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Differing attitudes to social responsibilty through Joe and Chris Keller (A. Miller's - page 5
Keywords: social responsibility arthur miller all my sons world war two ii 2 drama chris joe keller
By exploiit on 19/06/2010
Level: GCSE Key Stage 4 (Years 10-11)
Page Number: 5 of 9 pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9killing his son, Larry, who had died in the war. He insists he couldn’t have done it, as the cracked cylinder heads he had supplied to the Army had been fitted to P-40 planes, and “Larry never flew a P-40”. Keller is ignorant to the fact that he is responsible for the deaths of twenty-one men, and doesn’t realize that these victims were the sons of other men – he is only concerned about his own son. Conflict is unavoidable in this instance when we consider Chris’ feelings on the matter. Knowing that his father has disregarded the lives of his ‘brothers’, Chris will be furious and Joe must face up to this.
Joe Keller is considered to be Miller’s representation of a lack of social responsibility in the post-war society. This irresponsibility is regarded as Keller’s ‘fatal flaw’, and is largely the basis of his self-serving and bigoted nature. At one stage, this is pointed out to Keller by his son, when Chris tells of how Keller has “such a talent for ignoring things”. We find it significant that Chris says this, as another character commenting on Joe’s disposition (to an extent) confirms a particular quality. Keller also replies immediately to this statement, “I ignore what I gotta ignore”. This hints that Keller has an arrogant manner about him, and fails to acknowledge things that do not act to his advantage. In another conversation with Chris, Keller makes known his belief that “a man can’t be a Jesus”, which appears to be a self-justification for all of his blunders. It also indicates that Joe has an unwillingness to try, and excuses himself with this philosophy. His decision to dispatch defected cylinder heads, knowing that they could easily be the death of numerous men, is another example of Keller’s lack of social responsibility, as well as his decision not to come forward and admit fault.
By the end of the play, we see that Keller has been reduced to a state of helplessness, having finally realized that he is responsible for more than just himself and his family. He has finally come to terms with what he owes the world of which he is apart, and has comprehended that the men whose deaths he was accountable for were “all my sons”. In desperation, he decides to put an end to the conflict and takes his own life. Although Joe believes this to
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