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The Play

All My Sons is a three-act play written in 1946 by Arthur Miller. It opened on Broadway at the Coronet Theatre in New York City on January 29, 1947, closed on November 8, 1947, and ran for 328 performances. It was directed by Elia Kazan (to whom it is dedicated), produced by Kazan and Harold Clurman, and won the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award. It starred Ed Begley, Beth Merrill, Arthur Kennedy, and Karl Malden and won both the Tony Award for Best Author and the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play. The play was adapted for films in 1948 and 1987.

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Miller and the Play

Miller wrote All My Sons after his first play The Man Who Had All the Luck failed on Broadway, lasting only four performances. Miller wrote All My Sons as a final attempt at writing a commercially successful play; he vowed to "find some other line of work" if the play did not find an audience.

Background

All My Sons is based upon a true story, which Miller's then-mother-in-law pointed out in an Ohio newspaper. The news story described how in 1941–43 the Wright Aeronautical Corporation based in Ohio had conspired with army inspection officers to approve defective aircraft engines destined for military use. The story of defective engines had reached investigators working for Sen. Harry Truman's congressional investigative board after several Wright aircraft assembly workers informed on the company; they later testified under oath before Congress. In 1944, three Army Air Force officers, Lt. Col. Frank C. Greulich, Major Walter A. Ryan, and Major William Bruckmann were relieved of duty and later convicted of neglect of duty.

Characters

Joe Keller — Major character is 60 and is a self made businessman who loves his family.
Kate Keller (Mother) — Kate, his wife is 50 and is a sensitive but a compelling person.
Chris Keller — Chris, their son is 32, has returned home from World War II two years before the play begins,
Ann Deever — Ann, their neighbour who left 3 years ago, is 26. She has just arrived at the Keller home.

George Deever — George, 31, is Ann's older brother: a successful New York lawyer, WWII veteran, and a childhood friend of Chris’s.
Dr. Jim Bayliss — Jim, 40, is Joe’s preset neighbor who has shifted in Ann’s house. He is a successful doctor, but is frustrated with the stifling domesticity of his life. He is a close friend to the Keller family and spends a lot of time in their backyard.

Sue Bayliss — Sue, 40, is Jim's wife: needling and dangerous, but affectionate. She too is a friend of the Keller family, but is secretly resentful of what she sees as Chris's bad idealistic influence on Jim..

Frank Lubey — Frank, 33, is also Joe’s neighbor was always one year ahead of the draft, so he never served in World War II, instead staying home to marry George's former sweetheart, Lydia.

Joe Keller – a self made businessman

Joe Keller is a self-made businessman. He had joined an evening school to educate himself .
He, as a businessman, is very particular about his factory and is the last one to leave after having checked every light and connection.
His interest in ads section of the newspaper is to know what people are interested and it is a sign of a man who wants to study the demand of the market.
His attempt to save his business at the cost, although positively unethical, is actually is a desperate attempt of a self-made man.

Joe- a father

Joe seems to share a very close connect with his son, Chris.
Chris confides in his father about his intention to marry Ann and when he warns his father about his intention to leave home and family if he won’t support him, Joe rebukes him and says:

Don’t ever say that.

Joe seems like the traditional, amiable 1940s father figure. Throughout the play, Joe presents himself as a man who deeply loves his family.
He claims to have acted the way he did by sending the faulty cylinders for his son and for his family.
However, the cowardice of his offstage suicide shows that he cannot bear to handle the truth that he has let down his family

Joe- a husband

Joe seems to be a loving husband.
He has always wished to provide his wife and family with all the comforts of life.
He is concerned for his wife when he sees the broken apple tree.
He