Arthur Miller Essay

An important theme in Arthur Millers play All My Sons is the responsibility a man has for another man. Miller stressed that mess essential be held accountable for their identification numberions to society and they will be held accountable by the inevitable justice set in motion in the universe karma. This theme is expressed through action as well as characters throughout the entire play it is subtle at first but slowly becomes more(prenominal) prominent until Joe Keller ultimately realizes exactly how his actions affected people outside of his family.To begin, Kellers character is important to the theme because he represents the diametral of being responsible for his actions and being held accountable to society. Joe Keller seems like a simple kind of man. His greatest wishes be to obtain the American dream for his wife and to create a legacy to pass on to his son. However, he harbors a dark secret that explains how he achieved those dreams for his family- he knowingly shi pped out faulty airplane part during wartime.Up until the time of the play, Keller did not believe he did a terrible thing by transportation system those parts out. As he explains, when he came home from jail he was like an expert on the whole jail thing and, over time, the children got it confused and he ended up a detective(29). Or, more clearly, he went from being the bad guy to being the expert guy. In Kellers judging, he was the good guy because he saved his family from being poor and having their reputations in the gutter. He says to his wife, you wanted money, so I made money(76). To him, he simply did what he had to do to protect and take care of his family. At that point in his life he was not able to see the big picture of things he was only able to see one little contour, just one small piece, of what makes up the universe.Furthermore, it is unornamented that Kellers small piece of the universe, his family, is what is most important to him. Throughout the play he tel ls Chris that everything he has do with the business , including confideing out cracked gear heads, was for Chris it was a chance and I took it for you(70). Keller believed that he had to send out those parts so that he would still have a business to pass on to his son. Chris replies what is that, the world- the business?(70). He is asking his begetter if the whole world is the business. And the answer in Kellers mind is, as long as it takes care of his family, yes it is the world.Slowly, though, Keller begins to see just what his actions have caused to happen to other people. Take, for example, when he speaks to Ann about her novice, Steve. He finds out that Ann and George never visit Steve in jail and that they dont make up write to him. Keller is unable to understand why the children would crucify their father and he pleads with Ann to not make a murderer out of him(32).He realizes that Steves life was ruined and his relationships with his children, something that Keller giv es very high value to, are ruined as well. It is also easy to believe that Keller doesnt want to see Steve crucified because if he is, that fashion that Keller should be too. And if Keller was punished for his actions, that means on that point is something bigger in the world than the relationship between father and son. The whole ordeal with Steve and Steves children gives Keller a clue that there may be bigger things in the world than familial relationships and also that there may be consequences to wrongful actions.Finally, Chris and Larry (posthumously) work to enlighten Keller that theres a universe of people outside and that hes responsible to it(84). Chris character alone serves as a guidepost to this revelation. He is the epitome of the idea of responsibility and accountability to society because he is the person that reaches for something he wants but pulls back because other people will suffer(16). Chris takes other peoples feelings and well-being into account before he acts. He learned to be so self-less in the war, as he watched his men kill themselves for each other. He describes it as a kind of responsibility.Man for man(35-36). He learned that you cannot only look out for yourself in this world, but you have to help other people out as well. And Larry, whom Keller thought shared his ideas on the way the world was made (with a forty-foot introductory), had a good sense that people must consider the good of the many before they act for the few. It is his letter to Ann, in which he states he cant bear to live anymore(83) because of what his father did, that brings everything crashing down around Keller. In the same way Larrys memorial tree came crashing down and allowed more light to shine into the arbor, his letter shined light onto the true ways of the universe.Everything that Keller stood for, everything he believed in was wrong. He eventually realized that he did a terrible thing that killed not only strangers, but people who were fathers, brothers, and sons. In essence, he killed the thing he lives for he killed family. This revelation drives home the idea that justice will ineluctably be brought to the wrong-doers. Kellers karma comes back and makes him not only set everything right in the universe once more but pay the ultimate price for his actions death by his own hand. Chris, Ann, and Kate can now act as forward, not bogged down by shame and guilt, and they can live.