never got sick# As $oth @ate and Eoe, "ith increasing panic, list the details of his sickness the day of the fateful decision at the plant, it $ecomes clear that Eoe's claim of having $een sick and therefore una$le to come in and $ack up Steve's decision to release the fla"ed e?uipment "as a lie#

Act %$ Part & Analysis

,"o key pieces of information are revealed in this section, one overtly and one indirectly# ,he first is Eoe's revelation of Steve's history of irresponsi$ility# 4n one level, this adds an important piece of information to the puIIle, and for a moment, it seems that the play's central

conflict has $een resolved % the incident at the plant "as Steve's fault# But "ithin the conte2t of the truth that's a$out to $e revealed, Eoe's revelation at this particular moment can $e seen as another of his attempts to deflect attention from his o"n guilt and responsi$ility# ,his makes his comment a$out people "ho "ill do anything to avoid taking $lame deeply ironic, in that he's denying responsi$ility in e2actly the same "ay as he's accusing Steve of doing# ,he comment is also an important piece of foreshado"ing, in that he's a$out to $e confronted "ith the $lame he's $een "orking for years to avoid# ,he important piece of information revealed indirectly in this scene can $e inferred from @ate's comment a$out Eoe having not $een sick# @ate is rela2ed, she's calm, her guard is do"n, and as a result the truth slips out % Eoe is never sick, and therefore "asn't sick that fateful day at the plant# Eoe's reminder a$out the flu is an attempt to return her to the story they've al"ays told, $ut the reminder and @ate's fee$le attempts to $acktrack are too late# ,he cat's out of the $ag, as the saying goes# George and the audience simultaneously put t"o and t"o together, and in that moment, the destruction of the @eller family's illusions a$out themselves $ecomes inevita$le# Both @ate and Eoe struggle desperately against that inevita$ility, @ate more so than Eoe $ecause she has a huge stake in preserving the fantasy if the truth $eneath it is revealed, she might have to face the even more painful truth a$out "hat happened to Larry# 4n a sym$olic level, the act of @ate pointing out the destroyed tree to George is a reminder of the tree's metaphoric representation of the @eller family's illusions, and defines that metaphor even further# Specifically, her reference to the "ind that destroyed the tree can $e seen as sym$olic of the "inds of destruction George unleashes on the @ellers $y insisting the truth not $e ignored#

Act %$ Part ' Summary

As George repeatedly asks Eoe "hat really happened that day, Frank rushes in "ith Larry's horoscope# @ate seiIes on the opportunity for distraction and tries to get George to listen to him# 1hris comes out and tries to get Frank to go a"ay, $ut @ate hushes him and lets Frank speak# Frank talks at length a$out ho" Larry couldn't $e dead $ecause the day he supposedly died "as his favora$le day# Mean"hile, the ta2i called $y Ann arrives# George tries to get her to leave "ith him, saying that after "hat @ate said a$out Eoe never $eing sick she 8Ann9 can have no dou$t a$out their father's innocence# Frank goes out to tell the ta2i driver to "ait, @ate tells Ann her $ag is packed, 1hris says she's not leaving, and George again reminds Ann "hat @ate said# 1hris hears this, suddenly realiIes the implications of the comment, and tells Ann to respond to him 8George9# Ann says she's staying, and "on't $elieve anything other than "hat 1hris tells her# 1hris then pushes George out to the ta2i, "ith Ann follo"ing and trying to calm him do"n# 1hris turns on @ate, "ho says she "ants Ann to leave $ecause she's Larry's girl# @eller tells her she's lost his mind# She slaps him and says Larry is coming $ack, 1hris is not going to marry Ann, and no$ody is going to let Larry's memory go# 1hris says he let it go a long time ago# @ate tells him if that's true, he has to let his $eliefs a$out his father go, saying that if Larry is dead then Eoe killed him# 4ver"helmed $y emotion, she rushes into the house# Eoe tries to convince 1hris he's not responsi$le for Larry's death, using the argument he used at the end of Act ), 0art G % that Larry never fle" the kind of plane that had the faulty e?uipment# Mean"hile, 1hris asks repeatedly "hether it's true that Eoe "as $ehind the decision to release the e?uipment# *n a rush of "ords and feeling, Eoe e2plains that he did "hat he did $ecause of the demands of $usiness, of the "ar, and of providing for a family# +e says he never $elieved the e?uipment "ould actually $e used, adding that he "as sure the defects "ould $e noticed $efore it "as actually installed# +e concludes $y saying he did it for 1hris, to keep the $usiness going so that 1hris could and "ould have a livelihood# All the

"hile, 1hris repeatedly reminds him of the soldiers flying those planes# 1hris loses his temper and accuses his father of having no perspective $eyond that of the $usiness# At one point 1hris strikes his father, and then "onders "ith impotent fury a$out "hat he can do to make him see the true conse?uences of his actions#

Act %$ Part ' Analysis

*n this section, the past rages into the present "ith the destructive po"er of the "ind that destroyed Larry's tree# ,he play's dramatic tension escalates through a series of increasingly painful clima2es to the point "here the destruction of the entire @eller family seems inevita$le# ,hese clima2es $egin "ith Ann's refusal to $elieve George, the clima2 of George's efforts to get her to see things the "ay he and their father see them# ,he ne2t clima2 comes in the confrontation $et"een @ate and Eoe, in "hich @ate's long simmering "ith her hus$and comes to a $oil and e2plodes "ith a slap across the face# *t's important to note here that there are t"o core components to @ate's frustration Eoe's refusal to $elieve Larry is alive, and his insistence that the truth of "hat happened at the plant remain a secret $et"een George and Ann# A third clima2 immediately follo"s, "ith @ate $lurting out to 1hris the truth of "hat happened at the plant and delivering a potentially fatal $lo" to his feelings and illusions a$out his father# ,he fourth and final clima2, the highest point of emotional intensity and confrontation in $oth the act and the play, is 1hris's e2plosion of pained, $etrayed anger at his father# All his illusions a$out his father have $een destroyed, along "ith his illusions a$out his entire family# +is refusal to accept his father's e2planation, interestingly enough, echoes George's first reaction to Steve % there's the suggestion in the act's final moments that 1hris may very "ell reHect Eoe in the same "ay as George initially reHected Steve#

Act &$ Part # Summary

.ery late that night, @ate sits alone in the dark# Eim appears, having Hust returned from making a house call to visit a sick patient# +e comments on ho" craIy many of his patients are, and implies that much of their craIiness is the result of an o$session "ith money# 1onversation then turns to "hat happened after the fight $et"een Eoe and 1hris, revealing that 1hris stormed off and hasn't $een seen since, that Ann has locked herself in her room, and that Eim has al"ays kno"n the truth# +e goes on to say 1hris "ill someday come $ack to the family, $ut then adds that he hopes he "on't# +e e2plains $y recalling a time "hen he left home and "as happy doing "hat his soul seemed to $e calling him to do, $ut came $ack in response to a call from someone "ho needed him and hasn't $een happy since# As Eoe comes out and looks for 1hris's car, Eim tells him he thinks 1hris is in the park and goes out to look for him# Eoe says he doesn't like Eim getting so involved, $ut @ate tells him it's too late to "orry a$out him, that he already kno"s the truth# She tersely goes on to tell him he needs to face the truth and deal "ith $oth Ann and 1hris in terms of that truth, suggesting that if Eoe tells 1hris he's prepared to take responsi$ility for "hat he did and go $ack to prison they might $e a$le to heal their relationship# 3hen Eoe reacts "ith dis$elief, @ate tells him 1hris "ouldn't actually "ant him to go, that Eoe saying he %ould go "ould $e enough# Eoe accuses @ate of $eing $ehind the "hole thing, accusing her of "anting money too much# ,he implication is that he "ouldn't have made the decision he did, "hich he $elieves saved his Ho$, if @ate hadn't $een so insistent on having a lot of cash# +e goes on to say that if 1hris did something "rong he 8Eoe9 "ould forgive him % that's "hat father and sons do, and >if there's something $igger than that,> he says, >*'ll put a $ullet in my head># @ate comments that she doesn't kno" anything a$out 1hris any more,

commenting that she's heard he "as a real killer in the "ar $ut "hen he "as a child, he "as al"ays afraid# @eller compares him to Larry, "ho he says "ould have understood# +e collapses in sudden grief over the loss of Larry, and @ate comforts him# Ann comes out, and after making small talk "ith @ate a$out food, lays do"n the la" %she tells @ate and Eoe they need to $ring strength $ack to 1hris's life $y telling him they $elieve Larry is dead# She says this "ill set him free, that all the tension "ill end, and life "ill go on# Eoe agrees "ith her, $ut @ate refuses, saying that Ann "ill leave alone in the morning# Ann tells her she's convinced Larry is dead, and again @ate refuses to $elieve her# Ann tells Eoe to go into the house, and after a moment of indecision, he goes in# Ann, after telling @ate she had no intention to hurt her, sho"s her a letter from Larry that she $rought "ith her in case she had to use it to convince @ate or Eoe that Larry "as dead# @ate gra$s the letter as Ann tells her he "rote it Hust $efore he died# As @ate reads the letter, she moans in anguished grief# Ann comforts her, and then 1hris comes in#

Act &$ Part # Analysis

,his section of the play develops one of its secondary themes relating to various relationships "ith money# ,his theme "as glimpsed earlier in Eim's comments to Ann a$out counting her hus$and's money 8Act ), 0art G9, in Sue's comments a$out the "ay the money 1hris earns "orking for Eoe is tainted 8Act ', 0art )9, and in Eoe's repeated insistence that he's "orked as hard as he has to give his family a life and a future# Eim and Eoe's separate comments to @ate define the play's thematic statement on the su$Hect, that money can $ecome an unhealthy motivator of people's actions and e2periences# @ate's perspective on the "ay 1hris "ould react to the suggestion that Eoe go $ack to prison is yet another e2ample of the "ay the @eller family dynamic is anchored not only in delusion $ut on a lack of responsi$ility# @ate thinks she's doing "hat's $est for her family, $ut "hat she's really doing is reinforcing the falseness that's lived at the core of all their lives for years# ,here could very "ell $e the sense in the audience that there's no "ay 1hris could continue to live "ithin the family unit under these circumstances, and it's very possi$le that $oth @ate and Eoe share this perspective# At this point in the play, they're $oth clearly and desperately struggling to salvage "hat's left of their family# -ven less is left to @ate and Eoe "hen Ann appears "ith the final proof that Larry is dead# ,he e2act nature of that proof is revealed in the follo"ing section, $ut for no" it $ecomes clear that Ann, even more so than 1hris, is an em$odiment of honesty and courage, a po"erfully contrasting character to Hust a$out every other character in the play# She hasn't sold herself out the "ay Eim has, she doesn't live from a place of lies like Eoe and!or @ate, and she hasn't given in to anger and resentment like George or 1hris# She's got courage, she's got determination, and she's got integrity, the depths of "hich all are clearly revealed in the follo"ing, final section of the play# Eoe's reference to shooting himself foreshado"s the moment at the end of the play, "hen he apparently does e2actly that#

Act &$ Part % Summary

After e2plaining $riefly "here he's $een doing, 1hris tells @ate and Ann he's moving a"ay, confessing that he's suspected all along the truth a$out the incident at the plant and calling himself a co"ard for not doing anything a$out it# Ann promises to never hold his inaction against him, $ut he suggests there's no "ay she can keep that promise# She tells him if that's his $elief, he should do something a$out it# +e speaks at angry length a$out ho" Eoe "as only

doing "hat other people do in >the land of the great $ig dogs, you don't love a man here, you eat himL> Eoe comes in from the house and tries to force 1hris to talk to him# 1hris attempts to get a"ay $ut Eoe insists, telling him that if it's the money he's unhappy a$out he should do something to get rid of it# 1hris tells him the money isn't the pro$lem, and that he "ants Eoe to do the right thing# Eoe demands that he actually say the "ords, that he "ants Eoe to go to Hail# 3hen 1hris can't, or "on't, Eoe taunts him $y saying that he 81hris9 kno"s that's not "here he $elongs $ecause he also kno"s that everyone in the country "as making the same kinds of decisions# 1hris says he deserves to go to Hail $ecause he 81hris9 sa" him as something $etter % as his father# Ann takes the letter from @ate and gives it to 1hris# @ate tries to stop her, and then desperately urges Eoe to go a"ay# 1hris reads the letter aloud to Eoe, saying that it's proof of "here he 8Eoe9 $elongs# *n the letter, Larry refers to having heard the results of Eoe and Steve's trial a fe" years earlier, to his hurt and dis$elief at learning "hat Eoe did, and to his sense of $etrayal a$out ho" >every day three or four men never come $ack and he sits $ack there doing $usiness># +e says he's a$out to go on a flying mission "ith the intention of never coming $ack, tells Ann not to "ait for him, and concludes $y saying if Eoe "as there he 8Larry9 "ould kill him# Eoe tells 1hris to get the car, and goes in to get his Hacket# ,he implication is that Eoe is ready to return to prison# @ate tries to convince him to not $e foolish, saying Larry "ould never "ant him to do this# Eoe tells her that's e2actly "hat the letter is saying, adding that Larry may have $een his son $ut to him 8Larry9, all the soldiers that killed "ere >all my sons># +e says that he can see his point, and then goes into the house# @ate urges 1hris to try to convince Eoe to stay, $ut 1hris argues that if Eoe takes no responsi$ility then Larry's death means nothing to her# +e tells her that if Eoe goes to prison he and @ate "ill $oth have the chance to realiIe they have a responsi$ility to more than to themselves%they have a responsi$ility to the "orld# A shot is heard from inside the house# 1hris tells Ann to run and fetch Eim, and Ann runs out# @ate $egins moaning Eoe's name repeatedly# 1hris comes to her, saying he didn't mean to % $ut @ate cuts him off, taking him in her arms and telling him to not $lame himself#

Act &$ Part % Analysis

4n a purely story%telling level, the truths at the core of $oth the play's mysteries are revealed in this section# Larry is dead, Eoe is guilty, and $ecause of $oth these truths $eing unveiled, the @eller family's various illusions have $een completely destroyed# ,he devastating "inds of reality have destroyed the family's falsehood%$ased sense of peace and integrity, fulfilling the sym$olic foreshado"ing of the destroyed tree# 3hat's most important to note here is the play's clear statement of "hy those lies e2ist%in a "ord, capitalism< the dog eat dog "orld of money%making that $oth 1hris and Eoe refer to# *n essence, they're $oth saying they accepted the lies $ecause of the truth in "hich they came into $eing# Moneymaking "as!is part of the culture and the society in "hich the family lives, and in doing "hat he did, Eoe "as only responding to the needs and dictates of that culture# ,his is one of the play's key thematic points % that money, and society's intense focus on money, is corruptive and soul%destroying# Given that the play is unam$iguously set in America, this statement is clearly a comment on American culture, militarily and monetarily anchored as it is# ,he motif of relationships $et"een fathers and sons is repeated here in the comments of $oth Eoe's sons, Larry and 1hris, that they e2pected more from Eoe $ecause he "as their father and therefore relied on him to $e an e2ample of integrity and honesty# *n this moment, it's possi$le to discern another of the play's secondary thematic points % that the emphasis placed on the e2ample a father is intended to provide for his son is e2cessive and potentially damaging# ,he play seems to $e saying that fathers are as human as everyone else, and that for sons to see them as anything $ut is foolish and unHust to the father# 3hat's interesting here is that the play

also seems to $e saying that the reverse is true# For fathers to place too much hope and admiration on their sons the "ay Eoe did!does to $oth Larry and 1hris is e?ually foolish, and is paralyIing for the son and leading to at least the potential for disappointment in the father# 4ne last thematic point, relating to the ?uestion of responsi$ility, is stated "ith great po"er in this scene# ,his idea that individual responsi$ility doesn't end "ith Hust those individuals "ith "hom one is personally connected, $ut that it e2tends to the individual's responsi$ility to humanity as a "hole# ,his idea "as first e2plored in 1hris's comments to Ann in Act ) 0art B, in "hich he referred to having discovered that aspect to responsi$ility "hile in com$at# 1hris refers to it again here, in his insistence to $oth @ate and Eoe that they look outside their o"n family circle to understand the nature of responsi$ility# Larry's letter also refers to this idea, al$eit in a slightly more o$li?ue form# ,his idea, that each individual is responsi$le to all humanity and not Hust him!herself, is at the core of a key ?uestion a$out the play's final moments# *s Eoe's apparent suicide the ultimate taking of responsi$ility, or the ultimate reHection of it7 *s it a statement of guilt, or is it a refusal to face that guilt7 ,he ans"er lies in Eoe's comment in Act G 0art ), in "hich he says he'll put a $ullet through his head if there's something $igger than the loyalty and responsi$ility $et"een fathers and sons# *n its focus on the nature and depth of personal responsi$ility, the play is saying yes, there is something $igger# *n this final, climactic section of the play, Eoe is confronted "ith that responsi$ility, realiIes that he's $een "rong his entire life, can face neither the responsi$ility for that fact nor his lack of responsi$ility to humanity, and takes the easy "ay out# ,he final irony, of course, is that in her final "ords to 1hris, @ate tells him to do e2actly "hat Eoe has done % not accept responsi$ility for the conse?uences of his actions# 1hris is clearly at least in part responsi$le for Eoe having killed himself# By telling him to not accept the responsi$ility, @ate is essentially telling him to perpetuate the family history# *n the conte2t of the play's secondary thematic focus on the dangers of American culture's o$session "ith money, can also $e seen as the history of the dark side of the American dream % make money, cele$rate the success it $rings, and pay no mind to "ho or "hat may $e damaged as a result#

Characters
Annie
See Ann /eever

(r) *im Bayliss

Eim Bayliss is a close friend of 1hris @eller# +e and his "ife Sue $ought the house formerly o"ned $y Steve /eever and his family< this makes him a neigh$or of the @ellers# Although Eim suspects that Eoe is as guilty as his former partner is, he likes the @eller family# +e even tries to protect Eoe from a confrontation "ith George /eever#

Sue Bayliss
Sue Bayliss, Eim's "ife, reveals that the to"n kno"s the truth a$out Eoe @eller, and, unlike her hus$and, she $asically dislikes the family# +o"ever, her animus is largely directed against 1hris, not Eoe# She $elieves that he kno"s his father is guilty and has profited from the situation# As a result, she deems him a phony, and she deeply resents his friendship "ith her hus$and#

Bert
Bert is a neigh$orhood $oy# +e plays "ith Eoe in the $eginning of the play, pretending to $e a policeman# Bert's gulli$ility provides a comic counterpoint to the more serious gulli$ility of Eoe's son, 1hris, "ho $elieves in his father's innocence# Eoe has also sho"n Bert the gun "ith "hich, at the end, he kills himself# Ann /eever Ann is the attractive daughter of Steve /eever, Eoe's former partner# She is visiting the @ellers for the first time since her $oyfriend, Larry @eller, "as reported missing in action# She has $een invited $y 1hris< they are in love, much to the consternation of @ate, 1hris's mother# Ann $elieves that her father is guilty and has refused to visit him in Hail# She is perhaps $linded $y her love for 1hris, "hom she plans to marry# +o"ever, she carries "hat is in fact a suicide letter that Larry "rote to her $efore his final mission# /eeply shamed $y his father's conviction, Larry disclosed his ina$ility to live "ith the fact of his father's crime# 3hen @ate continues to refuse to $elieve that Larry is dead and tries to prevent her marriage to 1hris, Ann is forced to sho" her the letter# 3ith the Larry's final thoughts revealed, 1hris is forced to face his father's guilt#

George (ee+er
George is Steve /eever's son and $rother to Ann /eever# +e is a la"yer and a threat to Eoe @eller, "ho fears that he might try to reopen the case that put Eoe and his father in prison# After visiting his father in Hail, he confronts Eoe# George is convinced that Eoe destroyed his father and "as the real instigator of the crime# 3hen he discovers that Ann is in love "ith 1hris, he tries to persuade her to leave "ith him# @ate's kindness almost placates him, and he even seems ready to accept Eoe's version of "hat happened< $ut @ate inadvertently reveals that Eoe "as not sick "hen the defective parts "ere shipped and there$y confirms "hat his father had told George# +e storms off $efore 1hris is forced to face the truth and Eoe commits suicide#

Chris ,eller
1hris, at age thirty%t"o, is Eoe and @ate @eller's surviving son# +e is in love "ith Ann /eever, the former girlfriend of his deceased $rother, Larry# +e invites Ann to visit the @eller home so that he might propose to her# A veteran of 3orld 3ar **, 1hris no" "orks for his father, Eoe# Since $eing e2onerated and released from prison, Eoe has $uilt a very successful company# 1hris $elieves that his father is innocent, as he feels "as proved at the pardon hearing $efore Eoe's release# An idealist, he has a very strong sense of Hustice and responsi$ility, and he $ears a residual guilt for surviving the "ar "hen many of his friends died# +e also $elieves that one should $e guided $y the no$lest principles, and he tries to encourage his friend, Eim Bayliss, to leave his medical practice to pursue a higher calling in medical research# +is influence angers Eim's "ife, Sue, "ho $elieves that Eoe is guilty and that 1hris is a hypocrite#

Although his love for his father $linds him to the truth, "hen Eoe's guilt is finally revealed, he $elieves that he has no choice $ut to see to it that his father is returned to prison#

*oe ,eller
,he @eller family patriarch, Eoe is a self%made $usinessman "ho started out as a semi%skilled la$orer and "orked his "ay up in the $usiness "orld to $ecome a successful manufacturer# +e o"ns a factory, "here he employs his surviving son, 1hris# *nitially, Eoe seems like a very genial, good%natured man, almost like a surrogate grandfather to the neigh$orhood kids# +e is very outgoing "ith his neigh$ors, and has a disarming tendency to engage in some self%deprecation, noting, among other things, that he is not "ell educated or as articulate as those around him# *t is partly a pose, ho"ever, for he actually prides himself on his $usiness acumen# +is $usiness means a great deal to him, almost as much as his family# Jnfortunately, Eoe has sacrificed ?uite a $it for such success# /uring the "ar, he ordered his partner, Steve /eever, to cover cracks in some airplane engine parts, disguise the "elds, and send them on to $e used in fighter planes, causing the death of t"enty%one pilots# Although convicted, Eoe put the $lame on Steve and got out of prison# 3hen the truth is revealed a$out Larry's death, Eoe is at first un"illing to face the responsi$ility# Finally realiIing the conse?uences of his actions and his limited course of action, he commits suicide#

,ate ,eller
@ate is Eoe's "ife and the mother of 1hris# Although her older son, Larry, "as reported missing in action during 3orld 3ar **, she hopes that he has survived and "ill eventually return home# She hopes for this not only $ecause she loves her son, $ut also $ecause she kno"s the truth a$out Eoe he ordered his partner Steve to cover the cracks in the cylinder heads that eventually resulted in the death of several American fighter pilots# Although Larry never fle" a 0%B( fighter, @ate $elieves that Eoe must $e held accounta$le as his murderer# She is finally forced to face Larry's death "hen confronted "ith the letter that he sent to Ann /eever announcing his impending suicide# +er motives are hidden from 1hris, "ho earnestly "ants her to face the fact of Larry's death and move on "ith life# +e "ants to marry Larry's former girl friend, Ann /eever, $ut he kno"s he "ill not $e a$le to o$tain his mother's $lessing as long as she continues to hold on to her unrealistic conviction that Larry is still alive# @ate is a sympathetic character# She is kind and motherly, $ut the truth of her hus$and's guilt tortures her# As the pressure mounts, she develops physical symptoms of her inner agony# At the end, after Eoe shoots himself, she tells 1hris to liveM something she had not $een a$le to do since the death of her other son#

-rank Lubey
Frank Lu$ey is Lydia's hus$and# A ha$erdasher, he is perceived as flighty and socially inept# Gracious, intelligent, and attractive, Lydia makes him seem rather silly $y comparison# Frank, al"ays missing each draft call%up $y $eing a year too old, did not go to "ar# +e married Lydia "hen George /eever, her former $eau, did not return to his hometo"n from the "ar#

Frank's foolishness e2tends to his $elief in astrology, "hich "ould $e harmless enough "ere it not for the fact that he keeps @ate's hopes of Larry's survival alive "ith his insistence that Larry's horoscope could reveal the truth#

Lydia Lubey
Lydia is Frank's "ife# She is a charming, very pretty "oman of t"enty%seven, descri$ed $y Miller as a >ro$ust laughing girl#> Before George "ent off to "ar, she "as his girlfriend< "hen he did not return home after his father "as imprisoned, she married Frank, a dull alternative# 3hen George does come to confront the @ellers "ith his father's accusations, he is reminded of everything he lost# +e also kno"s that Lydia deserved $etter than she got#

Mother
See @ate @eller

!hemes
American (ream
*n a sense, All My Sons is a critical investigation of the ?uest to achieve material comfort and an improved social status through hard "ork and determination# *n the +oratio Alger myth, even a disadvantaged, impoverished young man can attain "ealth and prestige through personal fortitude, moral integrity, and untiring industry# Eoe @eller is that sort of self%made man, one "ho made his "ay from $lue%collar "orker to factory o"ner# +o"ever, Eoe sacrifices his integrity to materialism, and he makes a reprehensi$le decision that sends American pilots to their deaths, something he is finally forced to face#

Atonement and -orgi+eness

0arado2ically, Eoe @eller's suicide at the end of All My Sons is $oth an act of atonement and an escape from guilt# *t stems from Eoe's realiIation that there can $e no real forgiveness for "hat he had done# ,he alternative is confession and imprisonment# /eath offers Eoe another alternative# Forgiveness must come from @ate and 1hris# ,he letter "ritten $y Larry reveals that he deli$erately destroyed himself during the "ar, profoundly shamed $y his father's $rief imprisonment for fraud and profiteering# *t is a devastating irony that Eoe's initial attempt to do right $y his family%%resulting in fraud and the deaths of t"enty%one fighter pilots%% leads to destruction of his "orld#

Choices and Conse.uences

All My Sons employs a pattern that is fundamental to most tragedies# 0rotagonists in tragedy must, in some degree, $e held accounta$le for their actions# 3hen faced "ith a moral dilemma, they often make a "rong choice# Eoe, at a critical moment, elected to place his family's finances a$ove the lives of courageous American soldiers# ,he revelations that lead up to Eoe's tragic recognition of guilt and his suicide, the final conse?uences of his choice, are essential to All My Sons# ,here is a sense of anake, or tragic necessity, that moves the "ork along to"ards its inevita$le moment of truth and a"ful $ut

final retri$ution#

(eath
,he key in the tragic arc of All My Sons is @ate @eller's refusal to accept the death of her son, Larry# *nitially, prone to false hopes, it seems that she is in denial< finally, it is revealed that her need to $elieve that Larry is alive allo"s her to avoid the terri$le conse?uences of her hus$and's deeds# She realiIes that if Larry is dead, then Eoe is responsi$le for his death%% something Larry himself confirmed in his letter to Ann# All along, @ate kne" her hus$and's guilt $ut desperately avoided it, kno"ing that it "ould destroy her family#

(uty and Responsibility

Eoe @eller's sense of duty and responsi$ility is to the material comfort of his family and the success of his $usiness# At a "eak moment, under pressure, he puts these values ahead of "hat should clearly have $een a higher duty, his o$ligation to human life# +is fear of losing lucrative government contracts%%essentially his greed%%$linded him to the murder he "as committing#

/thics
Eoe's decision to send defective parts is not merely a result of ske"ed values, it is a serious $reach of ethics# Eoe does not fully comprehend ho" serious a $reach it is# ,o him, success is more important than anything else, including human life and the good of his country# By setting up this ethical situation, Miller clearly ?uestions the implications of a value system that puts material success a$ove moral responsi$ilities to others#

Guilt and Innocence

*n All My Sons, there are hints that Eoe is trou$led $y his guilt%%even $efore his eventual suicide# +is suspicions of Ann and George /eever reveal his fears of $eing forced to face the truth# -ven "hen he attempts to atone for his guilt $y helping his former partner, Steve /eever as "ell as /eever's son, George, his offer seems rather lame given the enormity of his guilt# ,here is no "ay he can atone for the deaths of the American fighter pilots, ho"ever, something that he finally realiIes#

Punishment
Eoe's death at the end of All My Sons is parado2ically $oth punishment and escape# *n one sense, Eoe can do no less than pay for his crime "ith his life# *t is not an empty gesture# *t is made a$undantly clear from the play's $eginning that Eoe is a man "ho is full of life and cherishes his roles as $oth hus$and and father# 3hen the truth comes out, Eoe has to face not only a return to prison $ut also the alienation of his remaining son and the destruction his family# /eath offers the only escape from that pain# *t may also $e seen as a sacrificial act, one "hich saves Eoe's son, 1hris, from further humiliation#

Re+enge
Fueled $y his anger over Eoe's guilt, George /eever comes to the @eller's house seeking revenge and retri$ution# +e is a maHor catalyst and intensifies the emotional tension of the

play# For a moment, @ate's friendliness and "armth placate him# 3hen, to"ards the end of the second act, @ate inadvertently confirms the pro$a$le truth of his father's accusations, George's anger returns# Eoe is then forced to reveal his fraudulent and deceitful actions#

Style
Clima0
All My Sons has a very traditional dramatic structure, "ith carefully orchestrated action that reaches a clima2# Although it may $e argued that each act has its o"n clima2, "ith a particularly po"erful one in the second act, the final clima2 occurs in the last act, "hen Eoe finally realiIes that he "as responsi$le for the deaths of the American fighter pilots, his >sons#>

Conflict
,ension in drama evolves from conflict# *n fact, conflict is virtually mandatory in "hat is termed the dramatic moment, "hether in a play or in fiction# A good play generally evinces a sense of a deepening conflict that heightens the emotional tension as the play "orks to"ards its climactic moment# 1onflict arises as a character strives to"ard a goal and is met $y an o$stacle to that goal# ,he key conflict in All My Sons develops as a result of 1hris's desire to marry Ann /eever# Standing in the "ay of his desire is his mother's a$ility to $lock the marriage< she opposes the union $ecause she cannot accept the death of her son, Larry# *f she accepts his death, then she must also face Eoe's role in it# *ronically, 1hris tries to enlist his father's help in this matter# 4n account of his love for Ann, 1hris pushes his family into facing truths that have tragic and destructive conse?uences#

/0position
-2position in drama is often more of a pro$lem than it is for "riters of fiction# Someho", information a$out past events and relationships must $e conveyed to an audience so that the action in the present can $e fully understood# Because All My Sons is a realistic play in "hich all the action occurs on the day in "hich the family crisis is met and tragically resolved, Miller has fe" options for revealing Eoe's fraudulent past# ,he action strictly adheres to a normal chronological order, allo"ing nothing like a flash$ack or the hallucinatory reveries of the main character so $rilliantly used $y Miller in his ne2t play, Death of Salesman* Miller's chief device is the reunion, the introduction of a character "ho needs to $e told "hat has transpired since that character's former estrangement# ,hat character is Ann /eever< inadvertently, she opens old "ounds $ecause of her familial relationship "ith Eoe's former partner, Larry# She also $ears the truth of Larry's death in a letter that he had "ritten to her# *n this "ay she is like the messenger of Greek tragedy "hose task it is to $ear in the pain of truth that "ill force the tragic recognition in the main character#

-oreshado"ing
Foreshado"ings of an impending disaster appear in the first act of All My Sons# ,he memorial apple tree planted for Larry is destroyed during a storm in the early morning hours, suggesting a dark force that has the po"er to destroy the @eller family#

@ate's response to the tree's felling at first seems odd# She says that it should never have $een planted in the first place# +o"ever, it is soon learned that she has desperately held on to the hope that Larry, reported missing in action during the "ar, is still alive# ,hat she suffers from the emotional $urden of her hope is revealed $y her sleeplessness and physical pain#

*n its "ay, even Eoe's role%playing game is a foreshado"ing# 0laying "ith Bert, they pretend that the @eller home is a Hail# ,his game suggests that @eller vie"s his home as a kind of Hail# 4n account of "hat he has done, he can not really $e free#

-ven the play's setting foreshado"s events# ,he $ackyard of the @ellers is pleasant and, initially, a happy place< $ut it is also rather insular, hidden from its neigh$ors $y the poplar trees that gro" on $oth sides# ,he trees stand like sentinels, protecting Eoe from the suspicions of his neigh$ors, most of "hom $elieve that he "as at least as guilty as Steve /eever#

Realism
All My Sons strictly adheres to the tenets of realistic drama as first put in practice $y such early modern play"rights as +enrik *$sen and Anton 1hekhov# Fundamental to such drama is faithfulness to real life in $oth character and action# 1haracters speak and act very much like real people# 6othing happens that could not happen in reality#

+o"ever, like the realism of most plays in the *$sen tradition, the realism of All My Sons is of a selective variety, deli$erately controlled to advance a particular thesis# Matters are rather conveniently dra"n to a climactic head on a single day "ith the visit of the t"o /eever si$lings, a coincidence that is nevertheless "holly "ithin the realm of plausi$ility#

Setting
,he setting of All My Sons, the @eller's $ackyard in a small Mid"estern to"n shortly after 3orld 3ar **, has a significant role in the play# ,he setting suggests comfort and isolation from the community# *solation is necessary $ecause the to"nspeople suspect the truth a$out Eoe, that he did "hat he had $een convicted of doing during the "ar# Det $ecause he is so successful and provides Ho$s in the community, they do not openly reproach him for it# /estructive forces threaten the setting# 6ature first invades, destroying the apple tree planted in memory of Larry# *t is follo"ed $y the >messengers, > Ann and George# At the end of the play, the yard is engulfed in the darkness of night, the destructive truth that leaves @ate and 1hris alone in the grim aftermath of Eoe's suicide#

!hesis
All My Sons is a thesis play that focuses on a pro$lem that Arthur Miller $elieved "as eating at the fa$ric of American democracy material greed# Miller's protagonist, Eoe @eller, is an affa$le and pleasant man "ith a strong sense of family loyalty, $ut his values have $een shaped $y a prevalent American $elief that human success and "orth can $est $e measured $y

ho" many things a person o"ns#

Eoe $elieves that his son's love is $ased on material concerns# ,he fact that 1hris "ants Eoe to atone for his crime finally forces him to recogniIe his guilt#

!ragic -la"
Eoe lets a love of materialism and fear cloud his moral compass# +e sets in motion events that have tragic conse?uences# Eoe fears failure in $usiness, as if, someho", failure "ould threaten the love and respect of his family# Jnder pressure, that fear leads him to make an ill% considered decision to put the lives of American pilots at risk $y disguising cracked cylinder heads and shipping them to assem$ly plants#

1nities
*n addition to $eing a realistic play, All My Sons has some characteristics of classical drama, nota$ly an adherence to the so%called dramatic unities of time, place, and action# First, it $asically o$serves the Aristotelian notion that the action should all occur "ithin a t"enty% four%hour time period# ,he action opens in the morning and ends in the early hours on the morning of the ne2t day# Second, the action all occurs in one locale, the $ackyard of the @eller home# ,hird, although the action is not continuous, "ithin each of the three acts the action is continuous, and the three acts are arranged chronologically, as is the standard practice in most realistic plays# Breaks $et"een acts are in part used to indicate the passage of time in the play's action#

2istorical Conte0t
*n March of ):BF, 0resident +arry S# ,ruman presented the ,ruman /octrine to the J# S# 1ongress# ,he ,ruman /octrine "as an anti%1ommunist declaration that "ould shape American foreign policy for over four decades# 3ith the 1old 3ar heating up, fears of an international communist conspiracy "ere rapidly gro"ing# ,he ,ruman /octrine "as meant to alleviate some of those very fears# ,he no" infamous +ouse Jn%American Activities 1ommittee 8+JA19 $egan its very visi$le investigations of alleged communist influence in +olly"ood, resulting in the Hailing and $lacklisting of "itnesses "ho refused to cooperate "ith investigators# ,he FB*, mean"hile, looked for evidence of communist infiltration in America< for e2ample, they concluded that Frank 1apra's classic 1hristmas film, 't+s a Wonderful Life, "as little more than insidious communist propaganda# ,o counter the gro"ing spread of communism in -astern -urope and Asia, the Jnited States took positive steps to help re$uild the "ar%torn countries of $oth its allies and its former enemies, including Germany and Eapan# 4n Eune C, ):BF, Secretary of State George Marshall announced his plan for the economic recovery of -urope# 3ith the Brussels ,reaty of March )F, ):B;, the 3estern -uropean Jnion, the forerunner of the 6orth Atlantic ,reaty 4rganiIation 86A,49, "as formed# Mean"hile, @ing Michael of Romania a$dicated, $ringing another -uropean country into the Soviet $loc# *ndia and 0akistan "ere granted independence from Great Britain# *n that same

year, Mother ,eresa left her Loreto order to move into the slums of 1alcutta to esta$lish her first school# *n Ros"ell, 6e" Me2ico, in Euly, ):BF, there "as a rash of JF4 sightings and the reported crash of an alien space ship, the $asis for "hat many still consider a lame government cover% up of the truth# Also that summer, Eackie Ro$inson, the first African American $ase$all player to play in the MaHor Leagues, had Hoined the Brooklyn /odgers and "as on his "ay to "inning the 6ational League Rookie of the Dear a"ard# *n cinema, -lia @aIan, the director of All My Sons, "on an 4scar for his direction of ,entlemen+s A&reement, a film a$out anti%Semitism# 1huck Deager $ecame the first human to $reak the sound $arrier in 4cto$er, ):BF# Breaking a different kind of $arrier, Bell ,elephone La$oratories introduced the transistor, the first important 0ost"ar $reakthrough in the evolution of microelectronics, fundamental in the development of the post%industrial, information%age technology of the late t"entieth century#

Critical

+er+ie"

All My Sons "as Arthur Miller's first successful play on Broad"ay# *n hindsight, it may seem that the "ork lacks the great imaginative force of his ne2t play, Death of Salesman 8):B:9, still "idely regarded as his masterpiece, $ut in All My Sons Miller certainly sho"ed that he could $oth use dialogue very "ell and construct a riveting drama in the tradition of social realism# Miller "as fortunate to have as his director -lia @aIan, "hose mercurial career "as then rapidly rising, and an e2cellent cast, headed $y -d Begley as Eoe @eller, Beth Merrill as @ate, Arthur @ennedy as 1hris, Lois 3heeler as Ann /eever, and @arl Malden as her $rother, George# *n most revie"s, the ?uality of the production "as recogniIed and applauded# ,he play chalked up a run of G'; performances and garnered the 6e" Dork /rama 1ritics' 1ircle A"ard# *t "as an impressive achievement for a ne" and virtually unkno"n play"right# ,he "ork did not receive uniform raves, $ut it did "in the approval of some influential critics, nota$ly Brooks Atkinson of the The -e% .ork Times, the city's most distinguished ne"spaper# *n his auto$iography, Time#ends Miller says >it "as Brooks Atkinson's campaign for All My Sons that "as responsi$le for its long run and my recognition as a play"right#> Among other things, Atkinson defended the play against those "ho took um$rage "ith Miller's depiction of an American $usinessman as one "ho puts material comfort and success a$ove moral responsi$ility# For Atkinson, the play "as >the most talented "ork $y a ne" author in some time,> and though he recogniIed the important contri$ution of @aIan and the cast to the play's po"er, he credited Miller "ith devising a >pitiless analysis of characters that gathers momentum all evening and concludes "ith $oth logic and dramatic impact#> Most revie"ers recogniIed Miller's great promise even "hile finding fla"s in the "ork# For Eoseph 3ood @rutch, the plot of the drama "as >almost too neat#> >,he pieces,> @rutch argued, >fit together "ith the artificial, interlocking perfection of a Hig%sa" puIIle, and to"ard the end one $egins to feel a little uncomforta$le to find all the implicit ironies so patly illustrated and poetic Hustice "orking "ith such mechanical perfection#> Moreover, @rutch took issue "ith Miller's >"arm respect for all the leftist pieties> and complained that the play"right's >intellectual convictions> are >more stereotyped than his dramatic imagination#> ,hat Miller imposed a classical structure on a social pro$lem play in the tradition of +enrik *$sen and Anton 1hekhov "as recogniIed $y his revie"ers, "hether leftist in sympathies, like

Atkinson, or conservative, like @rutch# ,he influence of $oth *$sen and 1hekhov is noted $y Eohn Mason Bro"n, "ho vie"s /r# Bayliss as a 1hekhovian interloper, and in the >spiritual stripteasing> of his main character, the use of sym$olism, and his digging into the past to reveal the present and >rush for"ard to a ne" clima2> the a$iding and persistent influence of *$sen# ,o some critics, All My Sons also reflected the influence of classical tragedy# *n the play, @appo 0helan "rote, Miller >attempted and delivered a tragedy,> and the play is, in fact, the play"right's first successful attempt to create "hat he "ould later call >a tragedy of the common man#> ,here are clear parallels to such Sophoclean tragedies as Oedi/us 0e), $oth in structure and techni?ue# Both leftist ideology and the classical influence "ould keep All My Sons in the limelight until Death of a Salesman replaced it as the cynosure of critical attention# 3ith that play, Miller came as close as any play"right $efore or since to demonstrate the validity of his assertion that tragedy is possi$le in a modern, egalitarian democracy# For that play, as "ell as The "ruci#le and $ie% from the Brid&e, All My Sons provided a firm foundation in $oth its theme of guilt and e2piation and its tragic elements and structure#

Critical /ssay 3#
Fiero is a (h*D*, no% retired, %ho formerly tau&ht drama and /lay%ritin& at the 1ni!ersity of South%estern Louisiana and is no% a freelance %riter and consultant* 'n this essay he considers All My Sons as Miller+s first attem/t to %rite %hat he %ould call a tra&edy of the common man, com/arin& it %ith So/hocles+s &reat tra&edy, 4edipus Re2# 3riting in ):':, almost t"o full decades $efore All My Sons opened on Broad"ay, critic Eoseph 3ood @rutch "rote a cele$rated essay entitled >,he ,ragic Fallacy#> +is thesis "as that modern audiences could not fully participate in the e2perience of tragedy $ecause the tragic spirit, so vital and alive in the past, had simply stopped haunting the human landscape# Modern man no longer had tragedy's re?uisite $elief, if not in God or some other po"er greater than man, then at least in man# ,ragedy, opined @rutch, depended on "hat he termed the >tragic fallacy,> the >assumption "hich man so readily makes that something outside his o"n $eing, some 'spirit not himself' % $e it God, 6ature, or that still vaguer thing called a Moral 4rder % Hoins him in the emphasis "hich he places upon this or that and confirms him in his feelings that his passions and his opinions are important#> Because of the >universally modern incapacity to conceive man as no$le,> @rutch maintained that dramatists could no longer create tragedies, only >those distressing modern "orks sometimes called $y its Ntragedy'sO name,> "orks that, rather than cele$rate a >triumph over despair> "hile e2hi$iting a >confidence in the value of human life,> simply depicted man's haplessness and insignificance# For @rutch, modern man's diminished stature makes a character like 4s"ald Alving of *$sen's ,hosts a far more >relevant> character than Shakespeare' s +amlet# @rutch essentially indicts his contemporaries for allo"ing the tragic light to fade from the universe# Arthur Miller, as he makes clear in his early plays All My Sons, Death of a Salesman, The "ruci#le, and A $ie% from the Brid&e, "as un"illing to admit that the light "as gone# For him, a tragic consciousness still e2isted, even in the most ordinary sort of people# As he "rote in his piece called >,ragedy and the 1ommon Man,> he $elieved that >the tragic feeling is evoked in us "hen "e are in the presence of a character "ho is ready to lay do"n his life, if need $e, to secure one thing his sense of personal dignity#>

Moreover, Miller claimed, >the common man is as apt a su$Hect for tragedy in its highest sense as kings "ere,> a heretical vie" for those critics "hose definition of tragedy "as largely delimited $y Aristotle's (oetics* 4rrin @lapp, pondering "hat he called Americans' >armor against tragic e2perience,> found a partial e2planation for it in the >actual shrinkage in the stature of the heroes $eing presented,> a reduction in human significance that made it almost impossi$le >to see them as having the dignity necessary to $e tragic#> For Miller, no$ility of soul is not contingent upon rank at all< it rather rests on an individual's moral integrity and, at the last, a "illingness to face the conse?uence of a fateful decision and shoulder its attendant guilt# All My Sons "as Miller's first attempt to "rite such a tragedy of the common man, and although "ith Death of a Salesman, his ne2t play, he made almost a ?uantum leap for"ard in techni?ue, in the former "ork he created a prototype for all his common%man, familial tragedies, including the latter# *n it he "elded features of classical tragedy to the realistic thesis play in the tradition of *$sen, maintaining a surface verisimilitude "hile advancing a plot designed in accordance "ith the logic of causality and plausi$le human motives# Academically at least, Sophocles seems to haunt All My Sons* As more than one critic has noted, the parallels $et"een Miller's play and the Greek tragedian's masterpiece, Oedi/us 0e), are readily apparent# 3# Arthur Boggs maintains, for e2ample, that like Oedi/us 0e), Miller's play is a >tragedy of recognition#> ,here is, of course, one maHor and o$vious difference the "orks do not share a commensurate tragic scope# ,he hamartia of 4edipus, the killing of his father, has conse?uences not Hust for his family $ut for the entire city state of ,he$es< @eller's hamartia, his transgression against a clear moral imperative, has primary conse?uences, at least among the living, only for his family and close associates# +o"ever, $oth 4edipus and Eoe @eller are patriarchs# Both are asked to solve a pro$lem, "hich, unkno"ingly or unconsciously, they have themselves created# And $oth must confront the truth, shoulder their terri$le guilt, and respond $y inflicting punishment upon themselves % 4edipus $y $linding himself and e2iling himself from ,he$es, and Eoe @eller $y taking his o"n life# Oedi/us 0e) and All My Sons share a similar pattern and structure, a common tragic rhythm# As Ro$ert +ogan notes, $oth "orks involve >the revelation of a criminal "hose crimes has occurred years earlier> and "hich has $ecome >the cru2 of the present action#> *n other "ords, $oth plays deal "ith untying the knot of a devastating and destructive truth that has $een the source of a sickness that cannot $e cured until it is recogniIed and faced $y the protagonist# ,he sickness in Oedi/us 0e), a plague, afflicts the entire community of ,he$es< in All My Sons, it takes the form of a family's failure to deal "ith the death of a son# Furthermore, $oth Oedi/us 0e) and All My Sons deal "ith the transgression of one or more universal ta$oos and thus have strong moral focus# *n the former, 4edipus violates ta$oos against incest and parricide< in the later, Eoe @eller >kills> his son, Larry, and his spiritual sons, the t"enty%one fighter pilots "ho die as a result of his actions# 4edipus must first discover the truth of "hat he has done, "hile Eoe must o"n up to the conse?uences of "hat he kno"s he has done and accept responsi$ility and guilt# Both protagonists in some sense lack kno"ledge, sharing a $lindness to truth that is only cured

"hen their ignorance, in a tragic recognition or epiphany, is sloughed off and they finally see clearly for the first time % even as their understanding destroys them# *ronically, their insight is the necessary recompense "ithout "hich tragedy has no positive meaning and no po"er to elate rather than simply depress an audience# Oedi/us 0e) comes from an age that accepted one premise alien to the modern mind the victimiIation of >innocent> offspring used against their parents as instruments of divine Hustice# *t is 4edipus' s unavoida$le destiny that he should murder his father and marry his mother, atoning for their affront to the gods# A ra" deal, perhaps, $ut 4edipus, "ho learns of his fate from the 4racle at /elphi as a young man, tries to defy the "ill of the gods $y averting his fate# 6ot kno"ing that he is only the foster child of the king and ?ueen of 1orinth, he flees that city and, ironically, runs headlong into his fate# +is defiance and resulting conviction that he has escaped his fate are evidence of his tragic fla", his hu#ris, "hich, parado2ically, is also the source of his greatness# Although Miller could hardly incorporate such a vie" of divine Hustice into All My Sons, he employs a modern parallel of sorts# Eoe's actions victimiIe his innocent sons, Larry and 1hris, $oth of "hom have ethical principles that could never condone "hat their father has done# Eoe also shares some of 4edipus's pride and arrogance# After leaving 1orinth, 4edipus had struggled to regain the princely stature he sacrificed in his attempt to escape his divinely% ordained fate# By virtue of his strength, he survives a fateful encounter on the road, un"ittingly committing parricide, and, through his intelligence, he solves the riddle of the Sphin2, $ecoming king of ,he$es and un"ittingly marrying Eoscasta, his o"n mother# As depicted $y Sophocles, he repeatedly displays pride in his accomplishments, his rise to the throne of ,he$es $y merit rather than influence, and displays almost paranoid suspicions to"ards his uncle and $rother%in%la", 1reon, "ho, he $elieves, is Healous and resents him# *n his mocking of the $lind prophet, ,iresias, "ho, he suspects, is part of 1reon's conspiracy to usurp the throne, he is nearly $lasphemous in his arrogance# Eoe @eller is also a proud man# ,hrough hard "ork, he has made his "ay up in the "orld, from semi%skilled la$orer to factory o"ner and $ecome one of the richest men in to"n# +e is confident in 1hris's faith and trust in him and cares little a$out "hat neigh$ors like Sue Bayliss $elieve a$out his culpa$ility in the matter of the cracked cylinder heads# +o"ever, his e?uanimity and affa$ility dissolve "ith the arrival of Ann /eever, and then her $rother, George# Like 4edipus, Eoe suspects the motives of others# +e mistrusts Ann, daughter to a man he left in prison to pay for "hat "as his o"n crime# ,he /eevers, ghosts from the past, are a threat to Eoe, not Hust $ecause of "hat their father might have told them $ut $ecause they can and do force a familial sho"do"n, something that Eoe has assiduously avoided# Ann and 1hris "ant to marry, $ut they "ill not as long as @ate @eller clings to her hope that Larry @eller is still alive# *f she must accept Larry's death, then she "ill hold Eoe responsi$le for it, something that neither @ate nor Eoe can face# ,he /eevers are like the Sophoclean messengers "ho $ear fateful information# ,hey confirm that Eoe ordered the "elding of the cracked cylinder heads and that he "as the cause of his son's death# Ann even $ears a letter from Larry, in "hich, shamed $y his father, Larry confides that he is setting out on a suicidal mission# George, on the other hand, is an interesting parallel to the messenger from 1orinth in 4edipus Re2, the one "ho comes to announce the deaths of the king and ?ueen of that city, temporarily allaying 4edipus' s fears and, there$y, $riefly turning the tide against the tragic direction of the play# ,here is a similar reversal in All My Sons, "hen George, disarmed $y the

amia$ility of @ate @eller, $egins to accept Eoe's account of his father as a "eak man, the one "ho made the sole decision to send on the defective airplane parts# 4nly "hen @ate inadvertently lets slip the fact that Eoe "as not sick on the fateful day does George $egin to confront Eoe again# ,he influence of classical tragedy on All My Sons also resonates in other "ays# For e2ample, the idea of destiny or fate is introduced $y Frank Lu$ey, the amateur and inept astrologer# +e tries to convince @ate that there is hope that Larry is still alive $ecause the day he "as lost in action "as, according to his horoscope, a propitious and fortunate day for him# ,here is also the virtual o$servance of the unities of time, place, and, to a degree, action, and a set that suggests the standard skene of Greek tragedy# For some of the critics of the play, Miller seemed to $e cro"ding such devices of tragedy into the some"hat unreceptive frame of realistic drama, Hamming them into a confused situation made more confused $y their inclusion or, as in the case of the letter in Ann's possession, making them a $it too convenient and coincidental to pass muster as a device suited to the pro$a$ility demanded $y realism# ,o Boggs, for e2ample, All My Sons lacks the precision and simple and direct focus of 4edipus Re2 and, therefore, fails# Still, All My Sons is the first effort $y one of America's maHor post%3orld 3ar ** dramatists, al$eit unconsciously, to contest @rutch's thesis of the impossi$ility of modern tragedy# Although in All My Sons he may not have succeeded according to critics, he at least succeeded in raising e2pectations# *n fact, many commentators came to $elieve that the play"right "as Hust one "ork shy of a masterpiece, "hich, t"o years later, graced the American theater in the guise of Death of a Salesman# Source4 *ohn 5) -iero$ for Drama for Students, Gale$ %666)

Critical /ssay 3%
Wells discusses the merits of Miller+s /lay as a %ork of social thesis, #ut the critic also contends that the /lay offers a &reater %ealth of themes than that sim/le assessment 2 includin& the /lay%ri&ht+s /ro#in& insi&hts into human nature* Looked at superficially, Arthur Miller's All My Sons may appear to $e simply a social thesis play# Such classification % a valid one if severely ?ualified % is suggested $oth $y the timeliness of the story and $y the presence of considera$le overt social criticism# ,he story itself is o$viously calculated to engage the so%called social conscience# Stated in the simplest terms, the play dramatiIes the process $y "hich Eoe @eller, a small manufacturer, is forced to accept individual social responsi$ility and, conse?uently, to accept his personal guilt for having sold, on one occasion during 3orld 3ar **, fatally defective airplane parts to the government# +o"ever, "hile this $are%$one synopsis is essentially accurate, it does, in fact, do violence to the actual comple2ity of the play# *n his "ell%kno"n essay >,ragedy and the 1ommon Man,> Miller comments, Our lack of tra&edy may #e /artially accounted for #y the turn %hich modern literature has taken to%ard the /urely /sychiatric, or /urely sociolo&ical**** From neither of these !ie%s can tra&edy deri!e, sim/ly #ecause neither re/resents a #alanced conce/t of life* 3hat is reflected here is Miller's o"n careful avoidance of the >purely> this or that# And it might similarly $e said that no satisfactory understanding of Miller's All My Sons may $e

derived from a criticism "hich commits itself to a >purely> or even predominantly sociological or psychiatric vie"# ,he sociological vie" is particularly limiting in that it carries "ith it the temptation to approach the dramatic action from the level of $road socio%cultural generaliIations and, conse?uently, to oversimplify character and action and, stum$ling among su$tleties of characteriIation, to accuse the play"right of a confusion of values "hich $elongs appropriately to the characters in their situations# Actually, like most of Miller's plays, All My Sons demands of the reader an a"areness of the deviousness of human motivation, an understanding of the "ay in "hich a man's $est ?ualities may $e involved in his "orst actions and cheapest ideas, and, in general, a peculiarly fine perception of cause and effect# 6o"here is it suggested that the social realities and attitudes that are $rought "ithin the critical focus of the play can $e honestly considered outside of some such conte2t of human aspirations and "eaknesses as is provided $y the play< and no"here is it suggested that the characters are or can $e Hudged strictly on the $asis of some simple social ethic or ideal that might $e deduced from the action# ,he characters do not simply reflect the values and attitudes of a particular society< they use those values and attitudes in their attempt to realiIe themselves# And it is these characteristics that give All My Sons, and other Miller plays, a density of te2ture so much greater than that of the typical social thesis play, "hich seeks not only to direct $ut to facilitate ethical Hudgments upon matters of topical importance# For most of us there is no difficulty in assenting to the a$stract proposition "hich 1hris puts to his mother at the end of the play .ou can #e #etter3 Once and for all you can kno% no% that the %hole earth comes throu&h those fences4 there+s a uni!erse outside and you+re res/onsi#le to it* And there is no pro$lem either in giving general intellectual assent to the morality of $rotherhood for "hich 1hris speaks# ,here is, ho"ever, considera$le difficulty in assenting to the actual situation at the end of the play, in accepting it as a simple triumph of right over "rong# For the play in its entirety makes clear that Eoe @eller has committed his crimes not out of co"ardice, callousness, or pure self%interest, $ut out of a too%e2clusive regard for real though limited values, and that 1hris, the idealist, is far from acting disinterestedly as he harro"s his father to repentance# Eoe @eller is a successful small manufacturer, $ut he is also >a man "hose Hudgment must $e dredged out of e2perience and a peasant%like common sense#> Like many uneducated, self% made men, he has no capacity for a$stract considerations< "hatever is not personal or at least immediate has no reality for him# +e has the peasant's insular loyalty to family "hich e2cludes more generaliIed responsi$ility to society at large or to mankind in general# At the moment of decision, "hen his $usiness seemed threatened, the ?uestion for him "as not $asically one of profit and loss< "hat concerned him "as a conflict of responsi$ilities % his responsi$ility to his family, particularly his sons to "hom the $usiness "as to $e a legacy of security and Hoy, versus his responsi$ility to the unkno"n men, engaged in the social action of "ar, "ho might as a remote conse?uence suffer for his dishonesty# For such a man as Eoe @eller such a conflict could scarcely e2ist and, given its e2istence, could have only one pro$a$le resolution# 3hen the "orst imagina$le conse?uence follo"s % t"enty%t"o pilots killed in Australia % @eller is nonetheless a$le to presume upon his innocence as esta$lished $efore the la"# For in his ethical insularity % an insularity stressed in the play $y the hedged%in $ackyard setting % he is safe from any serious assault of conscience so long as he can $elieve that the family is the most important thing and that "hat is done in the name of the family has its o"n Hustification# Det, he is not perfectly secure "ithin his sanctuary# +is apparently thick skin has its sensitive

spots in his un"illingness to oppose his "ife's unhealthy refusal to accept her son Larry's death, in his protest against Ann /eever's reHection of her father, in his insistence that he does not $elieve in >crucifying a man,> and in his insistence that 1hris should use "hat he, the father, has earned, >"ith Hoy ### "ithout shame ### "ith Hoy,> he $etrays a deep%seated fear# +is appeal on $ehalf of +er$ /eever 8Act *9 is in fact, partly a covert appeal on his o"n $ehalf, an appeal for merciful understanding called forth $y the shocked realiIation that some considerations may override and even destroy the ties of family upon "hich his o"n security rests# *t is 1hris @eller "ho, in reaching out for love and a life of his o"n, first undermines and then destroys this security altogether# 1hris has $rought out of the "ar an idealistic morality of $rotherhood $ased on "hat he has seen of mutual self%sacrifice among the men "hom he commanded# But he has not survived the "ar un"ounded< he $ears a still festering psychological "ound, a sense of inade?uacy and guilt# +e has survived to enHoy the fruits of a "artime economy, and he fears that in enHoying them he $ecomes un"orthy, condemned $y his o"n idealism# -ven his love for Ann /eever, the s"eetheart of his dead $rother, has seemed to him a guilty desire to take advantage of the dead to "hom he someho" o"es his life# As the play opens, ho"ever, he has decided to assert himself, to claim the things in life and the position in life "hich he feels should rightfully $e his, and as the initial step he has invited Ann to his family home# +is decision $rings him into immediate conflict "ith his mother, @ate @eller, "ho looks upon the possi$le marriage $et"een 1hris and Ann as a pu$lic confirmation of Larry's death# At first Eoe @eller seems only peripherally involved in this conflict< his attempt to evade 1hris's demand that @ate $e forced to accept Larry's death carries only am$iguous suggestions of insecurity# +o"ever, at the end of Act **, @ate, emotionally e2hausted $y the fruitless effort to use George /eever's accusations as a means of driving out Ann, and opposed for the first time $y the declared dis$elief of $oth hus$and and son, $reaks do"n and reveals the actual $asis of her refusal if 1hris lets Larry go, then he must let his father go as "ell# 3hat is revealed here is that @ate is fundamentally like her hus$and< only "hat is personal or immediate is real for her# *f Larry is alive, then, in a sense, the "ar has no reality, and Eoe's crimes do not mean anything< their conse?uences are merely distant echoes in an unreal "orld# But if Larry is dead, then the "ar is real, and Eoe is guilty of murder, even, $y an act of association, guilty of murdering his o"n son# +er o"n desperate need to reHect Larry's death against all odds and upon "hatever flimsy scrap of hope has $een the refle2 of her need to defend her relation to her hus$and against "hatever in herself might $e outraged $y the truth a$out him# Actually, ho"ever, @ate has >an over"helming capacity for love> and an ultimate commitment to the living "hich makes it possi$le for her to >let Larry go> and rise again to the defense of her hus$and at the end# *t is Larry living not Larry dead that she clings to, and she does this $ecause to admit his death "ould make $oth life and love more difficult# Moreover, as is generally true of Miller's important "omen, @ate's final loyalty is to her hus$and< to him as a living, su$stantial $eing, she, like Linda in Death of a Salesman, has made an irrevoca$le commitment in love and sympathy "hich no kno"ledge a#out him can destroy# 1hris, on the other hand, is incapa$le of any such surrender of the letter of morality in the name of love or mercy< he cannot, as his father "ould have him, >see it human#> At the rise of the curtain in Act **, 1hris is seen dragging a"ay the remains of Larry's memorial tree# ,he action is clearly sym$olic< 1hris, $ecause of his o"n needs, has determined to free the family of the shado" of self%deception and guilt cast over it $y the memory of Larry, to let in the light of truth# Det, "hen the light comes, he is less a$le to $ear it than the others# Ann, in the hope of love and marriage, reHects the seeds of hatred and remorse "hich her $rother, George, offers her, and @ate sacrifices the dead son to the living father# But 1hris has too much at stake< his life must vindicate the deaths of those "ho died in the "ar, "hich means that he

must maintain an ideal image of himself or else $e over"helmed $y his o"n sense of guilt# Because he is closely identified "ith his father, his necessary sense of personal dignity and "orthiness depends upon his $elief in the ideal image of his father< conse?uently, he can only accept the father's e2posure as a personal defeat# *t $ecomes clear in the e2change $et"een 1hris and George /eever 8Act **9 that 1hris has suspected his father $ut has suppressed his suspicions $ecause he could not face the conse?uences % the condemnation of the father, "hom he loves, and the condemnation of himself as polluted $y sharing in the illicit spoils of "ar# Det, this is precisely "hat the e2posure of Eoe @eller forces upon him, and Eoe's arguments in self%defense % that he had e2pected the defective parts to $e reHected, that "hat he did "as done for the family, that $usiness is $usiness and none of it is >clean> % all shatter upon the hard shell of 1hris's idealism not simply $ecause they are, in fact, evasions and irrelevant half%truths, $ut $ecause they cannot satisfy 1hris's conscience# 1onse?uently, even after Larry's suicide letter has finally $rought to Eoe a realiIation of his personal responsi$ility, 1hris must go on to insist upon a pu$lic act of penance# ,he father $ecomes, indeed, a kind of scapegoat for the son< that is, if Eoe e2piates his crimes through the acceptance of a Hust punishment, then 1hris "ill $e relieved of his o"n $urden of paralyIing guilt# +is love of his father and his complicity "ith his father "ill then no longer imply his o"n un"orthiness# *n insisting that Eoe must go to prison, 1hris is, in effect, asking Eoe to give him $ack his self%respect, so that he may $e free to marry Ann and assume the life "hich is rightfully his# But 1hris's ina$ility to accept his father >as a man> leads Eoe to $elieve that not only have his defenses crum$led $ut that the "hole $asis of his life is gone, and he kills himself# Because it forces upon the reader an a"areness of the intricacies of human motivation and of human relationships, All My Sons leaves a dual impression the action affirms the theme of the individual's responsi$ility to humanity, $ut, at the same time, it suggests that the standpoint of even so fine an ideal is not an altogether ade?uate one from "hich to evaluate human $eings, and that a rigid idealism operating in the actual "orld of men entails suffering and "aste, especially "hen the idealist is hagridden $y his o"n ideals# ,here is no simple opposition here $et"een those >"ho kno"> and those "ho >must learn,> $et"een those "ho possess the truth and those "ho have failed to grasp it, $et"een the spiritually "ell and the spiritually sick# Moreover, the corruption and destruction of a man like Eoe @eller, "ho is struggling to preserve "hat he conceives to $e a Hust evaluation of himself in the eyes of his son, implies, in the conte2t of the play, a deficiency not only in @eller's character $ut in the social environment in "hich he e2ists# @eller's appeal to the general ethics of the $usiness community % 'f my money+s dirty there ain+t a clean nickel in the 1nited States* Who %orked for nothin+ in that %ar5 *** Did they shi/ a &un or a truck outa Detroit #efore they &ot their /rice5*** 't+s dollars and cents, nickels and dimes4 %ar and /eace, it+s nickels and dimes, %hat+s clean5 % is irrelevant to his personal defense< yet, it is an indictment of that community nonetheless# For it indicates that the $usiness community failed to provide any su$stantial values "hich might have supplemented and counter%$alanced @eller's o"n limited, family%$ased ethics# From the $usiness community came only the impulse to "hich 1hris also responds "hen he feels prompted to e2press his love for Ann $y saying, >*'m going to make a fortune for youL> Furthermore, there is a sense in "hich @ate's "ords, >3e "ere all struck $y the same lightning,> are true< the lightning "as the e2perience of the second 3orld 3ar % a massive social action in "hich they "ere all, "illy%nilly, involved# *t "as the "ar that made it possi$le for some to profit $y the suffering and death of others and that created the special occasion of Eoe @eller's temptation, "hich led in turn to his son Larry's suicide and his "ife's mor$id o$session# 1hris @eller and George /eever $rought something positive out of the "ar % an

ideal of $rotherhood and a firmer, more $roadly $ased ethic % $ut George, as he appears in the play, is paying in remorse for the principles that led him to reHect his father, and 1hris's idealism is poisoned at the source $y shame and guilt, "hich are also products of his "ar e2perience and "hich make it impossi$le for him to temper Hustice "ith mercy either for himself or anyone else# Source Arvin R# 3ells# >,he Living and the /ead in All My Sons6 in Modern Drama, .ol# F, no# ), May, ):KB, pp# BK%C)#

Critical /ssay 3&

One of the most hi&hly re&arded drama critics of the t%entieth century, "lurman e)amines All My Sons in the conte)t of the other /lays of 789:, findin& that the %ork 6rouses and mo!es*6 A dramatic critic eminent among dramatic critics recently "rote an article "hich suggested that plays >a$out something> "ere generally duds# ,he article "as either very sly or very stupid# *t "as very sly insofar as it is unargua$le that most plays the premise and sentiment of "hich "e do not accept cannot please us# 3hat "as stupid in the article "as to isolate >plays a$out something> into a special category of plays that are topical, political or, in some over%all manner, propaganda# 0ropaganda in the theatre may $e defined as the other fello"'s point of vie" or any position "ith "hich "e disagree# All plays are a$out something, "hether or not they have an e2plicit thesis# (eter (an is as much a$out something as "andida* "yrano de Ber&erac is as clear an e2pression of something as Bury the Dead* The 'ceman "ometh is as much >propaganda > as Dee/ Are the 0oots* St* ;oan is as definitely a preachment as any play ever presented on Fourteenth Street $y the old ,heatre Jnion# ,he critic's first Ho$ is to make clear "hat a play is a$out# Many revie"ers are signally inept in the performance of this simple duty# ,he reason for this is that they mistake a play's materials for its meaning# *t is as if an art critic "ere to say that 1PIanne's painting is a$out apples, or to suppose that $ecause religious su$Hects "ere used in many classic paintings all these paintings "ere necessarily inspired $y religious feeling# An artist generally finds it convenient to use the material he finds closest at hand# 3hat he says "ith his material al"ays reveals something personal and distinct that cannot $e descri$ed comprehensively merely $y stating the materials he has employed# 4ne play a$out a strike may convey some intimate frustration, another may $e a lyric out$urst of youthful aspiration# A slight comedy like 6oel 1o"ard's (resent Lau&hter is not so much a play a$out the affairs of a successful play"right as a demonstration of a state of mind in "hich contempt and indifference to the "orld have $een accepted as a sort of aristocratic privilege# *n the Simonov comedy The Whole World O!er, "hich * directed, the su$Hects of the housing shortage and the reha$ilitation of the veteran are $rought into play, $ut they are not at all the essence of the matter# ,his comedy is essentially an image of faith and Hoy in everyday living, told in the folk tradition of those gay and sentimental songs "hich esta$lish the continuity $et"een "hat is universal in the spirit of the old and the ne" Russia# Another play that has $een variously characteriIed as a "ar play or as a play a$out the returned G* or as an attack on "ar profiteers is Arthur Miller's All My Sons* ,he central character of All My Sons is a small $usinessman "ho during the "ar sent out defective airplane parts "hich he hoped "ould not $e used in actual com$at $ut "hich he "ould not recall for fear his army contracts "ould $e canceled and his $usiness and his family ruined as

a result# ,he play presents the gradual disclosure of these facts to the $usinessman's younger son, a former army officer# ,he revelation $rings "ith it not only a realiIation that t"enty%one $oys "ere killed as a conse?uence of the use of the defective material $ut that the manufacturer's older sonMan army pilotM committed suicide $ecause of his father's crime# ,he younger son tries to make his father and mother understand that nothingMnot $usiness necessity nor devotion to familyMcan mitigate the father's guilt# A man must $e responsi$le not alone to his "ife and children $ut, ultimately, to all men# Failure to act on this fundamental tenet must inevita$ly lead to crime# 1ontrary to "hat some revie"ers have suggested, the author does not e2onerate the central character $y making the >system> responsi$le for his guilt# Such an e2planation is the cogent $ut desperate e2cuse that the guilty man offers, $ut his son 8and the author9 emphatically deny his right to use it# ,here can $e no evasion of the $urden of individual human responsi$ility# ,he distorted >individualism> of our day that makes the private good of the individual the final criterion for human action is sho"n to $e inhuman and destructive, "hereas the true individualism of our early American prophets made the individual responsi$le to the community# ,he man "ho $lames society for his $etrayal of it is a "eakling and a co"ard# ,he individual of Arthur Miller's ethic is the guarantor in his o"n person of society's health# ,he difference $et"een Arthur Miller's individualist and the $eliever in >rugged individualism> today is that the latter narro"s his sense of self so that it e2tends no further than the family circle, "hile the former gives himself the scope of humanity# 3hat makes the theme of All My Sons increasingly important is that "e constantly talk of >service> and repeat other residual phrases from the religions "e inherit "hile "e actually live a daily life devoted to the pursuit of 0o"er or Success, the most un?uestioned sym$ol of "hich is money# ,he real "ar in modern life is $et"een a memory of morality and the pressure of >practicality#> 3e live in a schiIoid society# ,his is an open secret, $ut every$ody pretends not to see it or condemns as >idealism> any attempt to remedy the condition# ,o understand that our dou$le standard is a fatal disease is, as a matter of fact, the first step in a realistic attitude to"ard life# 3e shall seeMat a later point of the present articleMthat it is this realism "hich a part of our society at the moment "ishes to resist# Some revie"ers complain that the plot of All My Sons is too complicated# For a "hile * failed to understand "hat "as meant $y this criticism# ,hen * realiIed that the "hole aspect of the mother's insistence that her son, reported missing, is aliveMher clinging to every prop of $elief, including the solace of astrological assuranceM"as "hat struck some of the revie"ers as irrelevant# ,his is a misunderstanding that derives from thinking of the play as an e2posP of "ar profiteering# ,he "ar%profiteering aspect of the play, * repeat, represents the play's material, not its meaning# 3hat Arthur Miller is dramatiIing is a universal not a local situation# ,he mother, "hose role in the e2plicit plot of the play is incidental, is the center of the play's meaning# She em$odies the status ?uo or norm of our present%day ethic and $ehavior pattern# *t is on her $ehalf that the hus$and has committed his crime# She, as "ell as "hat she represents, is his defense# But she cannot consciously accept the conse?uence of the morality she lives $y, for in the end it is a morality that kills her children and even her hus$and# *n order to retain her strength she cannot a$andon her positionMeverything must $e done for one's o"nMand yet it is this position that has destroyed "hat she hopes to protect# She is a >normal> "oman, yet she is sick# She suffers from severe headaches< she is su$Hect to an2iety dreams# She $elieves in the stars and "ith fervid complacency maintains that >some superstitions are very nice#> *f there is a >villain> in the piece, it is the motherMthe kindly, loving mother "ho "ants her $rood to $e safe and her home undistur$ed# 3hen her hus$and, "ho $elieves too slavishly in

her doctrineMit is the "orld's doctrine, and so there can $e no fault "ith itM"hen her hus$and $reaks do"n under the logic of her doctrine, "hich has made him a murderer, she has no $etter advice than, >Be smartL ###> Det she, too, is innocent# 3hen her son's friend, the doctor, mum$les >+o" many people "alking around loose, and they're craIy as coconuts# Money, money, money, money< you say it long enough, it doesn't mean anything# 4h ho" *'d love to $e around "hen that happens,> she ans"ers, >Dou're so childish, EimL ###> She is innocent $ecause she cannot understand# 6ot even in the e2tremity of her grief does she understand# 3hen her son tells her >*'m like every$ody else no"# *'m practical no"# Dou made me practical,> she ans"ers, >But you have to $e#> ,o her dying day, she "ill remain "ith this her only "isdom, her only conviction# +er son cries out >,he cats in the alley are practical# ,he $ums "ho ran a"ay "hen "e "ere fighting "ere practical# 4nly the dead ones "eren't practical# But no" *'m practical and * spit on myself# *'m going a"ay#> ,his is the essence of the play"right's meaning >,his is the land of the great $ig dogs# Dou don't love a man here, you eat himL ,hat's the principle< the only one "e live $y ### ,his is a Ioo, a IooL ###> ,he mother is sorry ## # deeply sorry# >3hat more can "e $e7> she asks# >Dou can $e $etterL> her son ans"ers, and it is the dramatist's ans"er as "ell# Arthur Miller's talent is a moral talent "ith a passionate persistence that resem$les that of the 6e" -ngland preacher "ho fashioned our first American rhetoric# All My Sons rouses and moves us even though it lacks the supreme fire of poetic vision# ,he determined thrust of its author's mind is not yet enough to melt or transfigure us, $ut in a theatre that has gro"n slothful it "ill have to do# Des, it "ill do# Source4 +arold 1lurman# >Arthur Miller ):BF> in his Lies Like Truth, Macmillan, ):C;, pp# KB%K;#

Critical /ssay 3'

'n this re!ie% of the ori&inal sta&e /roduction, Flemin& assesses Miller+s /lay as a thou&ht2 /ro!okin& and entertainin& theatrical e)/erience* /uring the "ar Eoe @eller allo"ed a $atch of defective cylinder heads to $e incorporated in the aircraft engines made $y his factory# *t "as a deli$erately irresponsi$le act, $ut @eller never sa" it in that light# ,o him, $ecause he accepted no responsi$ilities outside the circle of his o"n family and his o"n $usiness, it seemed the prudent, the natural, thing to do< to hold up production $y declaring the parts defective might in those frantic urgent times have lost him his Government contract and thus damaged his $usiness and reduced the siIe of his sons' inheritance# So the cylinder heads "ent out to the South 3est 0acific and caused the death of t"enty%one pilots to "hose num$er 8"e learn at the end of the play9 must $e added @eller's elder son# All this happened t"o years $efore the play $egins# @eller has almost lived do"n the scandal caused $y a Hudicial en?uiry at "hich he contrived to shift the $lame on to an associate, "ho as a conse?uence is still in gaol# ,he associate's daughter, Ann, "as the s"eetheart of @eller's dead son and no" "ants to marry the $rother "ho survived him# ,his is opposed $oth $y Mrs# @eller, "ho insists on $elieving that Larry, "hose death has never $een officially confirmed, "ill turn up again one day, and $y Ann's $rother, George, "ho kno"s that @eller framed their father and has understanda$ly little use for the family# Bit $y $it the full measure of @eller's guilt $ecomes apparent to the other characters, and at last even @eller himself is shocked into the realisation that "hat he has done amounts, not to an astute though unfortunate trick, $ut to a maHor crime against his fello"%men# ,he $urden of this kno"ledge is more than he can $ear,

and he shoots himself# ,his playMsincere, deft, at times distinguishedM is "ell "orth seeing# *ts fault is a tendency, not uncommon on the American stage and screen, to moralise a shade too e2plicitly< $ut its virtuesM good dialogue, confident characterisation and strong situations Mmore than compensate for the undertone of uplift# *ts production $y the 1ompany of Four marks an achievement "hich is painfully rare in London< the castMonly t"o of "hom, * think, are AmericanMmanage to give the impression that they all are# ,hey also act very "ell# Mr# Eoseph 1alleia makes @eller a man "hose past villainies, until in a flash of revelation he ackno"ledges them as such, cause him only the same sort of mild, em$arrassed uneasiness as he might feel if he had a hole in his sock< it is a very good performance, and so is Miss Margalo Gillmore's as his "ife# ,he others do admira$ly, too, and my only criticism of the production is that the tree, alleged to have $een $lo"n do"n in a storm and much discussed during the first act, had so o$viously $een the victim of some sharp instrument that distracting and erroneous suspicions of vandalism o$trude themselves#

Media Adaptations
All My Sons "as adapted as a film in ):B;# 1hester -rskine "rote the screenplay# /irected $y *rving Reis, the cast included -d"ard G# Ro$inson as Eoe @eller, Burt Lancaster as 1hris, Mady 1hristians as @ate, Louisa +orton as Ann /eever, and +o"ard /uff as George /eever# ,he film is availa$le on videocassette# ,he play "as also produced as a television play in ):CC and again in ):;F# ,he ):CC version featured Al$ert /ekker, 0atrick McGoohan, and Betta St# Eohn in its cast# *t is not, ho"ever, e2tant# ,he ):;F version, directed $y Eohn 0o"er, "as a television special produced $y the 1orporation for 0u$lic Broadcasting# *t featured Eoan Allen, QelHko *vanek, Michael Learned, Eoanna Miles, Aidan Auinn, Alan Scarfe, Marlo" .ella, and Eames 3hitmore# *t is not currently availa$le on videocassette#

!opics for -urther Study

Research the pro$lem of profiteering during $oth 3orld 3ar ** and the 1old 3ar# 3as it a prevalent phenomenon7 3hat forms did it take 8e#g#, cost overruns, ridiculous pricing, fraudulent claims97 /escri$e the "orst case you can find from your research# ,race the influence of either +enrik *$sen or Anton 1hekhov on All My Sons* *nvestigate Miller's role in the investigations of the +ouse Jn%American Activities 1ommittee 8+JA19, including his contempt conviction and eventual e2oneration# /o you agree "ith Miller's position7 Give reasons for your ans"er# /etermine the influence of the politics of the left, including socialism and communism, on the American theater and cinema during the ):G(s and ):B(s#

Compare 7 Contrast
#8'6s4 *n the aftermath of 3orld 3ar **, the industrialiIed "orld divided into t"o armed superpo"ers the Soviet $loc of communist nations and the 3estern democracies# *n the 3est, the threat of communism led to suspicion and paranoia at the highest levels of government# 6uclear "ar seemed imminent# !oday4 ,he threat of a nuclear "ar $et"een the Soviet Jnion and Jnited States dissipated "ith the economic and political collapse of the Soviet Jnion in the ):;(s# *nstead, the threat

of terrorism reigns as "ell as the gro"ing nuclear capa$ilities of rogue states such as 0akistan, *ndia, *ran, and *ra?# #8'6s4,he 6urem$erg ,rials for "ar crimes and atrocities, "hich $egan soon after 3orld 3ar **, continued into ):B:# ,he trials resulted in the imprisonment or e2ecution of many high% ranking 6aIis, particularly those involved in the running the concentration camps, "hich e2terminated millions of victims# !oday4 Reaction to genocide in several countries has led to a ne" call for tri$unals to indict and condemn "ar criminals# A nota$le e2ample of a modern "ar criminal is Ser$ian president Slo$odan Milosevic, "ho in )::: "as charged "ith the mass murder of ethnic Al$anians and indicted $y the 3orld 1ourt# Such >ethnic cleansing > has also occurred in other states, including *ra?, Burundi, and R"anda# #8'6s4 *n the "ake of 3orld 3ar **, concerns a$out "artime profiteering and unethical practices "ere "idespread# *n the ):C(s such concerns "ould eventually compel 0resident /"ight /# -isenho"er to "arn America a$out "hat he called >the industrial%military comple2#> 3ar profits also took the form of stealing the assets of the "ar's victims# !oday4 *n light of charges $y several Ee"ish families that S"iss $anks cooperated "ith 6aIis during 3orld 3ar ** and e2propriated gold stolen from "ar victims, the "hole issue of "artime profiteering has once more emerged# 6e" concerns have emerged over the role some American industrialists may have played in the rise of Germany's military in the ):G(s# #8'6s4 0rofessional sports, "ith some rare e2ceptions 8$o2ing, for e2ample9 "ere largely segregated# *t "as not until ):BF that the color line in MaHor League $ase$all "as $roken "hen Eackie Ro$inson Hoined the Brooklyn /odgers of the 6ational League# Jntil that time, African Americans could play only in the segregated 6egro League# !oday4 African Americans successfully compete in professional sports that seemed almost the e2clusive domain of "hite athletes, nota$ly tennis and golf#

5hat (o I Read 9e0t:

Aristotle's (oetics offers a descriptive definition of ancient Greek tragedy# For some theorists, it is the ultimate critical authority on the nature of tragedy# -ugene 4'6eill, in Lon& Day+s ;ourney into -i&ht 8):CK9, comes as close as Miller does to "riting a modern, family tragedy# An important sociological study, The Lonely "ro%d 8):K:9, $y /avid Reisman, suggests that modern America has lost the capacity for guilt 8necessary to tragedy9# "ulture of -arcissism< American Life in an A&e of Diminishin& =)/ectations 8)::), revised edition9, $y 1hristopher Lasch, a more recent look at American culture, e2amines the changing cultural landscape# Stuart /# Brandes's study, Warho&s< A History of War (rofits in America 8)::F9, is a thorough history of "artime profiteering in the Jnited States, $oth $efore and since 3orld 3ar **#

-urther Reading

Adam, Eulie# $ersions of Heroism in Modern American Drama< 0edefinitions #y Miller, Williams, O+-eill and Anderson, St# Martin's 0ress, )::)# -2amining and comparing the protagonists of maHor American play"rights "ho attempted to "rite tragedy, Adam finds that their heroism can fit into distinct categories idealism, martyrdom, self%reflection, and survival# Gross, Barry# 6All My Sons and the Larger 1onte2t,> Modern Drama, .ol# );, ):FC, pp# )C% 'F# Gross e2amines Eoe @eller and his son 1hris in light of Miller's aim to create a play functioning as >legislation,> e2hi$iting a strong social purpose, and e2amines the generation gap $et"een the father and son# +ayman, Ronald# Arthur Miller, Frederick Jngar 0u$lishing, ):F'# *n this $rief monograph, +ayman offers a good critical introduction to Miller's earliest plays# +ayman, concludes that Miller's principal concern is "ith cause and effect# +ogan, Ro$ert# Arthur Miller, Jniversity of Minnesota 0ress, ):KB# A $rief "ork in the pamphlet series on American "riters, +ogan's study is a critical overvie" of Miller's early "orks up to and including After the Fall* *t notes the similarity of structure $et"een All My Sons and Oedi/us 0e)* Miller, Arthur# Time#ends< A Life, Grove 0ress, ):;F# Miller's auto$iography offers insights to all his "ork "ritten into the ):;(s# +e offers personal reflections on his plays# Moss, Leonard# Arthur Miller, ,"ayne 0u$lishers, ):KF# Moss e2amines Miller's >technical resources,> his >dialogue styles, narrative conventions, sym$olic devices, and structural principles#> Moss, Leonard# >Arthur Miller and the 1ommon Man's Language,> Modern Drama, F 8):KB9, pp# C'%:# Moss's article e2plores Miller's tendency to use ordinary speech for the e2pression of ethical a$stractions# *t uses All My Sons to illustrate some of its points# 3ells, Arvin R# >,he Living and the /ead in All My Sons,+Modern Drama,, .ol# F, ):KB, pp# BK%C)# ,his article argues that All My Sons and other Miller plays have a >density of te2ture> that is much greater than that of a >typical social thesis play#>

Sources
Atkinson, Brooks# >,he 0lay in Revie",> -e% .ork Times, Eanuary G(, ):BF, p# ')# Atkinson, Brooks# >3elcome Stranger,> -e% .ork Times, Fe$ruary :, ):BF, sec# ', p# )# Boggs, 3# Arthur# >4edipus and All My Sons6 in the 0ersonalist, .ol# B', ):K), pp# CCC%K(#

Bro"n, Eohn Mason# >6e" ,alents and Arthur Miller,> Saturday 0e!ie% of Literature, .ol# G(, March ), ):BF, pp# ''%B# +e"es, +enry# >*ntroduction> in Famous American (lays of the 789>s# /ell 0u$lishing, ):K(, p# )C# +ogan, Ro$ert# Arthur Miller, Jniversity of Minnesota 0ress, ):KB, p# )F# @lapp, 4rrin -# >,ragedy and the American 1limate of 4pinion,> in Tra&edy< $ision and Form, edited $y Ro$ert 3# 1orrigan, 'nd edition# +arper 5 Ro", ):;), pp# 'C'% K'# @rutch, Eoseph 3ood# >/rama,> -ation, .ol# )KB, Fe$ruary )C, ):BF, pp# ):), ):G# @rutch, Eoseph 3ood# >,he ,ragic Fallacy,> in Tra&edy< $ision and Form, edited $y Ro$ert 3# 1orrigan, 'nd edition# +arper 5 Ro", ):;), pp# ''F%GF# Miller, Arthur# >,ragedy and the 1ommon Man,> in Tra&edy< $ision and Form, edited $y Ro$ert 3# 1orrigan, 'nd edition# +arper 5 Ro", ):;), pp# )K;%F(# Miller, Arthur# Time#ends< A Life, Grove 0ress, ):;F, p# )G;# 0helan, @appo# >,he Stage and Screen All My Sons,6 "ommon%eal, .ol# BC, Fe$ruary )B, ):BF, pp# BBC%BK#