Set in the immediate post-World War II years, Arthur Miller's 'All My Sons' unravels the devastating secrets of the Keller family. Joe Keller, a successful businessman, has rebuilt his life after being acquitted of selling faulty cylinder heads to the military during the war, a crime for which his former partner, Steve Deever, is still imprisoned. Joe's wife, Kate, clings to the belief that their eldest son, Larry, missing in action, is still alive, largely because Larry's disappearance absolves Joe in her eyes. Their surviving son, Chris, a decorated war veteran, plans to marry Larry's former sweetheart, Ann Deever, Steve's daughter, bringing the past violently into the present. As the truth about the faulty parts, Larry's fate, and Joe's complicity slowly emerges, the play exposes the moral decay beneath the veneer of the American Dream, forcing Chris to confront his father's grave betrayal and the tragic consequences of prioritizing personal gain over collective responsibility. It is a powerful examination of guilt, denial, and the inescapable bonds of family.
Critical Reception
"A searing masterpiece, 'All My Sons' not only established Arthur Miller as a paramount voice in American theatre but continues to resonate as a potent critique of moral compromise and the insidious cost of war profiteering."
Adaptations
1948 film adaptation directed by Irving Reis; numerous television adaptations.