Arthur Miller's "All My Sons"

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that Arthur Miller, in his tragic play, "All My Sons", symbolizes through the lifestyle of the Keller family and their friends his view of the American Dream. The author points out that the concept of the American Dream is associated with the years following WWII, in which, through the movies such as "Pleasantville", the world created successful children, perfect families, and a happy stay-at-home mother, which, in the end, just as for the characters in this play, was impossible. The paper relates that writer Miller is the character Jim Bayliss, who, even though he has moral values, lives his life in sync with everyone else.

From the Paper:

"Once the truth comes out and everyone begins to argue (Miller 58-59), the only way that Joe feels he can free Chris and the others from guilt and pain, so that they can live and continue their attempt to become successful, is to kill himself. Throughout his life, he never learned that true success is measured in who we become rather than what materialistic item we have. If he learned how to love and respect himself and his family, he could have achieved the happiness he never found. His intentions were good, but his dream for the American dream was wrong, and suicide (Miller 69) was his way of fixing the burdens he caused. Joe's longing to become socially accepted eclipsed his ability to distinguish right from wrong, and that is what leads him to his dishonest and selfish choices. Joe Keller believed that he had to sacrifice everything, to give his family the kind of life Americans can only dream."

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