How does Arthur Miller introduces/opens up All My Sons?
In this essay, I will discuss how Arthur Miller introduces the opening act of his play, All My Sons, in the means of Stage Directions, Symbolisms, Setting and Significance.
Arthur Miller's choice of setting might hint at the smallness of humans in comparison to nature. Joe Keller is sometimes compared to a tragic hero, someone who has a tragic flaw and is doomed to fail. By setting the play outside of the house, Miller shows the audience that Keller's wealth is irrelevant, it does not affect or change what happens to him despite Keller's belief that it is central to his existence. The back yard might also be significant becuase it is where a family gathers and it is where children play and adults socialise. In USA, where the weather in summer is so often warm and pleasant, many families spend a long time in their gardens. As an audience, we are literally looking at the heart of the family. The front of the house would be the side strangers look at, by seeing the back of the house, we are invited to a far more detailed perspective of the family. In short, we can see their secrets as an audience.
The "outskirts" suggest something or someone on the fringes, not really a part of innovation or change. Joe Keller is certainly someone who does not really fit in despite his desperate attempts to do so. There are comments throughout the play about how he has tried to win the favour of his neighbours since his successful appeal. He believes he has won his neighbours over but other characters' comments suggest otherwise. Keller is on the "outskirts" of society, just as his house is on the outskirts of town.
The time set in the play is in August, the high point of summer before the arrival of autumn. With autumn comes the harvest when all produce is gathered in before winter. Harvest, sometimes, is used as a euphemism or