All My Sons - Can “families ma

In “All My Sons”, Arthur Miller tells the story of the Keller family. Can “families make or break us”? Joe Keller believes he can “make his family”, but a closer look at Miller’s play and his characters shows whether this is true.

Before the war the Kellers and the Deevers were neighbours. The fathers worked together, and the children Larry and Chris Keller, and Ann and George Deever grew up together. Before Larry went to war, Ann became his fiancée. In 1943 Ann’s father Steve was sent to gaol, and Larry was reported missing in action while flying off the coast of China. Ann moved away, but Chris has been writing to her, and has invited her to visit, because he wants to marry her. Kate is opposed to the marriage because she refuses to accept Larry’s death. As the play unfolds we find that during the war Joe told his deputy Steve to ship out faulty engines. When twenty-one planes crashed Joe and Steve were arrested. Steve went to gaol, but Joe denied all knowledge of the faults and was acquitted. The war is over. Everything appears peaceful, but the Keller’s well-ordered existence is based on lies far greater than Kate’s self-deception. Ann’s visit is the catalyst that exposes these lies.

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He feels justified because he puts his family’s welfare, ahead of others. there's a universe of people … you're responsible to it," (A3-p170). If the world is unchanged then their lives were wasted. When Chris is made to feel shabby he blames Joe and Kate. Neither Kate, nor Chris will show him another way to atone.

In Chris we see Joe and Kate’s pattern. Just as Joe is prepared to sacrifice others on the altar of family prosperity, Chris is prepared to sacrifice Joe and Kate to maintain self worth, and his relationship with Ann. All have struggled to retain the moral high ground.

Chris feels guilty about making money. He is a self-made man, who has sacrificed everything, including integrity and human decency to make his family prosperous. “You can’t go to a restaurant…” Joe says, “In five minutes … strange people are … telling her their life story” (A1-p111). In this sense Joe and Kate have not made their family.

Approximate Word count = 925
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

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