all my sons essay conclusion

Historical Context of “All My Sons” by Arthur Miller Essay (Review)

• To find inspiration for your paper and overcome writer’s block
• As a source of information (ensure proper referencing)
• As a template for you assignment

Introduction

“all my sons”: historical context & meaningful issues, works cited.

This essay analyzes the historical context of “All My Sons” by Arthur Miller. The play appeared between 1940 and 1950, in an eventful decade for America and the rest of the world. America was recovering from the effects of the Great Depression that took place in the 1930s. The Second World War marked the first half of the 1940s, while the second half was characterized by the early stages of the Cold War.

The Second World War had significant effects on many countries around the world, including those in America, Asia, Europe and Africa. It influenced the formation of political alliances where countries came together against a common enemy in the war. The effects of this war persisted to the second half of the 1940-1950 decade, merging with the beginning of the Cold War (U.S. Timeline 8).

Apart from the war, there were other events taking place in America during this time. Those included changes in the lifestyle of the American people, among other things. After the prosperity associated with the war tapered off, the American economy experienced high rates of inflation. More than 25 per cent of the population had been living below the poverty line by the end of this decade (U. S. Timeline 9).

The family became a cherished social unit during this time. There were strong ties between family members as the population of the country and the size of the family increased. The average size of the family during this time was about 2.5 children. It was during this time that the country went through the infamous baby boom (Anonymous 5).

The effects of this boom persist to date, given the fact that those born during this time are in control of the country today. Discrimination against African Americans and other minorities, such as the Mexicans, also took place during this time period. Perhaps it happened as a result of the suspicion that the American people had towards outsiders as a result of the war (Anonymous 9).

The social and political situation of any country is reflected in the art taking place at that time. Art, to a large extent, mirrors the social and political situation of the society at that particular time. A historical analysis of art in a given time period will indicate the events that were taking place in that society at that time. The form of art, in this case, includes paintings, songs, poems, plays and sculptures, among others.

The events that took place in this society during that time can be discerned from various forms of art in that decade. It includes the plays staged in the country, the books written among other forms of art.

The play “All My Sons” by the famous American artist A.Miller was written in the year 1947, It opened on Broadway on January, 1947, closed on November, 1949, and ran for more than 300 performances. The play’s setting is America.

This paper is going to study the historical background that “All My Sons” was written and acted within. The author will go further to analyze if Arthur Miller addressed the identified social and political topics in his text. The problems addressed in the play will be separated from those not addressed.

As indicated in the above paragraphs of the essay, “All My Sons” was written at the time when several events took place in America and the rest of the world. The text referred to some of the topics, while others were left out. The period considered in this analysis is 1940-1950.

The events that took place before the play “All My Sons” was written (in 1940-1947) were still affecting society. At the same time, the early effects of those events that had not taken place (those that took place in 1947-1950) were being felt. Below are some of the political and social issues that could shape the historical context of “All My Sons”.

The Second World War: America and the War

America joined the Second World War during the early 1940s. The war had both negative and positive effects on American society. For example, by the year 1943, about ten million men had been recruited into the army. These included sons and fathers who were young and healthy enough to go to war (U.S. Timeline 3).

Almost all American families had a son or a father in the army. The men were communicating with their family members back at home through letters. The family members cherished the letters, and it was not unusual to find mothers and wives regarding those letters as family treasures.

Arthur addressed this question in “All My Sons”. The play keeps mentioning or alluding to the “American at war” theme throughout the text. For example, Larry (the son to the protagonist Joe Keller) is fighting in China. The play keeps mentioning how the Keller family (especially Larry’s mother) is anxiously waiting for communication from their son. The issue of correspondence through letters is also addressed in the text (Moore 9).

Kate Keller and the rest of the family are portrayed as being anxious since they have not received a letter from their son. At the end of the play “All My Sons”, Arthur mentions how Ann (Larry’s girl before he went to the war, one of the main characters of the story) produces a letter that was written by Larry from the war. She has kept this letter to herself like a treasure, an indication of the value attached by American families to the letters sent by the soldiers (Moore 9).

The Negative Effects of the War

Separation of families and lovers was one of the negative social effects of the war that shaped thebackground of “All My Sons” play. Husbands were taken away from their wives while boyfriends were taken away from their girlfriends. The men went to fight while the women remained back at home.

Larry is separated from his girlfriend, Ann. When Ann realizes that Larry had committed suicide by deliberately crashing his fighter jet off the coast of China, she is devastated. She now opts to marry Larry’s elder brother, Chris Keller (Moore 10).

Another bad effect of the war is the death of soldiers from accidents or confrontations with enemy forces. This theme is mentioned in this play through the absent character of Larry. Larry died (albeit from suicide) in the war (Moore 12). Many soldiers lost their lives during this war. American families were mourning the demise of their male folk in the war.

The demise of Larry is signified in the play by the apple tree that is planted in his memory in the backyard of his family home. Although the tree is struck down by lightning as the play opens, it is a significant indicator of the loss that the family is reeling from. The damage is brought about by the war, and it is not limited to this family alone.

Wartime Prosperity in America

As earlier indicated in this paper, American society was reeling from both positive and negative effects of the war at the time this play appeared. One of the positive impacts of this war was the recorded economic prosperity (Lindop & Goldstein 94). Many industries were established in America to supply materials to the soldiers through the government (Anonymous 5). The government entered contracts with many producers both within and without the country to supply it with war materials. That included parts for making weapons and in some instances, weapons themselves. The Department of Defense entered into contracts with private producers on behalf of the government (Anonymous 9).

This issue definitely influenced the historical context of “All My Sons.” It is addressed adequately in the play. Joe Keller (the protagonist in the play) is a self-made businessman who prospered during the war. In the text, he is depicted as having entered into a contract with the Department of Defense to supply the government with cylinder heads to be used in making fighter jets.

At the time of the play, he is in his early 60s enjoying the fruits of his labour. His family is relatively affluent as a result of the success of his business during the war. Together with Steve (his neighbour and long-time friend), he had a factory for producing the parts (Moore 19).

Unscrupulous Entrepreneurs takes Advantage of the War

Unscrupulous entrepreneurs are reported to have taken advantage of increased demand for weapons and parts during the war to supply the government with substandard materials. A true story is told of a producer who provided the Department of Defense with faulty parts to manufacture tankers for war. The damaged parts led to accidents during the war leading to the death of many American soldiers (Anonymous 8).

Arthur addresses this theme in his play. The story is fashioned along with the true story of the unscrupulous dealer illustrated above. The protagonist of “All My Sons” unwittingly supplies the Department of Defense with cracked cylinder heads to manufacture fighter jets. He does this together with his partner Steve.

A few weeks after the delivery of the cylinders, 21 fighter jets crashed in the same day killing 21 soldiers who were piloting them. Investigations carried out revealed that the cracked heads were to blame for the accident. That is how Steve and Joe Keller are arrested and taken before the court. Joe is exonerated while Steve goes to prison for three years (Moore 7).

Ethnicity and Race as a Social and Political Issue in America during the 1940s

Whites from other parts of the world were assimilated in large numbers in America during this time. That is especially so after the adoption of the Alien Registration Act that passed during the first half of the decade (Anonymous 4). Between 1943 and 1944 (three years after the act passed), approximately one million people from outside the country received citizenship.

This development is attributed to the revulsion that the Americans had towards the Nazi ideology (Lindop & Goldstein 34). The ideology advocated for racial purity which saw mass execution of millions of Jews in Germany and other communist nations (U. S. Timeline 9).

Arthur does not address this political and social issue in the “All my sons”. The analysis shows that the text does not mention minorities or people from outside America integrated into society.

Discrimination against Mexican Americans and African Americans in the 1940s

This is another issue that is not addressed in All my sons”. Analyzing the period when the play was being created, we realize that the whites were discriminating against blacks and Mexicans who had crossed the border to enter America. This is despite the integration of white Europeans into society in the early 1940s.

When Mexicans got recruited into the war, they were entrusted with menial and low paying jobs in the army (Lindop & Goldstein 29). Americans were naturally hostile to these minorities at the time this play was written. A case in point is the infamous ‘Zoot Suit’ riots that took place in mid-1943 (Anonymous 2). The riots were perpetrated by white soldiers against their Mexican and African American counterparts. This issue is not mentioned anywhere in the play.

The Family and the Baby Boom

The play addresses these social issues that were evident during this time. The rate of marriage increased between 1940 and 1946, as many young Americans rushed to tie the knot before the husband went to the war. The young couple also started bearing children soon after before the husband left. During the same period, the rate of birth rose from about 19 to more than 24 births in every one thousand women in the country. This led to the infamous baby boom in the country (Anonymous 3).

Arthur addresses all these issues in the play. For example, Chris Keller (who is 32) is in a rush to marry Ann Deever, who is 26. Lydia Lubey is just 27. However, she is already married, and within three years, she had given birth to 3 children (Anonymous 9).

The essay analyzed the historical context of “All My Sons” – the play by Arthur Miller. Above are some of the social and political issues that were taking place in America during the time this play was created. As indicated in the above paragraphs of the essay, “All My Sons” appeared at the time when several meaningful events took place in America and in other countries. A. Miller addressed some of them in his play but left some out. Some of those addressed include the participation of the country in the Second World War and the effects that this had on society. The issue of the family and baby boom was also addressed in the play. Some of the issues were addressed directly, while others were referred to indirectly. However, Miller preferred to leave some of the issues out of “All My Sons”. The analysis shows that those are ethnicity and discrimination against minorities.

Anonymous. The 1940s: Lifestyles and Social Trends- Overview . American Decades. 2001. December 1, 2011

Lindop, Edmund, & Goldstein, Margaret J. America in the 1940s. New York: Free Press, 2009.

Moore, Andrew. Studying Arthur Miller’s All My Sons. Universal Teacher. 2000. December 1, 2011

U.S. Timeline. The 1940s- World War II . America’s Best History. 2009. December 1, 2011

• The Style and Themes of Edgar Allan Poe's Literature
• “Sula” a Novel by Toni Morrison
• ‘All My Sons’ by Arthur Miller
• Larry King: The Pioneer of Mass Communication
• The Play "All My Sons" by Arthur Miller
• The Kiss of the Spider Woman and Politics in Argentina in 1960s-1970s
• No Sugar by Jack Davis
• Goodman Brown Political Views and Religious Beliefs
• Young Goodman Brown Setting Analysis, Symbolism, & Characters
• Ethan Frome's Characteristics
• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2018, October 25). Historical Context of “All My Sons” by Arthur Miller. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-social-context-of-all-my-sons-play-by-arthur-miller/

"Historical Context of “All My Sons” by Arthur Miller." IvyPanda , 25 Oct. 2018, ivypanda.com/essays/the-social-context-of-all-my-sons-play-by-arthur-miller/.

IvyPanda . (2018) 'Historical Context of “All My Sons” by Arthur Miller'. 25 October.

IvyPanda . 2018. "Historical Context of “All My Sons” by Arthur Miller." October 25, 2018. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-social-context-of-all-my-sons-play-by-arthur-miller/.

1. IvyPanda . "Historical Context of “All My Sons” by Arthur Miller." October 25, 2018. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-social-context-of-all-my-sons-play-by-arthur-miller/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Historical Context of “All My Sons” by Arthur Miller." October 25, 2018. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-social-context-of-all-my-sons-play-by-arthur-miller/.

• Ask LitCharts AI
• Discussion Question Generator
• Essay Prompt Generator
• Quiz Question Generator

• Literature Guides
• Poetry Guides
• Shakespeare Translations
• Literary Terms

All My Sons

Arthur miller.

Ask LitCharts AI: The answer to your questions

All My Sons , a play in three acts, is set in a small town several years after World War Two, and begins with Jim Bayliss , a doctor, and Joe Keller , head of the Keller family, sitting in Keller’s backyard, reading the paper. A storm the previous night has shorn in half a tree that is revealed to memorialize Larry Keller , one of two Keller children—the son who did not survive the war. Chris , the other Keller son and a junior partner in the family manufacturing business, comes outside and tells his father, Joe, after Jim leaves, that the family cannot continue leading on Kate , Joe’s wife, in the belief that Larry is still living. Frank Lubey , another neighbor of the Keller’s (along with his wife Lydia Lubey ), is using astrology to determine if Larry is alive, and he brings this information to Kate later in the play, but for the most part, Chris believes that all in the town have come to the same conclusion: that, after three years, Larry will not be returning to the small town, that Larry’s plane crash in the war was fatal.

Chris also tells his father that Annie , Larry’s former girlfriend who is visiting the Keller’s from New York, is there because Chris intends to propose marriage to her. Joe has no real problem with the idea in itself, but Joe fears that Kate will not permit it, since Annie is “Larry’s girl,” and to give Annie to Chris would mean that Larry is really dead. Kate comes outside, as does Annie, and a series of strained conversations ensue, in which Chris attempts to demonstrate his affection for Annie, and Kate tries to emphasize that Larry is not dead and Annie is not “Chris’s girl.” Slowly, throughout the first act, it is revealed that Annie’s father, Steve , was a former employee of Joe’s at the manufacturing company during the war, and that Steve apparently OK’d the production of faulty plane parts, which were shipped to American planes, and which caused the death of 21 pilots in plane crashes. Steve went to jail for his negligence, but Joe was released, arguing in court that Steve acted alone, and that Joe did not force him to ship the defective parts.

Joe and Kate worry that Annie has come to stir up trouble in the Keller family regarding Joe’s guilt in the manufacturing affair, and this, too, complicates the possibility of Chris and Annie’s wedding. Chris also tells Annie that he has a hard time navigating the moral complexities of post-war life, and he relates a story from the war, in which a soldier gave him his last pair of dry socks , as an indication of the moral simplicity of battle.

George , Annie’s brother, calls long-distance, from Columbus, where Steve is imprisoned, saying he, too, is going to visit the Keller home that evening. Annie worries that George is coming with revelations about the Joe-Steve manufacturing affair, and Kate tells Joe to prepare himself for George’s questioning. George arrives, in a huff, and though Jim and Chris attempt to calm him, George accuses Joe of knowingly inducing Steve to “take the fall” for the manufacturing failures. George believes Steve’s story, that Joe himself told Steve over the phone to shellac over the defective parts. George believes that Joe feigned sickness that evening to keep from going into the plant, thus retaining distance from the events, which enabled Joe to place the blame entirely on Steve. Joe denies these accusations to George, who leaves the house, but as Annie runs after him, Joe announces to Chris, and in front of Kate, that in fact George’s story is true.

Chris is aghast, not just that this father produced the defective parts, but that Joe lied to put Steve in jail, and proceeded to make a fortune from the factory in the post-war boom. Chris feels complicit in his father’s immorality, and goes for a drive that evening, while Joe and Kate weep on the house’s back porch.

At the play’s end, it is two in the morning the following day, and Chris returns from his drive to find Annie, Joe, and Kate outside. Annie, who wants Kate to believe that Larry is truly dead so that she and Chris can be married, shows to Kate a letter Larry wrote her the day before his death, in which he said his plane would “go missing” in an act of suicide, out of the shame Larry feels for Joe’s and Steve’s guilt. Joe, who for a long time had comforted himself with the idea that he was not responsible for his own son’s death, realizes, when Chris reads the letter aloud, that he has not only killed 21 pilots—he has also killed, indirectly, his own son. Joe remarks that “all the soldiers . . . are his sons,” and goes upstairs, feigning that he will turn himself in to the small town’s jail. But a gunshot is heard; Joe has killed himself in the house, and though Chris tells his mother, outside, that he didn’t intend for this to happen, Kate tells Chris and Annie, calmly, to go far away and start a new family elsewhere, since the guilt that has ravaged the Keller family can bring them nothing but harm. The play ends.

• Quizzes, saving guides, requests, plus so much more.

Home — Essay Samples — Literature — Books — All My Sons

Essays on All My Sons

Choosing all my sons essay topics.

When it comes to selecting an essay topic for a literary work like Arthur Miller's All My Sons, it's important to choose a topic that not only interests you but also allows for in-depth analysis and discussion. The right topic can make your essay stand out, showcasing your understanding of the text and your critical thinking skills. In this guide, we'll discuss the importance of choosing the right topic, offer advice on how to select a topic, and provide a list of recommended essay topics across different categories.

The Importance of the Topic

The topic you choose for your essay on All My Sons can significantly impact the quality of your work. A well-selected topic will allow you to explore the themes, characters, and literary devices in the play, enabling you to make insightful observations and draw compelling s. Additionally, a strong topic can captivate your readers and demonstrate your ability to engage with the text on a deeper level. Therefore, it's essential to put thought and consideration into selecting a topic that will enable you to showcase your analytical skills and understanding of the play.

Choosing a Topic

When choosing a topic for your essay on All My Sons, consider the aspects of the play that intrigue you the most. This could be a particular character, theme, or literary device. Additionally, think about the significance of the topic within the context of the play and its relevance to broader social or historical issues. It's also important to select a topic that allows for critical analysis and interpretation, rather than simply summarizing the plot or events of the play. By choosing a topic that aligns with your interests and offers ample opportunities for exploration, you'll be able to produce a more engaging and insightful essay.

Recommended Essay Topics

Here are some recommended essay topics for All My Sons, divided into different categories to cater to a wide range of interests and analytical approaches:

Character Analysis

• Joe Keller as a Tragic Hero: Analyze Joe Keller's character and determine whether he fits the criteria of a tragic hero.
• Kate Keller's Guilt: Explore the theme of guilt in Kate Keller's character and how it shapes her actions and decisions throughout the play.
• Chris Keller's Transformation: Examine Chris Keller's character arc and the factors that contribute to his transformation over the course of the play.

Themes and Motifs

• The American Dream: Discuss how the theme of the American Dream is portrayed in All My Sons and its impact on the characters.
• The Weight of the Past: Analyze the motif of the past in the play and its influence on the characters' present actions and decisions.
• Family and Morality: Explore the theme of family and its intersection with morality in All My Sons.

Social and Historical Context

• Post-War America: Discuss the play's portrayal of post-war America and its implications for the characters and their actions.
• Business Ethics: Examine the ethical dilemmas surrounding Joe Keller's business practices and their broader societal implications.
• The Cost of War: Analyze how the play addresses the human cost of war and its effects on individuals and families.

Choosing the right essay topic for All My Sons is crucial to producing a thoughtful and compelling piece of writing. By considering your interests, the significance of the topic, and its potential for critical analysis, you can select a topic that will enable you to engage deeply with the play and demonstrate your understanding and insight. The recommended essay topics provided cover a wide range of themes and characters, offering ample opportunities for exploration and analysis to suit different interests and analytical approaches.

A Close Analysis of The Theme of Family, Society and Emotional Release in All My Sons

Review of arthur miller’s play, all my sons, made-to-order essay as fast as you need it.

Each essay is customized to cater to your unique preferences

+ experts online

Analysis of Joe Keller's Character in All My Sons

How larry is able to remain offstage but always present in all my sons, arthur miller’s depiction of the effect of deceit as illustrated in his play, all my sons, how kate represent the bad thing mothers go through in all my sons, let us write you an essay from scratch.

• 450+ experts on 30 subjects ready to help
• Custom essay delivered in as few as 3 hours

How All My Sons Shows The Drama Created by Ordinary People and Why It is Important to Be Earnest

January 29, 1947

Arthur Miller

The Kellers' yard in late August 1946

Joe Keller, Kate Keller, Chris Keller, Ann Deever, George Deever, Dr. Jim Bayliss, Sue Bayliss, Frank Lubey, Bert, Larry Keller, Steve Deever, Lydia Lubey

Relevant topics

• A Modest Proposal
• Brave New World
• Between The World and Me
• The Yellow Wallpaper
• Of Mice and Men
• A Farewell to Arms
• Pride and Prejudice
• A Cup of Tea
• Angels in America

By clicking “Check Writers’ Offers”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy . We’ll occasionally send you promo and account related email

No need to pay just yet!

We use cookies to personalyze your web-site experience. By continuing we’ll assume you board with our cookie policy .

• Instructions Followed To The Letter
• Deadlines Met At Every Stage
• Unique And Plagiarism Free

• International
• Education Jobs
• Schools directory
• Resources Education Jobs Schools directory News Search

NAT 5 Critical Essay: All My Sons - Arthur Miller (marked 19/20)

Subject: English

Age range: 14-16

Resource type: Assessment and revision

Last updated

9 September 2020

• Share through email
• Share through twitter
• Share through linkedin
• Share through facebook
• Share through pinterest

This is a National 5 English A-grade critical essay which examines Arthur Miller’s play All My Sons in relation to the following question:

Choose a play in which the writer creates an interesting character. By referring to appropriate techniques, explain how the writer makes this character interesting.

This essay discusses the depiction of Joe Keller and the theme of self-interest versus social responsibility, and how this is presented through Keller’s characterisation within the play. Evidence from the play has been highlighted in light blue for easier use.

Tes paid licence How can I reuse this?

Your rating is required to reflect your happiness.

It's good to leave some feedback.

Something went wrong, please try again later.

This resource hasn't been reviewed yet

To ensure quality for our reviews, only customers who have purchased this resource can review it

Report this resource to let us know if it violates our terms and conditions. Our customer service team will review your report and will be in touch.

Not quite what you were looking for? Search by keyword to find the right resource:

• study guides
• lesson plans
• homework help

Introduction & Overview of All My Sons

All My Sons Summary & Study Guide Description

All My Sons, Arthur Miller's first commercially successful play, opened at the Coronet Theatre in New York on January 29, 1947. It ran for 328 performances and garnered important critical acclaim for the dramatist, winning the prestigious New York Drama Critics' Circle Award.

Miller's earlier play, The Man Who Had All the Luck (1944), had not done well and had quickly closed; therefore, at the time All My Sons opened, Miller's reputation as a writer was based almost solely on Focus (1945), his lauded novel about anti-Semitism.

All My Sons is now regarded as the first of Miller's major plays. The work also greatly helped the career of Elia Kazan, who had first won accolades for his direction of Thornton Wilder's The Skin of Our Teeth in 1942 and after directing All My Sons would continue to work with the plays of both Miller and Tennessee Williams to produce both legendary stage productions and important films.

In All My Sons Miller evidenced the strong influence of both Henrik Ibsen and Greek tragedy, developing a "formula" that he would brilliantly exploit in his next play, Death of a Salesman (1949), which many regard as his finest work.

Read more from the Study Guide

FOLLOW BOOKRAGS:

All My Sons

by Arthur Miller

All my sons influences on all my sons.

All My Sons is a tightly constructed household drama in the style of the ancient Greek tragedies and of the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. Ibsen was one of the forerunners of the modern realistic style of drama. In the second half of the nineteenth century, Ibsen's plays featured small casts, colloquial language, and realistic situtations. But from these realistic situations arose timeless, archetypal emotions and conflicts. Essentially, Ibsen took the high drama of the gods in Greek theater and set it anew in Victorian drawing rooms, with pistols and purses rather than lightning bolts and chariots.

In a time when the Norwegian theater was still full of morality plays, Ibsen's plays were highly controversial. Right and wrong were not immediately apparent, nor were there clear protagonists and antagonists. More shockingly, bad things often happened to good people, contrary to the poetic justice of most Victorian theater and of an audience's natural preferences.

Ibsen challenged such assumptions and conventions with, for example, powerful, complex female characters such as Hedda Gabler in A Doll's House), antiheroes such as in Peer Gynt , and critiques of mob mentality in plays such as Enemy of the People . His plays introduced idiomatic dialogue to the stage and a sense of realism that was adopted by Chekhov, Shaw, and realist playwrights through Miller. Ibsen is also credited with presenting scathing social critiques through the drama of individuals, taking the generalism of Greek tragedies (in which the heroes were often explicitly representative of all humanity or of particular human flaws) and compressing it into realistic individuals with whom, like Willy Loman, audiences could readily identify.

Ibsen's style and construction influenced all of Western theater, not just Arthur Miller 's works. But Miller is particularly pinpointed as an Ibsenian playwright, even though his more fantastic works such as Death of a Salesman and After the Fall are very unlike Ibsen? Miller was an Ibsenian also because he wrote characters, like Joe Keller , Willy Loman, and John Proctor, who fit the Ibsenian mold of tragic Greek heroes in their contemporary world. All My Sons was particularly perceived as Ibsenian because of its structural and thematic similarities to Ibsen.

All My Sons owes a great debt to Ibsen's The Wild Duck (1884), in which a young man returns home and slowly discovers heinous secrets about his family. The protagonist insists on full truth in all statements, but his ideals end up backfiring and result in the suicide of a young girl, showing that some truths are too much to bear. This play bears thematic and structural similarities to All My Sons, which probably reinforced the critical reception of Miller as an Ibsenian playwright at the time.

The link of All My Sons to Greek tragedy is not just by way of Ibsen but more direct as well. The concept of the inescapable influence of the past is very classical (remember Oedipus, for example). Oedipus too discovers the full truth about killing his father and marrying his mother after a series of hints, and the past does determine the future. Likewise, the father-son conflict in which the son realizes that his father is a mere mortal and kills him (directly or indirectly) is one of the most classic tropes in drama.

All My Sons weaves together these elements--Greek themes, Ibsenian structure, and a modern idiom--into a triumph of the well-constructed realist play.

All My Sons Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for All My Sons is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

Why is Kate upset by her dream? All my sons

Kate won't accept her son died in the war. Kate recalls a dream she had about Larry, when she heard the wind, she imagined it was Larry flying by in his fighter plane. Kate turns to Joe and admonishes him for planting her son's memorial tree so...

Both Joe and Chris treat Kate with kid gloves, as she continues to grieve for her son, Larry, and continues to wait for his return.

When confessing his love for Ann, Chris tells his father that if he cannot accept their love and desire to marry,...

What was Larry's favourable drink?

I see no evidence of Larry's favorite drink being mentioned in the text. Act and scene?

Study Guide for All My Sons

All My Sons study guide contains a biography of Arthur Miller, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

• About All My Sons
• All My Sons Summary
• Character List

Essays for All My Sons

All My Sons literature essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of All My Sons.

• Mother Knows Worst: Kate's Role in All My Sons
• The Ethical Breach of the Business Man
• Off-Stage but Ever-Present: Larry in All My Sons
• Ordinary People Create Drama: A Comparison of All My Sons and The Importance of Being Earnest
• Society, Family, Catharsis: Male Protagonists in ‘All My Sons’ and ‘The Cement Garden’

Lesson Plan for All My Sons

• About the Author
• Study Objectives
• Introduction to All My Sons
• Relationship to Other Books
• Bringing in Technology
• Notes to the Teacher
• Related Links
• All My Sons Bibliography

Wikipedia Entries for All My Sons

• Introduction