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Characters · 10
Ann Deever
Ann Deever plays a crucial role in Arthur Miller's All My Sons, entering the Keller home as the former girlfriend of the missing Larry Keller and the current love interest of Chris Keller.
character
Chris Keller
Chris Keller is the moral center and tragic hero of Arthur Miller's All My Sons.
character
Frank Lubey
Frank Lubey is a minor yet thematically significant neighbor in Arthur Miller's All My Sons.
character
George Deever
George Deever is Ann's older brother and the son of Steve Deever, who is serving time for sending out faulty cylinder heads that led to the deaths of twenty-one American pilots during World War II.
character
Jim Bayliss
Jim Bayliss is the Kellers' next-door neighbor and the local doctor, acting in All My Sons as a sardonic moral observer who witnesses the play's central tragedy from a telling distance.
character
Joe Keller
Joe Keller is the main character and moral center of Arthur Miller's All My Sons.
character
Kate Keller
Kate Keller is the matriarch of the Keller household and one of the play's most psychologically intricate characters.
character
Larry Keller
Larry Keller is the absent yet ever-present core of Arthur Miller's All My Sons.
character
Steve Deever
Steve Deever is a crucial but absent figure in Arthur Miller's All My Sons, never seen onstage yet influencing every scene.
character
Sue Bayliss
Sue Bayliss is a supporting character in Arthur Miller's All My Sons, known for her sharp tongue and realistic perspective, which contrasts with the more idealistic characters in the play.
character
Key quotes · 10
“Once and for all you can know there was a man here who never worked a day in his life for himself.”
This line is delivered by Joe Keller near the climax of Arthur Miller's All My Sons (1947), directed at his son Chris Keller during their heart-wrenching final confrontation.
Joe Keller
“A man can't be a Jesus in this world!”
This line is spoken by Joe Keller, the protagonist of Arthur Miller's All My Sons (1947).
Joe Keller
“Chris, a man can't be a saint in this world.”
This line is spoken by Joe Keller to his son Chris in Arthur Miller's All My Sons (1947).
Joe Keller
“What the hell are you? You're not even an animal, no animal kills his own, what are you?”
This intense accusation comes from Chris Keller aimed at his father, Joe Keller, in Arthur Miller's All My Sons (1947), during the pivotal confrontation in Act Three.
Chris Keller · Act Three
“Larry was your son too, wasn't he? You know he'd never tell you to kill yourself.”
This line is delivered by Chris Keller to his father, Joe Keller, just before the climax of Arthur Miller's All My Sons (1947).
Chris Keller · Act Three
“There's nothing he could do that I wouldn't forgive. Because he's my son.”
This line is delivered by Kate Keller, the mother in Arthur Miller's All My Sons (1947), referring to her son Chris, but it also shows her unwavering support for her husband Joe.
Kate Keller · Act Two
“You wanted money, so I made money. What must I be forgiven?”
This line is delivered by Joe Keller, the father figure at the heart of Arthur Miller's All My Sons (1947), during a crucial confrontation — likely in Act Two — as the reality of his wartime actions bears down on him.
Joe Keller · Act Two
“I think to him they were all my sons. And I guess they were, I guess they were.”
This heartbreaking line is delivered by Joe Keller near the climax of Arthur Miller's All My Sons (1947), after he finally reads the letter his son Larry wrote to his fiancée Ann before his death.
Joe Keller · Act Three
“I'm in business, a man is in business; a hundred and twenty cracked, you're out of business.”
This line is delivered by Joe Keller, the patriarch and moral center of Arthur Miller's All My Sons (1947).
Joe Keller
“I'm his father and he's my son, and if there's something bigger than that I'll put a bullet in my head!”
This heart-wrenching statement is delivered by Joe Keller, the father figure of the play, in Arthur Miller's All My Sons (1947).
Joe Keller · Act Two
Symbols · 5
Larry's Letter
In Arthur Miller's All My Sons, Larry's letter to Ann Deever, written before his death, reveals his plan to undertake a suicidal mission after discovering his father's crime.
The Broken Tree
In Arthur Miller's All My Sons, the apple tree planted in memory of Larry Keller symbolizes the family's shared denial — their effort to keep their deceased son "alive" to avoid confronting their moral failures.
The Cracked Cylinder Heads
In Arthur Miller's All My Sons, the cracked cylinder heads symbolize the destructive nature of self-deception and the moral emptiness of putting profit above human life.
The Horoscope
In Arthur Miller's All My Sons, horoscopes represent a troubling human tendency to find solace in fate and superstition instead of facing moral responsibility.
The Keller House
In Arthur Miller's All My Sons, the Keller house and its yard symbolize the misleading comfort of the American Dream and the façade of domestic normalcy built on moral decay.
Literary devices · 12
Irony
Irony runs deep throughout the play.
Symbolism
The apple tree planted in memory of Larry serves as the play's main symbol.
Dramatic Monologue
Joe Keller’s lengthy self-defenses play out like dramatic monologues, even if they aren’t labeled as such.
Metaphor
Miller develops the play using the metaphor of the family business to represent America itself.
Allusion
The title hints at a double meaning that only becomes clear at the climax of the play.
Pathetic Fallacy
The storm that takes down Larry's memorial tree before the play starts is a striking example of pathetic fallacy: nature reflects the emotional and moral chaos the characters are about to experience.
Juxtaposition
Miller contrasts the warmth of home life with the moral horror underlying it.
Anaphora
Miller employs anaphora during emotionally charged moments to give the characters' speech a powerful, almost chant-like quality.
Elegy
The play carries a deep sense of mourning for Larry Keller, a character who never appears but whose absence influences every scene.
Paradox
The play presents a paradox at its moral center: Joe Keller committed his crime out of love for his family, yet that same love ultimately tears the family apart.
Narrative Poem
Though All My Sons is a play, it follows a narrative style reminiscent of Ibsen, focusing on past revelations.
Motif
The motif of 'the business' — who built it, who will inherit it, and what it cost — recurs throughout the play, symbolizing Joe's entire moral universe.
Vocabulary · 20
self-made
Having built one's own wealth and social position through personal effort rather than inheritance or family advantage, starting from humble beginnings.
adjective · Chapter 1
cylinder heads
Metal engine components that cap the top of an engine's cylinders; in this play, defective ones were shipped to military aircraft, causing planes to crash and pilots to die.
noun · Chapter 1
defective
Faulty or flawed in a way that makes something dangerous or unfit for its intended use, especially referring here to engine parts that failed in military aircraft.
adjective · Chapter 1
appeal
A legal process in which a higher court reviews and can overturn a lower court's conviction or sentence, as happened when Joe's guilty verdict was reversed.
noun · Chapter 1
alibi
A claim that a person was somewhere else or doing something else when a crime occurred, used as a legal defence to prove innocence.
noun · Chapter 2
took sick
An older, informal expression meaning became ill; used here to describe the excuse Joe gave for not being at the factory on the day the defective parts were shipped.
phrase · Chapter 2
put a bullet in my head
An emphatic, colloquial expression meaning to shoot oneself dead; used here as a dramatic declaration that nothing matters more to Joe than his bond with his son.
phrase · Chapter 1
universe of people
The entire human community beyond one's own family; used here to argue that a person's moral duty extends to all of humanity, not just those closest to them.
phrase · Chapter 3
responsible to it
Morally accountable to the wider world and its people, obligated to consider the consequences of one's actions on society as a whole, not just on one's own family.
phrase · Chapter 3
weep
To cry, especially in grief or remorse; used here sarcastically to question whether Joe feels genuine sorrow for the pilots whose deaths his actions caused.
verb · Chapter 2
murdered
Used here not in the strict legal sense but as a moral accusation: to have caused the deaths of others through deliberate, reckless wrongdoing.
verb · Chapter 2
shattered illusions
Beliefs or comforting false ideas that have been violently destroyed by the truth; refers to the family's collapse of self-deception once Joe's guilt is fully exposed.
phrase · Chapter 3
fragile
Easily broken or destroyed; describes a hope or happiness that exists only under the surface and cannot withstand the pressure of the truth.
adjective · Chapter 2
fallout
The damaging consequences or aftermath that follow a catastrophic event or revelation, here referring to what Chris and Kate must face after Joe's death.
noun · Chapter 3
conviction
A formal legal judgment that a person is guilty of a crime, as handed down by a court; Joe's conviction was later overturned on appeal.
noun · Chapter 1
overturned
Officially reversed or cancelled by a higher authority; here, Joe's guilty verdict was overturned on appeal, meaning he was legally cleared despite his actual guilt.
verb · Chapter 1
on appeal
Through the process of asking a higher court to review and reverse a lower court's decision; Joe used this legal mechanism to escape his prison sentence.
phrase · Chapter 1
combat
Active armed fighting in a war; Larry deliberately flew into combat as an act of shame-driven self-destruction after learning of his father's crime.
noun · Chapter 3
inadvertently
Without meaning to; by accident. Kate unintentionally reveals information that destroys Joe's alibi rather than deliberately exposing him.
adverb · Chapter 2
justifying
Offering reasons or excuses to make a wrong or harmful action seem acceptable or necessary; Joe argues his decision to ship the parts was forced on him by circumstance.
verb · Chapter 3