All My Sons by Arthur Miller: Exhaustive Study Guide
Play Overview and Production Details
Play Title: ALL MY SONS
Author: Arthur Miller
Genre: Drama in Three Acts
Original Presentation: First presented by Elia Kazan, Harold Clurman, and Walter Fried (in association with Herbert Harris) at the Coronet Theatre on the evening of January , .
Original Cast: * Joe Keller: Ed Begley * Kate Keller: Beth Merrill * Chris Keller: Arthur Kennedy * Ann Deever: Lois Wheeler * George Deever: Karl Malden * Dr. Jim Bayliss: John McGovern * Sue Bayliss: Peggy Meredith * Frank Lubey: Dudley Sadler * Lydia Lubey: Hope Cameron * Bert: Eugene Steiner
Directed by: Elia Kazan
Setting Designed by: Mordecai Gorelik
Setting and Scene Synopsis
Location: The back yard of the Keller home in the outskirts of an American town.
Timeframe: August of the current era.
Act I: Early Sunday morning.
Act II: The same evening, as twilight falls.
Act III: Two o’clock the following morning.
Physical Set Description: * The yard is hedged by tall, closely planted poplars on the Right (R.) and Left (L.) to provide a secluded atmosphere. * The back of the house fills the upstage area, featuring an open, unroofed porch extending feet into the yard. * The house is two stories high with seven rooms. It was built in the early twenties at a cost of approximately . * Downstage Left (L.): A four-foot-high stump of a slender apple tree. The trunk and branches lie toppled beside it with fruit still clinging. * Downstage Right (R.): A small, trellised arbor shaped like a sea-shell with a decorative bulb. * The yard contains garden chairs, a table, a garbage pail, a wire leaf-burner, and a parsley box.
Biographies and Character Traits
Joe Keller: * Age: Nearing . * Persona: A heavy man of stolid mind and build. A longtime businessman with the lingering imprint of a machine-shop worker and boss. * Intellect: Uneducated but possesses a "terrible concentration" and wonders at commonly known things. His judgments are derived from experience and "peasant-like common sense."
Kate Keller (Mother): * Age: Early fifties (s). * Persona: A woman defined by uncontrolled inspirations and an overwhelming capacity for love.
Chris Keller: * Age: . * Persona: Like his father, solidly built. He is a listener capable of immense affection and loyalty.
Dr. Jim Bayliss: * Age: Nearing . * Persona: Wry, self-controlled, and an easy talker with a wisp of sadness underlying his self-effacing humor.
Frank Lubey: * Age: , but balding. * Persona: Pleasant, opinionated, uncertain, and prone to peevishness when crossed. He is interested in astrology.
Lydia Lubey: * Age: . * Persona: A robust, laughing girl; she has three children with Frank.
Ann Deever: * Age: . * Persona: Gentle but capable of holding fast to what she knows. She was formerly the neighbor and Larry Keller’s girlfriend.
Sue Bayliss: * Age: Rounding . * Persona: An overweight woman who fears her weight; she was formerly a nurse and is very realistic.
Bert: * Age: About . * Role: A neighborhood child who plays a "policeman" game with Joe Keller.
Act I: The Broken Tree and the Horoscope
The Fallen Apple Tree: The tree, planted in memory of Larry Keller, snapped at AM during a windstorm. This event is central to the morning’s tension. Kate Keller was outside when it happened.
Larry’s Status: Larry has been reported missing for three years (since November ).
Frank’s Astrology Project: * Frank is working on a horoscope for Larry at Kate’s request. * The Theory of "Favorable Days": Frank explains that a favorable day is a fortunate day according to a person's stars. He posits that it is "practically impossible" for a person to die on their favorable day. * If November (the day Larry went missing) was Larry’s favorable day, Frank argues it is possible he is still alive.
Newspaper Discourse: Joe Keller expresses a lack of interest in the news, preferring the "want ads" to see what people want (e.g., someone looking for two Newfoundland dogs or old dictionaries). He remarks on how business has changed from his day when one was only a lawyer, doctor, or shop worker.
Act I: Neighborhood Interactions and Conflict
The Bayliss Marriage: Sue Bayliss needles Jim about his medical practice. She encourages him to see "Mr. Hubbard" because he could earn dollars for "holding his hand," though Jim finds it a waste of time.
Chris’s Intentions: Chris reveals to Joe that he intends to marry Ann Deever. * The Moral Obstacle: Joe argues that because Kate believes Larry is alive, Ann is still "Larry’s girl." To marry her would be to "pronounce Larry dead" in Kate’s eyes. * Chris’s Ultimatum: Chris threatens to leave the business and the town to marry Ann in New York if Joe doesn’t help him settle the matter with Kate. Joe is shocked because the entire business ("the whole shootin’-match") was built for Chris.
The Jail Game: Joe engages Bert in a game where Joe is a detective with a jail in his basement. Kate later reacts furiously to this, demanding Joe stop the "jail business."
Act I: Kate Keller’s Conviction
Kate’s Dream: Kate recounts a vivid dream of Larry flying low in his fighter plane, his face visible in the cockpit. In the dream, he starts to fall and cries out "Mom! Mom!" The sound of the wind at AM mimicked the roar of his engine.
Kate’s Superstition: She believes the tree blowing down on Larry’s birth month, combined with Ann’s arrival, has spiritual significance. She maintains that "certain things have to be" because God exists.
Warning to Joe: Kate warns Joe that neither he nor Chris must take away Ann's "faith" that Larry is coming back. She states, "If he’s not coming back, then I’ll kill myself!"
Act I: The Deever Family Scandal
The Crime: During the war, the Keller-Deever plant shipped out cracked cylinder heads for P- engines. This resulted in the crash of planes in Australia.
Exoneration vs. Conviction: Joe Keller was exonerated on appeal and returned home to rebuild his business. Steve Deever (Ann’s father and Joe’s partner) remains in prison.
The Neighborhood’s View: * Ann remembers the neighbors yelling "Murderers!" at her house. * Joe claims he walked down the street with a smile after his release to prove his innocence and eventually regained the neighborhood's respect through "guts."
Ann’s Stance: Ann has cut off contact with her father. She believes it is wrong to pity him if he knowingly shipped parts that caused deaths. She asks Joe, "How do you know Larry wasn’t one of them?"
Joe’s Defense of Steve: Joe tries to paint Steve as a "little man" who was scared of the Major’s pressure and the "madhouse" of wartime production. He claims Steve simply made a mistake by welding over the cracks, believing they would hold up.
Act II: George Deever’s Arrival
Setting: Twilight the same day. Chris is sawing the broken tree stump.
The Conversation with Sue: Sue Bayliss confronts Ann. She asks Ann to move away if she marries Chris because Jim is unhappy around Chris's "phony idealism." Sue remarks that Chris makes people want to be "better than it's possible to be," causing Jim to feel like a failure for not pursuing medical research.
George’s Accusation: George arrives from Columbus after visiting Steve in prison. He reveals Steve's version of the story: * On the day the cracked heads were found, Steve called Joe. * Joe claimed over the phone that he had the flu and couldn’t come to the plant. * Joe told Steve to weld the cracks and ship the parts, promising to take responsibility. * In court, Joe denied the phone call occurred, leaving Steve as the "patsy."
George’s Logic: George points out that Joe Keller is too meticulous a boss to let cylinder heads ship without his knowledge. He also notes Joe’s name is still the only one on the business ("J. O. Keller & Son") because Joe wants to keep Chris clear of any potential scandal.
Act II: The Slip-Up and the Admission
The Flu Defense: Joe mentions to George that he was only sick once in fifteen years—his "flu during the war."
The Contradiction: Kate accidentally contradicts Joe by stating earlier that he hasn't been laid up in fifteen years. George seizes on this as proof that the "flu" on the day of the shipment was a lie.
Act II Climax: After George is forced to leave, Chris confronts his father. Kate breaks down and says, "Your brother’s alive, darling, because if he’s dead, your father killed him."
Joe’s Confession to Chris: * Joe admits to shipping the parts. He explains it was a business decision made to save the company he built for years. * He tells Chris, "I did it for you… it was a chance and I took it for you." * Chris is horrified, yelling that Joe "murdered" men and asking, "What the hell are you? You’re not even an animal."
Act III: The Revelation of Larry’s Letter
Setting: AM. Jim Bayliss tells Kate he has always known Joe was guilty, noting that "it takes a certain talent for lying" to live with it.
Joe’s Defense in Act III: Joe argues he is no worse than most other men who profited from the war. He claims "half the Goddamn country" would have to go to jail if he did.
Ann’s Evidence: Ann produces a letter Larry wrote her on November , the day he died.
Verbatim Contents of Larry’s Letter: * Larry wrote the letter after reading about Joe and Steve being convicted. * He states: "It is impossible to put down the things I feel… I can’t bear to live any more." * He notes that while men were dying on missions, his father was "back there doing business." * He concludes: "If I had him here now I could kill him." * The Mission: Larry tells Ann not to wait for him because he is going out on a mission from which he doesn't intend to return. He committed suicide by crashing his plane due to his father's actions.
Act III: The Conclusion
Joe’s Realization: Reading the letter, Joe finally understands his responsibility. He says of the pilots who died: "I think to him they were all my sons. And I guess they were."
The Suicide: Joe goes into the house, ostensibly to get his jacket to go to the police station. A gunshot is heard from inside.
Final Dialogue: * Chris: "Mother, I didn’t mean to…" * Kate: "Don’t, dear. Don’t take it on yourself. Forget now. Live… Shhh."
Key Principles and Themes
Responsibility: The conflict between responsibility to the family (Joe's focus) versus responsibility to the world/humanity (Chris and Larry's focus).
Idealism: Chris is described as having "phony idealism" by Sue, but it is this moral compass that eventually forces the truth to light.
Wartime Ethics: The play explores the "rat-race" of business and how wartime profit-sharing led to moral compromises.
Denial: Kate’s denial of Larry’s death is her psychological defense against the reality that if Larry is dead, his blood is on Joe's hands.
Loot and Blood: Chris expresses that money made from the war feels like "loot" with "blood on it" unless it is used by people who became "a little better" because of the war.