Anyone doing !&quot;All My Sons&quot; by Arthur Miller

Hey some good ideas here.... can someone explain to me if Ann has read the letter before and knows Keller is guilty why does she still refuse to speak to her father but is completely at ease talking to Keller? That makes zero sense to me.....
Does anyone else find the ending not at all cathartic? we are supposed to walk away recieving emotional and moral healing but im frustrated cos i know Mother has now got nothing and she will be alone... but maybe that has to occur to either Ann or mother because they are in a power struggle over CHris?

cheers

Reply 42

edbradley

Hey some good ideas here.... can someone explain to me if Ann has read the letter before and knows Keller is guilty why does she still refuse to speak to her father but is completely at ease talking to Keller? That makes zero sense to me.....
Does anyone else find the ending not at all cathartic? we are supposed to walk away recieving emotional and moral healing but im frustrated cos i know Mother has now got nothing and she will be alone... but maybe that has to occur to either Ann or mother because they are in a power struggle over CHris?

cheers

Well because Ann loves Chris, if she had confronted Keller with the letter and blamed it all on him, then it would not have been in her best interests.

The ending shows Keller's inability to take responsibility and it foreshadows what he had said earlier on that he would put a bullet in his head if anything was bigger (you'll have to find the pg. ref. it's in Act III). By Keller killing himself and Mother telling Chris to "Forget now" and "Live" she is relinquishing them of the familial guilt (Larry's death). Yes, she will be alone but atleast now their lives can begin, they longer have to live with that burden.

Reply 43

yeah that makes sense thanks.
Another thing is critics have said that the relevance of names is important.. Chris- Christ ('voice of god'), Joe (Joe public) Keller (killer), MOther (not Kate in indications of character dialogue, due to her being principally a loving motherly figure not just to her family but others aswell eg George.) Would this be a valid point to put in exam if possible or is that reading far too much into the naming of characters?
There is a description of CHris in Act one in the stage directions saying he is 'A man capable of immense affection and loyalty. He has a cup of coffee in one hand, part of doughnut in the other'. As the idealist of the family and one seen as a moral soldier throughout the play even if he does turn 'practical' at the end, would it be acceptable to say he is described as the stereotype of an American policeman here? haha i know it sounds corny because of the doughnut but is that a possibility?

Reply 44

edbradley

yeah that makes sense thanks.
Another thing is critics have said that the relevance of names is important.. Chris- Christ ('voice of god'), Joe (Joe public) Keller (killer), MOther (not Kate in indications of character dialogue, due to her being principally a loving motherly figure not just to her family but others aswell eg George.) Would this be a valid point to put in exam if possible or is that reading far too much into the naming of characters?
There is a description of CHris in Act one in the stage directions saying he is 'A man capable of immense affection and loyalty. He has a cup of coffee in one hand, part of doughnut in the other'. As the idealist of the family and one seen as a moral soldier throughout the play even if he does turn 'practical' at the end, would it be acceptable to say he is described as the stereotype of an American policeman here? haha i know it sounds corny because of the doughnut but is that a possibility?

Not not all, that was excellent, I really liked those ideas. Depending on the essay question, the examiner might as well because that shows close reading and independent analysis and opinions. I especially agree with the Mother point you made. I brought that up in a class discussion, even Keller calls Kate, his wife, "Mother". Ann seems to call her "Kate". It just shows Miller's art as a dramatist that Kate is extremely maternal and protective of her family, I mean there has to to be a small part of her that wants Larry to come back just for the sake of seeing her son other than mitigating Keller's crime.

The Keller/Chris ones seem interesting as well. :smile:

Reply 45

nice one. AMS is my worst text and i am dreading the exam. Do you have any ideas what kinda thing is gunna come up? also what would you say the relevance of Bert is in the play? To me he is just there for a humourous uplift, but the 'jail' game might have some significance...?

Reply 46

edbradley

nice one. AMS is my worst text and i am dreading the exam. Do you have any ideas what kinda thing is gunna come up? also what would you say the relevance of Bert is in the play? To me he is just there for a humourous uplift, but the 'jail' game might have some significance...?

The Bert sequence has some relevance, only thing I can think right now is that it allows Kate to follow on and say something about the "jail business" and this irks Keller. Well, Keller then states "What have I got to hide? What is the matter with you, Kate?" - when infact he does have something to hide. His use of questions suggests he needs someone to spell it out for him. Miller at this stage in the play is dropping hints (well that is what I think).

Well they've done the opening and ending as extract questions. They've also done Chris as a character + extract question. I have this incling that a question based around the American Dream might come up and/or something on Joe Keller. They haven't done Joe Keller yet so he is still a possibility.

So, really anything on:
- Joe Keller/ Kate?
- The Women in the play (Ann, Kate, Sue, Lydia, etc.)
- American Dream
-

Reply 47

chubb3

Can anyone explain why the neighbors all knew about Joe's guilt, but never said anything? Is it something to do with how Chris suspected it, but alike, never did anything about it? hmmmm :s-smilie:

Reply 48

helz_belz

3

chubb3

Can anyone explain why the neighbors all knew about Joe's guilt, but never said anything? Is it something to do with how Chris suspected it, but alike, never did anything about it? hmmmm :s-smilie:

Didn't Joe get "let off" so he didn't have to go on trial?

Even if people suspected Joe was guilty there was nothing they could do if he wasn't even put on trial, it is proof to them that the law believes his "story" and that he is innocent.

Joe is respected, 'a man among men', so he was able to gain friendships and business again quickly. Even George was convinced very easy until Kate let it "slip" that Joe has never been ill.

Reply 49

chubb3

Ahh yes ! Thank you. I think I'm getting to that stage where, you spend sooo much time looking so deeply into things, the obvious points just aren't so obvious anymore! DUHHH :p:

Reply 50

emsy88

10

does anyone know what the question was for this in January?

Reply 51

Cataclysm

The Bert sequence has some relevance, only thing I can think right now is that it allows Kate to follow on and say something about the "jail business" and this irks Keller. Well, Keller then states "What have I got to hide? What is the matter with you, Kate?" - when infact he does have something to hide. His use of questions suggests he needs someone to spell it out for him. Miller at this stage in the play is dropping hints (well that is what I think).

Well they've done the opening and ending as extract questions. They've also done Chris as a character + extract question. I have this incling that a question based around the American Dream might come up and/or something on Joe Keller. They haven't done Joe Keller yet so he is still a possibility.

So, really anything on:
- Joe Keller/ Kate?
- The Women in the play (Ann, Kate, Sue, Lydia, etc.)
- American Dream
-

yeah ok cool cheers, but what could we say on the other women in the play? The only thing that links them really is their sex. I can't really see how they would ask a general question about them...?

Reply 52

fishandchips

emsy88

does anyone know what the question was for this in January?

i hate that this is such a new text- Spies was exactly the same (though i got that out of the way in january thank god), they're actually bringing out a yorks notes for All My Sons in August..grr. lol

Anywho the question was either

7 A critic has written that “Miller’s plays show us that happiness can only be achieved by making moral compromises”.
To what extent does this claim apply to All My Sons?

OR

8 Remind yourself of the play’s opening, as far as the exit of Bert on page 98 of the Penguin Classics edition.
How far do you agree with the view that, in terms of subject matter and style, this section forms an effective introduction to the play?

I am soso scared- I haven't done a single essay on All My Sons yet..and I've only done one on The Miller's Tale. Aargh. I wish my school made us do mocks. Or made me do my homework lol.

Reply 53

porcelain.ragdoll

whoa. seems like the two millers are leading the way for this module...

i'm finding 'all my sons' actually pretty good but was wondering if anybody had any thoughts about the significance of the title. i mean the obvious goes without saying but i'm not sure that i'd be able to write a whole essay on it :s

omigosh... bring on an essay about kate please. that just might make my day.

at least there's modules for english. i have 60% of my english sorted which is such a good feeling... just that 40% left on friday... eeshk.

Reply 54

josie24

Cataclysm

The Bert sequence has some relevance, only thing I can think right now is that it allows Kate to follow on and say something about the "jail business" and this irks Keller. Well, Keller then states "What have I got to hide? What is the matter with you, Kate?" - when infact he does have something to hide. His use of questions suggests he needs someone to spell it out for him. Miller at this stage in the play is dropping hints (well that is what I think).

Well they've done the opening and ending as extract questions. They've also done Chris as a character + extract question. I have this incling that a question based around the American Dream might come up and/or something on Joe Keller. They haven't done Joe Keller yet so he is still a possibility.

So, really anything on:
- Joe Keller/ Kate?
- The Women in the play (Ann, Kate, Sue, Lydia, etc.)
- American Dream
-

hi i'm a completely new member, this thread caught my eye as i am also studying these three texts for english AS! thankfully spies is out of the way but i am dreading all my sons and chaucer on friday.

Another thing worth adding in relation to Bert's character is the role he plays in Miller's presentation of Keller as a patriarch, a kind of generic father figure to his family and indeed community (see Bert.) This emphasizes and adds to the theme of father-son relationships, which i suppose is quite prominent in All My Sons and also, perhaps allows a gateway for sympathy with Joe Keller's character.

Also, to expand on the 'jail' business that Bert's character trigger's, I've been taught to look at it as an image conjured by Miller, isn't it significant that the jail is down in the basement, hidden away, out of public view, pushed to one side... representative perhaps of its place in Joe and Kate's minds? The way Keller is able to discuss it so lightheartedly and joke about it is almost crude, exposing his skills in lying, deception and concealment.

One last point, in reference to someone elses question about the female characters and how they're linked sort of thing (sorry couldnt work out how to quote that as well :smile:

)
In my opinion the best way to approach an essay like that (and im going to try this in a minute - wish me luck!) is to take each of the characters seperately and examine their role in the play and what Miller intended them for then try and draw a loose conclusion at the end about how the female role is important or something.

e.g. lydia lubey - you could talk about how she is like a representation of stereotypical femininity (i.e her incompetence with electrical appliances, her warmth and affection, her simplicity - slightly sexist i know, her maternalness -"would you like to see my babies") then you could go on to say how Miller uses her to show what George and Chris are missing out on /lack.

Sue Bayliss - she symbolises capitalism, cynicism, realism etc. she presents an opposite to Chris and Ann's idealism - and how this links with the moral issues in the play such as war profiteering and the distorted american dream. blah.

i'm praying for a good global question this time, iim so rubbish with extracts.
also, someone was saying before about the language and technicalities of the stage directions and how they shape meanings, and gave examples of different things (ellipses and adverbs or something?)
is possible to expand a bit more on that?! i have so much trouble with subtext and stage directions and that...

good luck everyone!

Reply 55

-meee-

Hi...
Josie24 - the couple of character summaries (lydia and Sue) you mentioned before were really useful...i find it sooo hard summarising the main points of all the characters as they all represent such different things.
Ermmm...sorry if someone's already asked this an ive missed it, but does anyone have any ideas of what they may questions may come up on friday?
only 2 days...aaaaaaah! :frown:

x

Reply 56

Acredhead

What is really handy for the exam is to paper clip all the important parts with multi-colour clips. THis is completely fine in my school you may have to clear it with yours.

Reply 57

Peanut42

15

Hey, I'm not sure if this helps anyone: but if you're doing All my Sons, Miller's Tale and Spies, our teacher says that you don't have to write about context for All My Sons. Obviously mention the war or the depression if it's relevant, but don't go into too much detail as you won't get any marks. The same goes for Spies, you get the most marks for context in the Miller's Tale.

Just thought I'd point that out if anyone didn't know.

Reply 58