Life in the 1940's in All My Sons

Life in the 1940's in All My Sons

Throughout the course of this essay on 'All My Sons' I will be

examining life in the 1940's before and after the war and how it has

affected different types of people; those who served in the war and

those who stayed at home. I will also be examining how life is like

for different families in the play after the war e.g. how prosperous

they are. I will also explore and examine the different families and

how they live and cope with the effects of war.

The author of this play is Arthur Miller. He wrote this novel during

world war two and expected it to be published just before the war was

over, but it turns out he thought wrong. An atomic bomb ended the war

very suddenly and the play was published after the war was over.

Miller's interest in the wonder of human beings is particularly

stirred by emotions and tensions in family life, and especially in the

relationship of father and sons.

Keller: What's the matter with you!

Chris: Dad....Dad, you killed-twenty one men!

Keller: What, killed?

Chris: You killed them, you murdered them

Keller: How could I kill anybody?

This is just one of the many examples of father and sons emotions.

Here his attitude to his characters is coloured by his admiration for

the rare person who does not walk away from problems and who can face

them without compromising.

This play is about a man called Joe Keller who is really the main

character he is a man who loves his family above all else, and has

sacrificed everything including his honour, in his struggle to make

the family rich. He is now sixty-one He has lost one son in the war,

and is keen to see his remaining son Chris marry. Chris wants to marry

Ann, who is the X fiancee of his brother Larry. Their mother, Kate,

believes Larry still to be alive. I think it is this belief which has

enabled her to support Joe by covering up her knowledge of a