All My Sons
Arthur Miller’s “All My Sons” is a prime example of a play in which humanity is shown in a pessimistic light. This is most apparent through the character of Joe, however this is also displayed through numerous other characters. Miller’s main goal in the play “All My Sons” is to show society as being rotten and to display how morally wrong the American Dream is.
Miller uses the character of Joe and his actions to the audience that everyday, average people are selfish and refuse to accept responsibility. This is shown through the situation between him and Steve, who was sent to prison for doing what Joe told him to do. By shipping out the faulty cylinder heads Joe and Steve ultimately caused the death of 21 pilots, however throughout the play Joe never seems to accept the blame for the deaths, even after he reveals that he told Steve to ship out the cylinder heads, “So who flew those P-40s, pigs?” This statement from Chris displays his disgust along with his amazement at his father’s disregard for the pilots’ deaths. This could be Miller’s way of showing the contrasting views between Joe, a man who has no way of relating to the dead pilots, and Chris, a man who has experienced war and can therefore personally relate to the dead pilots. This makes the audience question whether Chris’ view would be this strong if he hadn’t had a hands-on experience of war.
Miller also shows his own opinion of society and the American Dream through some of the more minor characters. Jim is a good example of one of these characters, however he also, like Miller, thinks society is rotten, referring to it as “the usual darkness”. This shows that, in order to survive in the ideal society, you are expected to hide from who you really want to be. This is also shown when Jim says “I’m a good husband”. This could be Miller’s way of saying that although Jim may be a good husband he could also be seen as a bad man, as he is lying to himself preventing himself from being who he wants to be to...
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