All My Sons by Arthur Miller is a play set during the second world war, and is about a successful businessman, Joe Keller, who has failed to fulfil his social obligations and has failed to recognise the role of society after he is blinded by lust for money during the war. He lives peacefully with his wife Kate and his son Chris, but had another son Larry who died in a plane crash during the war.
The death of their eldest son, Larry, during the war has completely shaken Kate. Even after so many years, she believed that Larry would be alive somewhere. Joe Keller was a war profiteer during the war, and with his business partner, Steve Deever, had set up his own business to ship cylinders for fighter planes. However, Steve Deever, father of Ann Deever (now engaged to Joe’s daughter Chris) is in prison, after he was found guilty of shipping cracked cylinder heads for fighter jets. This resulted in the death of 21 fighter pilots, and the cylinders were shipped in the absence of Joe Keller, who was sick and on leave on that day. However, Steve never gave up the claim that he had shipped the cylinders on the orders of Joe over a telephone call.
Even when George (Steve’s son) goes to meet him to tell him about the marriage of Ann and Chris, after so many years Steve is still of the belief that he is innocent. This sparks feelings of uneasiness and suspicion in the mind of George, who is now a lawyer. As the story unfolds, everything changes, and it seems that the Deever family’s arrival in the Keller household has a purpose.
So the questions remain: who was responsible for this heinous crime? Was Steve Deever to blame? How can we justify Joe’s actions with respect to the bigger picture? Does money matter more than relationships and patriotism? The story is a reflection of society and how people driven by a lust for money can stoop to any extent to acquire wealth even if it comes at the cost of relationships and betrays the nation. It is a must read, as it portrays society and how human beings tend to ignore the bigger picture and have become so materialistic and selfish.
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