Dramatic Literature Pape

Write in the 3rd person. 7 sources MINIMUM. One print book source (All My Sons by Arther Miller). The play(s) is a source. I. What was the cultural and political time period in which the author wrote this work? II. Based on three works in the author’s own words (from interviews, essays, speeches, etc.) what underlying social/ political ideas or philosophy did (does) the author hold? Be specific and use short quotes by the author to illustrate these big ideas. III. How, in terms of content and/ or form, does the author present these ideas within the play? Refer to specific characters, dialogue, settings, lines, symbols, sounds, literary devices, etc. IV. According to two different major critics, why is the work considered important? V. How does the political philosophy and themes in the play connect to events and situations in today’s world? Connect, for example, to the world of politics, education, the family, the labor force, technology, etc. Be specific and use short quotes from current news or journal articles. Name Instructor Subject Date Dramatic Literature Paper The author, Arthur Miller, commenced writing ‘All My Sons’ in 1945. Miller was inspired by the occurrence of the Second World War II and a story told to him by his stepmother. The global war started at 1939 and ended in 1945. The chief belligerents were the Axis powers namely, Japan, China and Germany and the Allies were United States, China, UK, France and the USSR. The war was the continuation of the World War I that left had unsettled disputes. This was the bloodiest and largest war in history as 40,000,000 to 50,000,000 deaths occurred (Cook and Eleanor 87-119). Consequently, the true- life story told to him was about a woman who exposed her father’s wrong-doings to the authorities. The woman was completely upset by her father actions. Her father killed many people doing the wartime, and no legal action had been taken on him. The woman felt that justice was to prevail (Vineberg & Steve 151-162). The play focuses on the story of a formidable business person who is involved in shipping cracked machine parts to the military. The aim of the business person was to make enough money and did not like to waste a business opportunity. The faulty machine caused an accident killing 21 soldiers, his son, Larry included (Reinking & Brian 33-38). Socially, the author discusses the family issues. On the play, we see three families onstage and a fourth family of the disgraced former neighbours who keep emerging time to time in the entire dialogue. Ann and Chris plan to start a new family, but the young couple is faced with much pressure from within. Ann was a girlfriend to Larry, who went missing during the accident. Larry’s mother, Kate believes that her son is still alive, and she is not willing to accept the engagement between Ann and Chris. Joe, Kate’s husband, was involved in the shipping of the cracked machine parts in the military that lead Steve to jail. The compromised and complicated unions surrounding the young couple seem doomed. The redefinition of the family in this play extends beyond each of our garden plots. Miller exposes the guilt and blame that is dominant in the society. Everyone in the play has a secret. Even as they drink grape juice, crack jokes, and dream of dancing, the characters do not want to expose their secrets has this would finally ruin their lives. The characters create diversions as a means of self-protection. You intentionally shift the blame to your friend, your son, your old neighbour and even to your parents the guilt and shame completely boils to the surface in the family in the play. The community is not willing to confront Joe Keller about his guilt though they simply know the truth. One tends wonder whether Kate was aware of her husband’s crime. Moreover, Kate must have been in much guilt and blame when Ann arrived on the scene (Reinking &Brian 33-38). Additionally, the author exposes the rot in justice and judgement in the community. There are massive crimes in the play, namely, the shipment of defective machine parts. Steve is jailed for the crime while Keller is released on appeal and goes to amass wealth and prestige. Steve loses all the family support. The children of the two partners suffer the consequences of the injustice at the beginning of the play. It is sad that one son dies, and the other is greatly depressed. Chris and Ann want to marry, but they must surmount the jumbles of their fathers’ damages. They ought to judge their fathers and themselves accordingly. However, Keller commits suicide at the end of the play but this does not mean that justice was done. Surprisingly, justice is not met as too many people go unpunished in the society. Also, the author exposes how people in the society get involved in peculiar activities to obtain money. The characters commit nasty acts to protect their asset. By the way, this is the true picture of the world. Sue, the doctor’s wife, pressures his husband to make more calls to increase their income. Joe Keller is involved in shipping of a cracked machine part so as to make money for his lovely family. Chris, the Joe’s idealistic son, disregards business but gets some grape juice to him and says to his fiancée, ‘Annie, I’m going to make a fortune for you!’ In this play, human decency and capitalist culture do not agree. Miller pits capitalism against morality and tries to demonstrate that the two cannot concur (Reinking &Brian S., 33-38). Additionally, the author exposes lies and shame in the society in his play. Everyone is a liar in the play. Joe Keller defends his wrongdoings by lying to his son and his neighbours about the crime of killing 21 pilots and sending his partner, Steve, to the prison. Keller fails to accept the reality that he was chiefly involved in the delivery of the defective airplane parts that caused that awful accident. Keller lays his blame to his partner. His wife too does not let the cat out of the bag. Keller’s son, Chris, who was the surviving son, lies to himself that his father was innocent. He does not even fear the neighbours who are already aware of the incident. Lastly, it turns out that everyone was lying. Due to this complexity, the dead son, Larry could not stand returning to after the sacrifice and the bravery of the war. The combination of the Keller’s social talent and the intelligence of Kate make a team of deceivers (Reinking & Brian 33-38). The author demonstrates the lack of ethics and morality in the societies today in the play. It is awkward that Keller ships a defective machine parts to the military that led to the death of 21 pilots due to his fear of his business failing. Chris defends his share of business by ignoring to question his father. George comes for revenge, but nothing is done. Morality does not need to happen every time. Chris says that in the war, men, ‘killed themselves for each other. A little more selfish and they would have been here today’ (1.541). The characters in the play are self-deserving and selfish though they are survivors (Reinking & Brian S 33-38). The author uses characters to portray his intended message. Miller uses Kate, who she refers to as other in the play. Kate’s motherliness is a trait that the author uses to show the stage directions preceding her first entrance. The author says,’ mother is in her fifties, a woman of uncontrolled inspirations and an overwhelming character’ (1.230). Moreover, Kates love needs to be accompanied by self-esteem. Kate drops unappealing hints about the appearance of Annie because she had sensed that Chris was falling in love with her. Kate says,’ I think her nose got longer. The author uses Joe Keller as the main character in the play. Joy was ignoramus as demonstrated by the author in the play. Chris calls him ‘elephant’ (1.535). Joe had much love for money. The author uses him to show his main themes. Joe is not happy when Chris and Kate attack him for saving his business. ‘I spoiled both of you’ Joe said (3.63). Miller uses Joe as a family man. Joe works hard to make money for him and his family. Joe says,’ nothing is big. The author uses symbolism such as the Larry tree and the jail to communicate the message. The writer says,’ a slender apple tree who’s the upper trunk and brushes lies toppled beside it’ (1.1). The tree was built as a memorial when Larry failed to return home after the World War II. In Act 1, Bert asks Keller to arrest another boy for saying a bad word. Joe claims to have a jail in his basement. Joe says,’ you know kids. I was the expert on the jail situation’ (1.438). It is evident that jail game is one of the many ways Joe has used to charm the community not to recognize his crimes (Pennebaker, James W., & Laura A. King 1296). The author uses earnest and political tone throughout the play. Each character in the play argues for their point. We can hear the Millers requests in the play. Joe urges everyone,’ see it human’ (2.481). Momentarily, Chris wipes and his father says to him,’ don’t you have a country?’ Lastly, Miller must be realistic ion his writing style. The author was well known for his prowess in dialogue. The author does not use much of poetry in the language. The language is natural like the common people talking. The most climactic moments in the play are just believed for example when Chris confronts his mother before there a gunshot. The author says,’ Larry did not kill himself to make you and dad sorry,’ Everyone in the world today, yearns to have as much wealth as possible. It is surprising that many argue that the end determines the means. Following that notion, people are accumulating people without considering the means to get reach. Particularly, in the political set up, politicians amass vast wealth through fraudulent ways such as corruption. The leaders forget the citizens who voted them into their positions. According to the business news,’ it is the time leaders took on the power invested interests that stand in the way of fairer and more prosperous world’. It is shameful people are slow in learning from the past mistakes. It is the time people changed their thought in this bad vices to make the world a better place (Costello & Donald 443-453). Justice has been greatly compromised in the world today. Crimes have been occurring many times, and the justice is not done. The rich and the politicians use their money and power respectively to cover their deeds. The poor suffer even for crimes they have not been involved. It is quite frightening that the channel of justice has tampered. Unless something is done to address this issue, then the justice will remain compromised. Eventually, there is a great problem in the family set up today. Family issues have become one of the emerging issues in the world today. Some of the common problems in the family set up are, grief, behavioural issues, and separation issues. The family need to unite to address this problems (Bögels, Susan, and Brechman-Toussaint 834-856). Work cited Bögels, Susan M., and Margaret L. Brechman-Toussaint. "Family issues in child anxiety: Attachment, family functioning, parental rearing and beliefs."Clinical psychology review 26.7 (2006): 834-856. Costello, Donald. "Arthur Miller's circles of responsibility: a view from the bridge and beyond." Modern drama 36.3 (1993): 443-453. Hart, Stuart L. "Beyond greening: strategies for a sustainable world." Harvard business review 75.1 (1997): 66-77. Pennebaker, James W., and Laura A. King. "Linguistic styles: language use as an individual difference." Journal of personality and social psychology 77.6 (1999): 1296. ceur-ws.org/Vol-1181/empire2014_paper_09.pdf Reinking, Brian S. "The Incontrovertible Nature of Print in Arthur Miller's" All My Sons"." The Arthur Miller Journal (2009): 33-38. www.ijells.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/April-2014-final.pdf Rubin, Zick, and Letitia Anne Peplau. "Who believes in a just world?." Journal of social Issues 31.3 (1975): 65-89. https://is.cuni.cz/webapps/zzp/.../130038821 Thompson, Cynthia A., Laura L. Beauvais, and Karen S. Lyness. "When work–family benefits are not enough: The influence of work–family culture on benefit utilization, organizational attachment, and work–family conflict." Journal of vocational behavior 54.3 (1999): 392-415. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/... Vineberg, Steve. "Willy Loman and the Method." Journal of Dramatic Theory and Criticism 1.2 (1987): 151-162. https://journals.ku.edu/index.php/jdtc/article/download/1659/1623