All My Sons Questions and Answers
All My Sons
What is most important to Joe Keller?
Material success is very important to Joe Keller, primarily because he believes it is the means of protecting himself and his family. Keller is a living illustration of the American Dream—the...
All My Sons
What is Miller's criticism on the American dream in All My Sons?
Miller criticizes the American Dream by showing how it corrupts the soul and makes us do things we shouldn't do. Joe Keller is the living embodiment of the American Dream. A successful businessman,...
All My Sons
How is the title of the play All My Sons justified?
The title of the play All My Sons is justified because Joe Keller should have thought of all the pilots who flew in planes that contained defective parts his company sold the government as his sons...
All My Sons
What is the relationship between Chris and Ann in "All My Sons"?
Chris Keller and Ann Deever grew up as next door neighbors, their houses were side by side on the same block. When they were younger, Ann was Chris's brother Larry's girl, in fact Ann was engaged...
All My Sons
In "All my Sons", what is Kate's attitude towards her missing son?
Kate's attitude towards her son is sort of the "elephant in the room" for the rest of the characters. She simply refuses to believe that her son, Larry,was killed in a plane crash three years...
All My Sons
In "All My Sons", why doesn't Sue want Ann and Chris to live next door?
Sue worries that Chris's idealism will make Jim unhappy with his career path. Jim doesn't enjoy his medical practice, as he doesn't find it fulfilling. His patients are needy and whiny, and he...
All My Sons
What is a brief description of the characters Joe Keller, Kate Keller, Larry, Chris Keller, Jim, Sue, Burt and Frank?
Joe Keller is the patriarch of the family, he is a self-made man, who worked his way up from worker to boss/owner. He owns a factory that made airplane parts for the military during World War II....
All My Sons
In "All My Sons," Mrs. Keller says, "God will not allow fathers to kill their sons." What does...
The main conflict in the play "All My Sons" is over the sale of defective parts to airplane manufacturers by Keller's company. Those parts were used in planes that crashed at war, killing...
All My Sons
What does the apple tree symbolize in All My Sons?
The apple tree is a symbol of Larry. The tree was planted to commemorate him. The tree's death symbolizes the way the older Kellers will finally come to fully accept Larry's death. A high wind...
All My Sons
How does Miller depict the theme of superstition in the play All My Sons?
Kate Keller clings to superstitions, saying that some superstitions are very nice! For her, relying on superstition to keep alive her hope that Larry will return home is a way of grasping at...
All My Sons
Why did Joe decide to commit suicide (relate to Kate's words at the end of the play: "Forget now! Live") in All My Sons?
Joe decides to commit suicide after Chris reads aloud Larry's letter to Ann. In the letter, Larry explains to Ann that he knows his father knowingly sent out plane parts that were faulty to...
All My Sons
Explain the significance of Larry's tree falling in All My Sons.
The play is set in the aftermath of World War II. It is about the Keller family: Kate, Joe, and their two sons, Chris and Larry. Larry was in the military and died during the war before the play...
All My Sons
What is the significance of the setting in "All My Sons"?
The setting of the play in Joe Keller's backyard is significant because it shows the intimate relationship between Joe's home and business lives. The setting reinforces Joe's self-image as a...
All My Sons
Give an account of the crime that Joe Keller and Steve Deever committed in All My Sons.
The crime committed by Joe Keller and Steve Deever was borne out of greed. They wanted to make as much money shipping as many aircraft cylinder heads to the military as possible. As they were much...
All My Sons
In this quote below from Arthur Miller's play All My Sons, what is Chris trying to say, and how might it be connected...
Chris is suffering from survival guilt, often described by survivors as the feeling that while they survived, better people died. Survivors often believe that others died because they were better,...
All My Sons
Describe Joe Keller from All My Sons as a father, husband, neighbour, and friend.
As a father, Joe Keller thinks that he is sacrificing all that he has to be a strong provider for his sons. He keeps the family business strong so that he can pass it on to Chris and Larry once he...
All My Sons
What is the significance of the apple tree and the letter in relation to the action of "All My Sons"?
The apple tree is symbolic in many ways. First, it was planted in the memory of Larry, the eldest the the Keller children whose plane was shot down in the World War II. Apple trees are universal...
All My Sons
How does Larry die in All My Sons?
Larry Keller never actually takes the stage in Arthur Miller's All My Sons. What the audience knows about him is limited to what is conveyed by the other characters. Though he never appears on...
All My Sons
How can I explain the title "All My Sons" and its significance to the play?
Joe Keller says that everything he has done in his life has been for his sons. This includes the decision to ship the cracked cylinder heads that lead to the death of so many airmen. Because Joe...
All My Sons
What is Kate's attitude about her missing son in All My Sons?
You asked more than one question in your original question. Enotes only permits one question and so I have edited your original question accordingly. Please do not ask multiple questions in...
All My Sons
Compare the characters of Chris and Joe in All My Sons. Consider their education, moral values, idealism, and so on.
Joe Keller is a factory man who has worked hard all of his life for his family. As All My Sons by Arthur Miller begins, Joe is sixty years old. His son, Chris Keller, is thirty-two and a veteran of...
All My Sons
How is Keller's former partner shown in "All My Sons"?
Steve Deever is presented in All My Sons as a patsy, a victim of the obsessive, headlong pursuit of the American Dream. What Miller is doing here is alerting us to the fact that it's often the...
All My Sons
How is the title of Arthur Miller's play, All My Sons, justified?
The title says everything about the perspective that Joe Keller ought to have had on humanity but chose not to adopt out of greed. He should've realized that he had a great responsibility to all...
All My Sons
What is the significance of money in the play All My Sons?
The significance of money in the play is to show the downfalls of pursuing it and the compromised and sometimes unethical things that the pursuit of money can drive people to do. Money is...
All My Sons
What are some examples of realism in All My Sons by Arthur Miller?
Realism is writing that portrays life as it really is or as it could be. In short, realism in literature seeks to emulate the way highs and lows of everyday life. In realism, the characters act and...
All My Sons
In Arthur Miller's All My Sons, how is Chris affected by the information of his father's guilt?
Chris Keller has been living in a state of denial. He is his father's son, and that involves a certain amount--actually, a considerable amount--of self-deception regarding the Keller family's...
All My Sons
In what ways is All My Sons a domestic tragedy?
There is so much of this sad play that shows this is a domestic tragedy. A domestic tragedy can be defined as a tragedy where the principal actors in the tragedy are normal lower and middle class...
All My Sons
Who was Frank Lubey in the book All My Sons?
Frank is a 32-year-old character who managed to be one year ahead of the draft. He never served in WWII. Instead, he stayed home, and as a result, began dating and married George’s former...
All My Sons
What is the turning point in All My Sons? What is the climax of the play? How is the play resolved?
The turning point, also known as the climax, in All My Sons occurs when Chris Keller confronts his father, Joe, in the backyard after George figures out that Joe evaded responsibility for selling...
All My Sons
How does Miller present Joe Keller as both a tragic hero and a villain in All My Sons?
In All My Sons, Miller presents Joe Keller as both a tragic hero and a villain by having Joe force Steve Deever to ship the faulty machine parts. On the one hand, Joe may be considered a tragic...
All My Sons
Who is George, and what is the significance of his role in Act 2 of All My Sons?
George is Ann's brother and he functions in the play's second act as an inquisitor and antagonist to Chris and especially to Joe. George does not believe Joe Keller's story about what happened in...
All My Sons
What is Frank's horoscope in All My Sons?
Some people turn to astrology as a way of finding answers to their problems. Kate Keller is one such person. She's been trying to find out what's happened to her son Larry, but so far without any...
All My Sons
What is the role of women in All My Sons?
Arthur Miller’s All My Sons debuted on 1947 and examines the role of morality and mortality among business partners. The use of a gendered term in the title highlights a heightened sense around the...
All My Sons
Why does Joe feel guilty in All My Sons?
In Arthur Miller’s play All My Sons, Joe Keller feels guilty because he carries within himself the knowledge that he was responsible for the deaths of twenty-one pilots during World War II, the...
All My Sons
In All My Sons, Kate refuses to admit that her son Larry is dead. What are the effects of this denial upon the family?
Kate Keller is a controlling person for whom family is very important. Because Larry's body has never been found, she refuses to believe he has been killed, though the rest of the family is ready...
All My Sons
In Act III of All My Sons, what is shown by the fact that Jim has always known of Keller's guilt, but kept silent?
This is a highly timely and important revelation, as Jim's understanding of Keller's position and his own revelation about how he has been similarly involved in acts of compromise underscore the...
All My Sons
In Act 2 of All My Sons, how does Ann react to George's visit ?
In the play Ann and George are sister and brother, both children of the former partner of Joe Keller, Steve Deever. However, they differ in their attitude to their father, who has now been in jail...
All My Sons
What is the function of the newspaper in the first act of Arthur Miller's play All My Sons?
The function of the newspaper in the first act of Arthur Miller's play All My Sons is to set the scene with a communal activity that involves minimal actual interaction but also serves to introduce...
All My Sons
In All My Sons, what has really happened on the day the defective parts were sent from Keller's point of view?
We find out the answer to your question at the end of Act I when Joe Keller tells "his" story to Ann Deever, Steve Deever's daughter and Joe's former partner on whom Joe has conveniently blamed the...
All My Sons
In what ways, and with what dramatic effects, does Miller present the role of the past in the play All My Sons?
The role of the past is critical in the play and overhangs the actions of most of the key characters, with dramatic effects that include impeding their ability to move forward in some cases, as...
All My Sons
In "All My Sons", Mrs. Keller (Kate) says to Keller: "Be smart now, Joe. The boy is coming, be...
When Kate Keller says these words to her husband, she is referring to the fact that George Deever, Ann's brother, is on his way to the Keller home. She is very concerned about George's need to...
All My Sons
What dramatic structure does All My Sons use?
Although Miller was writing at a time of great experimentation in the theater, his play follows a conventional dramatic structure. It is in three acts. The acts are not divided into scenes. Scenes...
All My Sons
What is the impact of the ending of Arthur Miller's All My Sons?
Arthur Miller was an author of modern tragedies, plays that illuminated the frailty of both human life and, as importantly, of humanity itself. In perhaps his most well-know and loved play, Death...
All My Sons
In All My Sons, why does Sue Bayliss hate the Kellers?
It might be a bit of a stretch to conclude that Sue Bayliss, a former nurse now married to an idealistic physician, “hates” the Keller family, her neighbors in Arthur Miller’s play All My Sons. If...
All My Sons
In All My Sons, Chris is in conflict with the most important people in his life. Describe the main conflicts with his...
The conflicts that Chris has with his father, mother, and girlfriend are all related to the death of his brother, Larry. Ann was Larry's girlfriend, who started dating Chris after Larry died in the...
All My Sons
In All My Sons, George Deever says of Chris Keller, “Oh, Chris, you’re a liar to yourself.” Discuss the dramatic...
Prior to the action in All My Sons, Chris Keller had steadfastly believed that his father, Joe Keller, had played no role in shipping defective aircraft parts. The full responsibility had been...
All My Sons
Who is Frank Lubey in All My Sons?
Frank Lubey is a friend of the Keller family. He is a fortunate and kind man who believes in luck. At the time of the play's setting, Frank is thirty-two years old. This makes him one year too old...
All My Sons
The significance of Chris's star in All My Sons
In Act 3 Jim tells Kate that everyone has what he calls their own star—the star of one's honesty. At this point in the play, Chris has come to realize the terrible truth of his father's immoral...
All My Sons
How does All My Sons present the relationship between men and women (main theme of the play)?
On the surface, the role of women in All My Sons is fairly conventional. Women such as Kate Keller are confined to supportive roles as wives and mothers. To a large extent, they only live their...
All My Sons
How does Chris see Joe in the play?
There is a suggestion in the play that Chris always knew about his father's guilt. It is hidden in the fact that Chris has never allowed his name to be put on the business, and in the remark that...
Showing 1-50 of 251