Who is the protagonist of All My Sons?

In most ways, Joe Keller is the protagonist in Arthur Miller's play All My Sons. It is his past actions and story that primarily drive the plot of this play. In fact, much of the plot of All My Sons centers on Joe's personal transformation as he goes from denying his greater responsibilities to society to finally accepting them. He is the first character to take the stage, and it is his suicide that provides the story's ultimate resolution.

Chris Keller, Joe's son, can be seen as a protagonist in this play as well. While Joe's plot-driving actions happened primarily in the past, Chris takes a more current and active role as the play progresses. His romance with Ann and their desire to get married drives the plot toward its climax and eventual conclusion.

Like his father, Chris experiences his own transformation throughout the course of the story. At first, he stubbornly clings to the notion that his father is not at fault in the deaths of the pilots as a result of the corners Joe cut in his factory during the war. Yet, by the story's end, he recognizes his father's complicity, confronts his own cowardice, and works up the courage to confront his father.

In the play All My Sons by Arthur Miller, Ann and George Deever play the role of the antagonists. Despite her young age, Ann knows what she wants and what she is doing. Ann knows Joe's dark secret and it is she who puts the events in motion that lead to the confrontation between him and Chris. She also possesses the knowledge that there is no hope that Larry is still alive. She knows that he is dead by suicide. Although she would have preferred to keep this secret, Ann is eventually forced to reveal the truth. Her tenacity and fiery spirit force Joe and Chris, the protagonists of the story, to confront truths they would very much have preferred to ignore. She knows all about Joe's culpability in the death of the twenty-one pilots and she is not going to let it slide any longer. Although Joe, Kate, and Chris would have been happy enough to maintain the status quo, Ann's actions make that impossible.

Although he plays a smaller role than his sister, George Deever also falls into the role of antagonist. His anger at Joe leads him to angrily forbid the marriage of Chris and Ann. For her part, Ann rebuffs her brother's threats, but it is too late at this point to back down. As a result, Chris is finally forced to confront his father unless Joe owns up to his past transgressions.