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 fiancee. 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.
In Chris we see Joe and Kate's pattern. you're not even an animal, no animal kills its own. If he has nothing to leave to his sons, then he will have worked for nothing. In this sense Joe and Kate have not made their family. Similarly Kate's existence is defined by caring, but this is not enough to hold Chris.
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Acceptance Essays
