All My Sons Summary by Arthur Miller

In the play, All My Sons by Arthur Miller, which is set during World War II, Joe Keller, a wealthy businessman, fails to uphold his social duties..
All My Sons Summary by Arthur Miller

Summary of All My Sons  by Arthur Miller

Summary of All My Sons

In the play, All My Sons by Arthur Miller, which is set during World War II, Joe Keller, a wealthy businessman, fails to uphold his social duties and fails to comprehend society's role because he is consumed by greed for money throughout the conflict.

The Title of the Play

Joe Keller's ultimate revelation that all 21 of the pilots murdered as a result of their defective cylinders were similar to his sons gives the title "All My Sons" its justification. He learns through Larry's suicide letter that they were all fighting for the country and its citizens, families, etc., and that every single one of them lost their lives as a result of their error (including his son who dies out of shame and guilt).

The Setting of the Play

The Keller house, a multi-story home with 7 rooms located in a small town, serves as the stage for the whole narrative. The 1940s post-World War II era is when the families of the men who enlisted in the military are reunited.

Voice

Characters in the novel have strong voices and separate opinions. Chris is self-righteous, Joe is arrogant, Kate is cunning, Larry is fearless, and Ann is stubborn. The conflict between such powerful and outspoken people results in a smooth transition.

Moral Criticism

Miller has attempted to explicitly attack the shortcomings of a capitalist and consumerist culture that disregards the virtues of compassion and social cohesiveness through characters like Chris and Dr. Jim Bayliss. The downfall of figures like Joe Keller and Steve Deever, among others, has been used to criticize the inherent predisposition to profit-seeking in such a post-war society.

Symbols

The narrative makes extensive use of different symbols to convey distinct emotions or traits. The memorial apple tree is a homage to Larry with a nuanced meaning as Kate longs for his comeback and the other family members utilize it to remember the deceased. When Joe Keller utilizes the prison to communicate with nearby children like Bert, it serves as a clever allegory for their punishment, which is also applied to Steve Deever.

Foreshadowing

The author has used the foreshadowing technique to hint to a future event or reaffirm a previous truth. The characters frequently make an effort to escape the past, but they are unable to eliminate their prior hosts, which keeps them bound to it. Arthur Miller made an effort to underline how closely related previous mistakes and current acts are to one another's repercussions. 

Joe and Kate's imminent clash is foreshadowed by a call from George asking to visit his father in jail. The largest illustration, though, is when a lightning strike causes Larry's memorial tree to be uprooted. Kate interprets this occurrence as a precursor to his potential comeback. However, the destruction of the tree that served as his memorial may equally be seen as proof of his true passing.

Ending

The story's conclusion is unresolved. When Joe finds out about Larry's suicide and Chris's breakup with him, he feels guilty and sad. He appears to be content to go to court, but he ends up killing himself. Kate encourages Chris not to carry any guilt over his father's suicide and avoid making the same mistake as his father, who was unable to let go of his remorse over Larry's passing and Steve's imprisonment. She could also come out as attempting to protect his sole family rather than considering what is right and fair. As a result, the conclusion puts readers in a very hazy position.

Plot Summary

Chris and Larry Keller were two of Joe and Kate Keller's kids. Together with Steve Deever, Keller operated a manufacturing facility, and their families were close. George was their buddy, and Larry was in a relationship with Steve's daughter Ann. George and the Keller lads were enlisted when war broke out.

The U.S. Army had a very lucrative contract with Keller and Deever's manufacturing facility throughout the war for the supply of aviation parts. A shipment of faulty components arrived one morning. Steve Deever contacted Keller, who hadn't yet arrived at the office that morning, to ask what he should do because the army was pressuring him to keep up the productivity. Steve was instructed by Keller to ship the aeroplane components after welding the fractures. Keller informed Steve that he had the sick and was unable to go to work, which made Steve uneasy about accomplishing this on his own. The potentially safe but faulty items were sent out by Steve on his own.

It was later determined that the flawed components were to blame for the crashes of twenty-one planes and the deaths of their pilots. Steve and Keller were detained and found guilty, but Keller was successful in overturning his conviction through an appeal. He asserted that neither Steve nor anybody else called him, and he had no knowledge whatsoever of the cargo. While Steve was still in jail and isolated from his family, Keller returned home unharmed.

While this was going on, Larry received news of the first conviction from abroad. He warned Ann not to wait for him in a letter that was filled with guilt and sadness. After that, Larry flew a mission, during which he lost control of his aircraft and crashed it, killing himself. Someone reported Larry missing.

The play's action starts three years later. Ann and Chris have rekindled their relationship in recent years while she has lived in New York, and Chris has invited her to the Keller home with the intention of proposing to her there. But since Mother is adamant that Larry is still alive someplace, they must exercise caution. She is certain because Larry's memorial tree was uprooted in a storm that morning, which she interprets as a good omen. Because of her superstition, she also asked the neighbour to create a horoscope for Larry to see if the day he vanished was an astrologically fortunate day.

Chris and Keller believe that Mother should learn to forget her other son since everyone else has already accepted the fact that Larry won't be returning home. Mother insists that Keller in particular thinks that Larry is still alive because if he isn't, then Keller is responsible for their son's blood. George, Ann's brother, shows up to call off the nuptials. He had gone to see Steve in prison to let him know that his daughter was getting married, and as he was leaving, he had just come to believe that his father was innocent. When George accuses Keller, Keller disarms him by being amiable and assured. Mother mistakenly reveals that Keller hasn't been ill in fifteen years, which gives George some comfort. It's too late for Keller to make up for her slip of the tongue by mentioning his sickness during the war. Chris orders George to leave the house even though George is still certain that Keller is guilty.

Chris's faith in his father's innocence, however, is questioned, and after a dispute with his parents, his mother tells him that he must believe that Larry is still alive. Mother believes that if Larry is dead, Keller murdered him by sending those faulty components out. Chris screams at his father indignantly, calling him a murderer and an inhuman, and he wonders aloud what he must do in reaction to this horrible new truth about his family's past.

Chris is saddened and disillusioned, and he flees to have a private argument with his father. Keller is advised by his mother to offer to go to jail if Chris wants him to. She continues to assert that Larry is still alive while speaking to Ann as well. Ann is compelled to provide Mother with the letter, which is effectively a suicide note, that Larry wrote to her just before he passed away. The message essentially supports Mother's theory that if Keller is to blame for Larry's death, it isn't because Larry's plane had defective components but rather because Larry committed himself in response to the family's guilt and shame over the flawed parts.

Ann ignores the mother's requests to withhold the letter from her husband and son. When Chris comes back, he declares that he will not put his father in jail since doing so would be ineffective and because his family's needs have finally trumped his idealistic ideals. Additionally, he declares that he is leaving and that Ann will not be following him out of concern that she will continually and silently beg him to report his father to the authorities.

Mother is powerless to stop Chris from reading Larry's letter out loud when Keller walks in. Keller has now realized that all the slain pilots were his sons in Larry's eyes and in morally significant terms. He claims that he will drive to the jail and give himself in after going inside the house to fetch a jacket. However, a second later, a gunshot is heard, signalling Keller's suicide.


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