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The American Dream
Arthur Miller’s
All My Sons
• Seven Deadly Sins:
Wealth without work
Pleasure without conscience
Science without humanity
Knowledge without character
Politics without principle
Commerce without morality
Worship without sacrifice.”
Mahatma Gandhi
•
The social, economical and educational equal rights for all citizens’. The previous
line summarizes the definition people give of what they understand as the
American Dream. According to the Oxford Dictionary, the American Dream
corresponds to ‘the ideal by which equality of opportunity is available to any
American, allowing the highest aspirations and goals to be achieved’. Many people
in the United States of America, where the term was invented during the 30’s, are
looking after the American Dream. It has become the aspiration of many, even to
people from other countries. Nowadays, the term is as inspirational as
controversial, since the opportunities become harder to get day by day. The truth
is that, even though the American Dream is harder to achieve, it encourages
people to achieve what they want. As some may see it, the problem is not the
American Dream itself but the way in which each person achieves it. Sometimes
people forget their values and principles while pursuing their dream and that is the
problem. And this is exactly what happens with Joe Keller, one of the main
characters in Arthur Miller’s play ‘All my Sons’. Keller proves throughout the play
how perverted a man can become when his ambitions are more important than
his morality and values.
• At the beginning of the play, Miller’s starts
describing the house in which the Keller’s live.
The author gives some important details in
order to show the reader that the Keller’s are
actually living the American Dream. In the first
two paragraphs, the readers are able to know
things such as...
• Miller points out the flaw with a merely economic interpretation of the
American Dream as business success alone. Keller sacrifices other parts of
the American Dream for simple economic success. Has he given up part of
his basic human decency (consider the pilots) and a successful family life-does he sacrifice Steve or Larry? Miller suggests the flaws of a capitalist
who has no grounding in cultural or social morals. While Keller accepted
the idea that a good businessman like himself should patch over the
flawed shipment, Miller critiques a system that would encourage profit
and greed at the expense of human life and happiness. The challenge is to
recover the full American Dream of healthy communities with thriving
families, whether or not capitalism is the economic system that leads to
this happy life. Economic mobility alone can be detrimental--consider
George's abandonment of his hometown for big city success. There is a rift
in the Bayliss marriage over Dr. Bayliss's desire to do unprofitable
research, because his wife wants him to make more money instead of do
what he enjoys and what will help others.
• The criticism of the American Dream, which lies at the
heart of All My Sons, was one reason why Arthur Miller
was called to appear before the House Un-American
Activities Committee during the 1950s, when America
was gripped by anti-communist hysteria. Miller sent a
copy of the play to Elia Kazan who directed the original
stage version of All My Sons. Kazan was a former
member of the Communist Party who shared Miller's
left-wing views. However, their relationship was
destroyed when Kazan gave names of suspected
Communists to the House Un-American Activities
Committee during the Red Scare.
• In All My Sons, Arthur Miller has depicted the
American Dreams by exposing some fundamental
tragedies in the lives of his protagonists. According to
modern concept of tragedy, the protagonists should be
accountable for their deeds while facing any kind of
moral dilemma, they make some wrong decisions and
choices for themselves which lead them on the verge
of worst kind of tragedy. Such critical thinking is also
observed in several TV programs, movies and other
media sources where American dream is exaggerated
to attract masses to move to America but they have to
encounter bitter realities of lif
• What are the American Dreams; these are to grow up with heaps of
wealth and precious properties! There are different interpretations
of the American Dreams but it is the common gist of it. But at the
end of this play, All My Sons, the American Dreams are depicted
contrarily where it is described how someone lives happily even
after growing up, owing lots of property and becoming prosperous
financially. Joe Keller had become prosperous and auspicious in his
life financially but his life turned into a tragic life as the story moves
towards a conclusive end, Arthur Miller wants to convey two
contradictory viewpoints in his play, All My Sons, the American
dream is bogus dream which is depicted only in very few and
certain people’s life but most of them suffer from some panic
situations in life in spite of having money (All My
• Arthur Miller has evoked some fundamental questions in his play,
All My Sons what are the individualistic social obligation, personal
responsibility and dissimilarity between personal and public
matters. In the play, All My Sons, Keller performs his specific actions
during the war, he is depicted an individual who is accountable for
himself and his family rather than for society. Miller evaluates
Keller’s discriminatory worldview which affirms his belief; there is
no value of crimes which are committed for sake of the family (All
My Sons Study Guide, 2010). The main reason of conflicts which
arises in the mind of Keller, who believes that Keller is not wrong in
his proclaims, there is nothing more valuable than the family rather
than whole world where Keller lives, “To cut yourself off from your
relationships with society at large is to invite tragedy of a nature
both public (regarding the pilots) and private (regarding the
suicides)” (All My Sons Study Guide, 2010).
• Arthur Miller has manipulated the flow of the story in the most
technical manner that revelation of all secrets of the characters in
play occurs on the same day. Such revelations are inevitable,
causing the fatal consequences due to Denial and self-deception.
The questions are raised how we deceive ourselves and others? We
choose things to spotlight on life but we also need to refute some
certain things for upgrading our living standards? What are impacts
of denial upon the psyche of family and certain society? Keller
family history displays what factors causes distortion and
confrontation in the life. These factors include Larry’s death and
Keller’s sense of liability for the consignment of defective parts. In
the whole play, the mother denies first while she has to accept it
and same case is with Keller himself. Such acts of denial and selfdeception are rooted in both characters who live in a state of selfdeception, avoiding one of the realities of life willingly in order to
keep up the functional life-style of family
• Chris is also characterized as an idealist who
remains angry against the wartime profiteering.
Some people views that he is a man of scruples
setting apart from the social networks. Chris
thinks to abandon all such scrupulous brooding
who sends his father to jail. How idealism are not
sustainable in the practical world which is very
complex. Miller wants to stress upon the values
of ideals or dreams by depicting such characters
in his play how such ideals are sacrificed
according to the current circumstances
• Keller gives solid arguments during wartime how all his
actions are so defensible in maintaining good business
practice. He always asserts himself as an ill-mannered
and uneducated person, boastfully taking pride in his
financial success without any business education. But
gradually his well-flourished business is victimized of
downfalls. Here Miller takes this failure in comparison
with loftiest politics and awkward system of capitalism
which enhance the value of materialistic pursuits
rather than the moral sense. The dramatist raises the
question how rules of good business are exempted
from moral and ethical norms & laws of the certain
society
• Miller reveals how such individualistic flaws can be interpreted with
the economic progress and business success in terms of American
dream. Keller has sacrifices all other parts of the American dream
for just materialistic pursuits or financial growth only. He has given
up the main role of his life as head of family, the basic human
nature how he has made sacrifices of Steve and Larry. Miller points
out the basic flaws of capitalist system which has no concerns with
cultural as well as social morals. Miller criticizes such system of
capitalism which encourages just greed for profiteering shares in
the business stakes holders who may want to sacrifice the human
life and happiness. So American dreams are so attractive apparently
but there is too much hollowness inwardly which splits up the social
networks in fits of despair and anger. But media and broadcasting
sources have interpreted the American dreams in very attractive
manner which shatter down the people so badly that they are
forced to kill themselves
• There is need to recover the full American dream
of vigorous communities with prosperous families
whether or not capitalism would lead economic
system on right direction of progress and
happiness. Only economic prosperity and
mobility is very detrimental as man can’t enjoy
life joyfully with just financial progress, there
should be some social order which controls any
kind of chaotic state of mind of individuals within
the society to lead a peaceful and blissful life
(American Dream, 2010).
• Is the American Dream can be depicted as nightmare by
Arthur miller who portrays the picture of a typical American
family life after world war second. All characters are
displayed with complacency and prosperity due to thriving
business but at end of the play Keller shoots himself to
complete the nightmare! The Americans are suffering from
such tragic and panic situations which come on their way in
the pursuit of the financial progress and prosperity. The
people have become so materialistic and morally vacant
that they don’t have any scruples in their hearts while
committing crimes with the self-deception and denial
approaches how they think that they are doing rightfully
rather than confessing their crimes (American Dream,
2010).
• The media plays vital role in idealizing America via
different attractive advertisements on TV channels and
heroes of movies how American is shining so brightly
and everyone is entangled by such attractive
commercial ads which invite the people to come to
America. In All my Sons , Arthur Miller has delineated
an ideal family characters which seems externally very
good and complacent but inwardly there is nothing
good, having many dark aspects of American life which
seems very charming in media portrayals. The
American dream idealizes the particular life-style of
people in America which relates with potential and
rights rather than morals or means