All My Sons by Arthur Miller describes Joe Keller, a middle-class business man in denial about a crime he committed 3 years ago. This crime resulted into his co-partner taking the fall whilst he hides his faults and acts as the innocent man. The theme of denial and blame is explored through the use of stage directions, pauses and ellipses and the reactions of Joe Keller. Keller is the culprit of a criminal act that sent 21 pilots to their death. He hid this from everyone he knew and blamed his co-partner. Throughout most of the play, he denies being a part of the crime until the secrets are revealed which is when he begins to reveal his true colours.
Joe Keller hides his denial and blame through his deception. On the outside, Joe Keller seems to be a caring and gentle man who wouldn’t hurt a fly and this is shown on p46 when Kate spills that Joe was in fact a part of shipping those airplane parts and not George’s father. There are limited stage directions to let the director and actors display this scene to their liking. The ellipses and pauses in this scene are to a minimum but are still very noticeable. When Kate reveals the truth, Keller tries to conceal the truth by persuading George that Kate is insane and doesn’t know what she is talking about. “Well sure… I mean except for that flu” The ellipsis here is placed to give the audience a feeling of shock and astonishment. Keller’s reacts to this scene in a very calm way. He tries to decrease the tension that is rising. Arthur Miller uses this scene to explore the theme of denial and blame by portraying Keller as the Tragic Hero who tries to persuade George that he is an innocent man who just happened to be sick on the day his co-worker shipped out broken airplane parts.
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... Joe Keller to explore the theme of denial and blame through use of stage directions, pauses and ellipses and the reactions of Keller in different scenes. Arthur Miller explores this theme by portraying Keller as the tragic hero that the audience can relate to. Miller also uses Keller to develop this theme by showing him as a deceptive man who hides his true crimes whilst he disguises himself as an innocent middle-aged man who has done nothing wrong. This façade slowly unravels the weak, vulnerable person Joe Keller really is. At the beginning of the play, Joe Keller is a proud and confident person whereas at the end he becomes vulnerable, defenceless and weak. Miller uses this contrast to show the effects that blame will have on a person once they have accepted their fault. Denial and blame is an extremely important theme that is constantly shown in All My Sons.
Arthur Miller’s success first began with his Broadway play, All My Sons, in 1947. This award winning play “Struck a note that was to become familiar in Miller’s work: the need for moral responsibility in families and society”. (Anderson 1212) Later, his production Death of a Salesman left him the group of America’s top playwrights....
The Salem Witch Trials, Who is Really Guilty? After all of the witch trials in 1692 concluded, a total of 20 people were hanged, all because of people craving attention and personal gain. There are three people depicted in Arthur Miller's The Crucible that are most responsible for this and they are, Abigail Williams, Judge Danforth, and Thomas Putnam. Abigail Williams is mostly responsible for the Salem witch trials because she was the first person to start accusing innocent people of witchcraft.
Crucible- a severe test, a hard trial or also could be define as a pot for melting metals. A severe trail could be as other then a physical it also could be mentally a severe trial like person verses self. In The Crucible, Miller reflects the theme that pressure can force people from there can force their morals. The characters in The Crucible have morals that they must up hold to be accepted into the town and church. It is a struggle to keep these values when there are moral hazards like desires, greed, hate, and obsession.
Fear holds a great control over any mortal human-being through daunting and restricted words, most commonly seen while anyone is under pressure. While being controlled over fear, you may come to realize that you are being manipulated to the possibilities of a threatened punishment and may also be mislead by lies. Arthur Miller’s classic novel, The Crucible takes place in Salem, Massachusetts, where a lot of times fear would be used to control anyone to blame another of witchcraft. In The Crucible, Arthur Miller elucidates this through Elizabeth Proctor, Abigail Williams, and Mary Warren, that fear holds a great torment on the truth.
In The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, justice and injustice is portrayed through the characters of John Proctor, Elizabeth Proctor and Abigail Williams. It is also shown through the minor characters of Mary Warren and Mercy Lewis, followers of Abigail Williams, and through Danforth and various townspeople.
Authors often have underlying reasons for giving their stories certain themes or settings. Arthur Miller’s masterpiece, The Crucible, is a work of art inspired by actual events as a response to political and moral issues. Set in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692, The Crucible proves to have its roots in events of the 1950’s and 1960’s, such as the activities of the House Un-American Committee and the “Red Scare.” Though the play provides an accurate account of the Salem witch trials, its real achievement lies in the many important issues of Miller’s time that it dealswith.
Throughout Arthur Miller's The Crucible the issues of the 'handing over' of conscience, the divesting of guilt, and the administration of justice are presented to create a masterful drama. The Crucible deals with issues crucial to all people of all time and is therefore a timeless and momentous play.
Miller uses similarities between Abigail and Procter and real people from the McCarthy era, relations with characters Danforth, Hathorne and Hale with organizations from the McCarthy era and the method of choosing a controversial topic similar to communism to show allegory. The strategies Miller used to craft this play included using literary terms and features, setting, plot events and characters to convey his overall criticism of the time period. The McCarthy era greatly contributed to Arthur Millers development of the plot of this play and the ability to connect with the audience and make them relate what they saw to their own lives.
In every conflict there always seems to be at least one person to blame. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, many problems arise that deal with live and death. Many innocent people in this play were hanged during the Salem Witch Trials. Of course, there are many people that may be blamed. In The Crucible, one may find Abigail Williams, The Putnams, and Mary Warren to blame. Abigail was manipulative, The Putnams were very jealous, and Mary Warren was weak-willed.
A group of teenage girls were secretly dancing in the woods with a black slave, named Tituba. When they were discovered of what they were doing, the girls started accusing certain individuals in the village of dealing with witchcraft. Within a blink of an eye, the entire village is controlled by a devil that exists within the fear of each person. A drama of suspense and impact, Arthur Miller's The Crucible, explores through the individuals' vengeance, fear, reputation, and quest for power.
Writers may use literature as a vehicle of social criticism. In which ways does Arthur Miller criticize society?
Joe Keller embodied Arthur Miller’s first attempt at answering his own question about how a man can successfully live in society, and perhaps for the most part, Joe is a success. He lives in a nice neighborhood with his family and friends, as well as owning a good company which he wishes to leave to his son Chris. He has made a good living looking out for number one, and concentrating on the well being of his family. However, it is revealed through the course of the play that in his haste and greed to support his family’s living, he had not built certain engine parts correctly, which were supposed to be shipped out to the air force for fighting in World War 2.
The dialogue between Chris Keller and his father and the protagonist of the play, Joe Keller is extremely interesting to analyse as it explores how throughout his whole life, Chris has reaped the benefits of Joe’s single-minded when it comes to family.’For you, Kate, for both of you, that’s all I ever lived for..’ This will later be his fatal flaw, or ‘hamarita’ as the reader will discover the role Joe played during the war and the cost of is actions. Therefore his actions do affect his relationship with Chris and this is accentuated by Miller, with his son and Chris’s brother, Larry being reported missing in action (MIA) after being In combat during World War Two.
Parallels between Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, and his article Why I wrote the Crucible, can easily support Miller’s reasons for writing this classic play. Miller’s purpose in writing both the play and the article was to emphasize the similarities between the 1692 witch hunt and the 1950’s Red Scare. Miller simply wanted to convey the message of fear over reason, express himself in a new language of old English, to warn of mass hysteria, and most importantly compare his life in the 1950’s to the irrational trial in 1692. Miller’s reasons are numerous, and while they are all stated flat out in his article, they are also clearly stated and understood in the play.