- self-madeadjectiveChapter 1 →
Having built one's own wealth and social position through personal effort rather than inheritance or family advantage, starting from humble beginnings.
- cylinder headsnounChapter 1 →
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.
- defectiveadjectiveChapter 1 →
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.
- appealnounChapter 1 →
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.
- alibinounChapter 2 →
A claim that a person was somewhere else or doing something else when a crime occurred, used as a legal defence to prove innocence.
- took sickphraseChapter 2 →
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.
“Your father took sick and suddenly you were never sick in your life.”
- put a bullet in my headphraseChapter 1 →
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.
“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!”
- universe of peoplephraseChapter 3 →
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.
“Once and for all you can know there's a universe of people outside and you're responsible to it.”
- responsible to itphraseChapter 3 →
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.
“Once and for all you can know there's a universe of people outside and you're responsible to it.”
- weepverbChapter 2 →
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.
“He murdered twenty-one pilots. What does your father do—weep for them?”
- murderedverbChapter 2 →
Used here not in the strict legal sense but as a moral accusation: to have caused the deaths of others through deliberate, reckless wrongdoing.
“He murdered twenty-one pilots. What does your father do—weep for them?”
- shattered illusionsphraseChapter 3 →
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.
- fragileadjectiveChapter 2 →
Easily broken or destroyed; describes a hope or happiness that exists only under the surface and cannot withstand the pressure of the truth.
- falloutnounChapter 3 →
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.
- convictionnounChapter 1 →
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.
- overturnedverbChapter 1 →
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.
- on appealphraseChapter 1 →
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.
- combatnounChapter 3 →
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.
- inadvertentlyadverbChapter 2 →
Without meaning to; by accident. Kate unintentionally reveals information that destroys Joe's alibi rather than deliberately exposing him.
- justifyingverbChapter 3 →
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.
All My SonsPlay by Arthur Miller