All My Sons (Plot Summary)
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00:00The book All My Sons was the one which was going to either make or break Arthamila.
00:21His only play which was launched on Broadway was The Man Who Had All The Luck.
00:28It was a disaster and it was quite difficult to establish himself as a writer for the young
00:35Arthamila.
00:36Though he was quite depressed, he decided to give himself one more chance.
00:43He had already decided that if his book All My Sons did not prove to be successful, he
00:50would change his profession.
00:54The story is set in August 1947 in the mid-west of the USA.
01:02The action covers the time period between Sunday morning and a little after 2 o'clock
01:09the next day.
01:11The central character of the play is Joe Keller.
01:15He keeps his family above everything else and he has sacrificed a lot.
01:22For the sake of his family, he has sacrificed his honour.
01:26He wants to make his family prosperous.
01:30When the play begins, he is 61 years old.
01:34His one son died in the war.
01:36He has another remaining son named Chris.
01:41Joe wants to see his son Chris married.
01:46Chris wants to marry Anne who happens to be the former fianc├йe of his brother Larry.
01:56Joe's wife Kate still believes that their son Larry is still alive.
02:04She has carried this belief for about three and a half years.
02:08She knows about the dreadful crime which her husband Joe has committed but she supports
02:14The story of Joe's crime was found in a true story by Arthur Miller.
02:21The real crime had taken place during the Second World War.
02:27The crime was committed by a manufacturer of tank parts.
02:31He had deliberately sent the defective parts to the army.
02:36The machines failed due to faulty spare parts, resulting in the deaths of many soldiers.
02:42Eventually the crime was found out and the manufacturer of the tank parts was convicted.
02:49It seems that the author is trying to examine which is the higher responsibility.
02:56The responsibility to his family or the responsibility to the soldiers who are dependent on his honesty.
03:05He seems to be trying to find the answer.
03:10Chris and Larry were the two sons of Joe Keller and Kate Keller.
03:16Joe Keller was the owner of a plant where they manufactured spare parts of aircraft.
03:23Steve Digger was the plant manager.
03:26Joe and Steve were friends and their families were also very close.
03:32Steve's daughter Anne was in love with Larry.
03:36George was Anne's brother.
03:39When the war started, Larry Keller enrolled and went away.
03:44Joe Keller got a very profitable contract with the US Army to supply airplane parts.
03:53One day a few cylinder heads were produced with cracks in them.
03:59Since they had to fulfill the order and commitment, Joe compelled Steve to fill the cracks with welding them.
04:07Finally the defective airplane parts were shipped to the US Army.
04:13Though Steve did not want to send the defective parts to the army, Joe forced him to send the goods.
04:20And he said that he would take the responsibility.
04:27Steve was quite nervous.
04:30Joe thought that after welding the parts would be safe.
04:34The defective spare parts caused the crash of 21 planes and consequently the pilots died.
04:43The authorities arrested Joe Keller and Steve.
04:46Joe Keller appealed and won the case.
04:49He refuted all that Steve had said in the court.
04:53He told the court that Steve had not called him and he did not know anything about sending the shipment.
05:00As a result Joe Keller was released but Steve remained in the prison.
05:06Steve's family members began to shun him.
05:11On the other hand, Larry came to know about his father's conviction.
05:16He felt ashamed and grieved.
05:18He wrote a letter to his fianc├йe Anne and told her that he would not be coming back.
05:24He wrote the letter before flying his last mission.
05:27After the mission, Larry was reported missing.
05:31He had written in the letter that he was planning to commit suicide.
05:36Three and a half years after the incident, the actual action of the play starts.
05:43Chris has been writing to Anne for two years.
05:46He is in love with Anne and he wants to marry her.
05:49He has invited Anne to the Keller house.
05:52Chris's mother still believes that Larry is still alive.
05:57Coincidentally, a tree in the garden falls down because of the storm.
06:03The tree had been planted in Larry's memory.
06:09Everyone there believes that Larry will never come back.
06:14Chris and Joe Keller try to convince the mother that she should try to understand that Larry is dead.
06:21The mother knows about Joe Keller's crime and she supports her husband only because
06:26he supports her hope that Larry is not dead.
06:30Anne and George decide to disarm their father Steve because they believe that he is the criminal.
06:37George visits his father in the jail for the last time to inform him that his daughter is going to marry Chris.
06:46Steve succeeds in convincing George that he is innocent.
06:51George comes to the Keller's to stop the wedding.
06:55George accuses Joe Keller but Joe behaves in a friendly manner.
07:04George is almost reassured but suddenly the mother says that Joe Keller has never been sick in last 15 years.
07:16According to Steve, Joe had told him that he was not coming to factory because he was sick.
07:23Joe tries to cover up what his wife has said but it is too late.
07:28Now George is fully convinced that Keller is guilty.
07:33Finally Chris tells George to leave their house.
07:38Chris was confident about his father's innocence but his confidence was shaken after the disclosure made by George.
07:47Chris had a confrontation with his parents.
07:51Chris shouts at his father.
07:53Chris says that his father is a murderer.
07:57The mother tells Joe Keller that he should confess his crime and go to jail.
08:02Mother tries to convince Anne that Larry is alive but Anne shows her the letter which Larry had sent her.
08:09Chris reads the letter loudly.
08:12In the final scene, Keller begins to think that all the dead pilots were his sons.
08:19He enters his room and shoots himself.
08:23Thank you.
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