Paul
Life Decisions Made By Instinct
Life is full of many hard decisions that people have to take, often on the spur of the moment. Some we get right others turn horribly wrong. Joe Keller, the tragic hero of Arthur Miller's play All My Sons, was no different. His whole life was dedicated to his family and their well being but all his plans were undone by one fatally flawed decision.
The audience can relate to Joe and feel sympathy for him because he was a good man who did many great things for his family and in the end paid the ultimate price. Towards the end of the play, Joe's son Chris anguishes over the fatally flawed decision made by his father, thus eliciting the sympathy of the audience. However, this is not enough to detract from the audience relating to Joe as a basically good man, who has made the hard decisions for many years and ends up a tragic hero paying for his mistake with his life.
Joe is a good man who has spent his whole life trying to live the American Dream. He has built a home and started up a business to take care of his family. He is a hardworking and considerate father to his sons, Chris and Larry and a caring and loving husband to his wife Kate. The audience knows this because early in the play, of Act 1, he says to Chris, "Because what the hell did I work for? That's only for you Chris, the whole shootin' match for you!"(Act 1, p15-16). The audience believes this because throughout the play they see no evidence of Joe indulging in any of the human weaknesses, which would squander his money. He is an easy-going man who is a good friend to everyone. The play is set in his backyard, which seems to be a perpetual open house to the neighbourhood. He is well-liked by people in his small town, as Ann says, "People like to do things for the Kellers. Been that way since I can remember"(Act 1, p41). So well-liked is Joe that even though the town's folk know of Joe's mistake they too feel sympathy for him and have...
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