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 fiancée 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 fiancée 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.

08:27For more UN videos visit www.un.org

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