...When the young playwright Arthur Miller began writing All My Sons, he was embarking on a project that would be either the beginning or the end of his career. His first and only play to be produced on Broadway, The Man Who Had All the Luck, was an unmitigated failure, lasting only four performances. A practical man who had lived through the depression, Miller decided to give himself one more chance. If he did not have success with his next play, then he would quit the business and find "another line of work." In the meantime, Tennessee Williams had met great success with The Glass Menagerie in 1945, a very personal and psychological play with poetic overtones. Miller's plays, on the other hand, are public works, with straightforward (though not unpoetic) language, and which address issues of the individual's public persona and how people act. But he learned from Williams's success and set out to write a more commercial play, a drama that would "land" with audiences, in the language of the Broadway business. He also chose to write a play in a realistic style, a problem play in the manner of Henrik Ibsen, evoking a style he had not used in many years. The work of Ibsen influenced All My Sons structurally as well, for Ibsen had liberally applied the principle of Greek theater that stresses the influence of the past on the present. When the play was finished after five years of work, Miller asked his agent to send it to the director Elia Kazan. A former member of the Communist...
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...Summary of ’my son the fanatic’ "My son the fanatic" is a story about a Pakistani father Parvez and his son Ali. Parvez starts to notice a weird behavior from his son, he stopped bringing friends home, he stopped seeing his English girlfriend and he was throwing out all of his possessions. After a while, Parvez went to his friends, the cabbies (because Parvez is a cab driver) and told them what he was experiencing. The cabbies told Parvez that his son was definitely taking and/or selling drugs, and he was selling his possessions to pay for the drugs. Parvez started to watch Ali's behavior more closely, and he told his good friend, the prostitute Bettina, about his problem. She guided Parvez about what to look for and what to do, if his son was actually taking and/or selling drugs. It turned out that Ali did not do drugs - he was just extremely religious. Parvez tried to talk to his son about this behavior he had suddenly put up, and Ali turned out to be very hostile towards his father. The two of them, who had had a brother like relationship, now had a completely different look at life. a. What has Parvez done to secure his son a good life in England? Parvez has worked very hard as a taxi driver, and he has bought every imaginable thing that Ali could need as a college student. b. How has the son reacted to this in the past? The texts does not inform us about Ali’s reactions in the past, but it is explained that Parvez and Ali had a brother like relationship, which...
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...My son the fanatic" takes place in the united kingdom, the young boy ali faces thesee religious problems. His father, parvaz, has worked in Britian for many years as a taaxi driver, and he has spent a lot of money on his sons education, books and a computer for that purpose. Parvaz, who has never beleived in religion, but in democracy and welfare, has always been proud of ali. For that reason, Parvaz has often told his colleagues about his sons potentials and his experctations of the boys future. Ali, however, turns radically from the clever student, who he formerly has been. Mainlu because of the fact that ali throws out all of his computer games, video discs and expensive clothes. Parvaz worries about ali and everything parvaz has tried to touch him and give him through his childhood and teenage years. Ali's girlfriend never visits ali anymore, which neither is a good sign. Parvaz has the feeling that something is wrong with ali, but it is clear, that ali had changed, and he is not entire the same person as he has been. He sells all of his possessions, which parvaz has a suspicion about and has a completly different attitude towards Parvaz, it is very natural to assume that he could have turned into a drug addict. And that is what Parvaz fears has happened to Ali. However, not a good decision not to confront ali with the problems. What later will be seen in the short story, is that by postponing the discussion about alis new lifestyle, Parvaz does not avoid the clash with...
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...My son the Fanatic The story takes place in England and it is about a boy and his father. The father is born in Pakistan and his son is born in England. The boy is going through some changes, which confuses the father. In the beginning his father can’t seem to figure out what the son is going through and the father is embarrassed to ask his fellow colleges for advice. The boy is very integrated in the English society he has an English girlfriend and he is into sports and acts and behaves like any other English teenager. Slowly but steady he begins to be more and more introverted he doesn’t participate in sports anymore he isolates himself from his friends and he starts selling all of his things from his room to the point were it is almost stripped naked. His father is getting worried about his behaviour and is afraid that he might be on drugs. His father seeks guidance from a prostitute which he frequently has as a customer in his taxi he tells her about his worries about his son she tells him to look for dilated pupils red eyes and so that way he might be able to determine whether he is on drugs or not. Over the next couple of nights the father observes his son looking in his eyes and checking if he is warm he also looks through all of his things when his son isn’t home, he sweeps the apartment for drugs without finding any. So he comes to the conclusion that it isn’t drugs it has to be something else because he is not showing any of the symptoms or behavioural acts associated...
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...Through his character, Chris Keller, in the play All My Sons, the playwright Arthur Miller he explores the theme of accountability and responsibility of man which is as universal and relevant today as it was in the post WWII era. Chris Keller calls for corporate responsibility and the human universality of man looking out for man. As humans we have a highly developed brain, capable of abstract reasoning, language, and problem solving, with this in mind if we are smart enough to start of businesses then we should be responsible for the effects they cause. What does it mean to say that "business" has responsibilities? Only people can have responsibilities. A corporation is an artificial person and in this sense may have artificial responsibilities, but "business" as a whole cannot be said to have responsibilities, even in this vague sense(Friedman, Milton). Joe Keller owned a small factory that manufactured many spare parts and Steve was working for him. During the war the factory manufactured cylinder heads for the Air Force planes. One day they shipped some bad parts to the Army which resulted in the crash of twenty-one planes and the death of their pilots. That was a great scandal. Both Joe and Steve were arrested and brought up to trial for that terrible crime. Joe was clever enough to get off with it. He proved to the court that he had nothing to do with the shipped those bad cylinders. Life is full of many hard decisions that people have to take, often on the...
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...Briefly about the author: The short-story ” My Son the Fanatic” is written by the British author Hanif Kureishi. He grew up in England in the 1950s and 1960s, being the son of a Pakistani immigrant and an English woman. He studied philosophy and began writing novels at an early age. Being the son of an immigrant, a majority of his novels unravel the difficulties and challenges a huge amount of immigrants face in their new country, especially the difficulties involved in finding a place to belong. Some of Kureishi’s most famous scripts and novels are among others My Beautiful Laundrette and The Buddha of Suburbia. The story: Parvez, the father of the teenage boy Ali, begins noticing changes in his son’s behavior and at first sees this as a good thing. He believes that his son is finally growing out of his teenage attitude and taking more responsibility. However, when Ali begins throwing out valuable belongings and his friends starts avoiding him; Parvez gets seriously worried, and feels as if his son is ungrateful and that he himself has done something wrong as a father. Finally he opens up to his colleagues who instantly believe that Ali has a drug problem and that he is selling his things to afford drugs, which later is revealed to be incorrect, seeing that he is giving his belongings away to charity. Parvez begins watching every movement Ali makes, but cannot find that anything is physically wrong with his son. He shortly after finds out that Ali has become interested...
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...factors and experiences affect how this sensation of belonging can prosper within each individual. This concept of acceptance and understanding is represented in Raimond Gaita’s memoir, Romulus, My Father through the exploration of Australian migrant life. The concerns of cultural difference and empathy is mirrored in Hanif Kureishi’s short story, My Son the Fanatic, where Parvez undertakes a metaphysical journey to realise the importance of belonging and how this sense of belonging involves many factors and experiences. Through the character’s responses to the challenges posed upon them, acceptance and understanding is developed as a uniting force in bringing individuals together. An individuals’s acceptance towards his environment greatly influences their ability to form strong links with it. For example in Romulus, My Father, Raimond, having the advantage of being young when he migrated forms his experiences in Australia grows up acknowledging Australia as his home. This is shown when Gaita metaphorically describes the landscape outside the hospital to be “the back of [God’s] workshop”, where he recognises the significance of the land in his life and has come to accept the environment and hence develops a sense of home. The concept of acceptance is further maintained within My Son the Fanatic where Parvez, a Pakistani migrant in England has accepted the values of the new land. His realisation of how the practicing of Islam has “sparked many disputes” in England drives him...
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...of money is one of America’s most ingrained sources of conflict and its consequences can be seen in Arthur Miller’s play All My Sons. Set in an idyllic neighborhood of a post-WWII America, it follows the turmoil that Joe Keller and his family must face after his decision to send out faulty aircraft parts that caused the deaths of 21 pilots, allowing him to grow his business. Despite his definite role, his involvement in the disaster did not stem solely from personal avarice. Underlying Joe Keller’s obvious financial greed is his desire and struggle to maintain his American Dream, the deeper cause behind the disaster. Money and the pursuit of it, is the driving force behind Joe Keller’s rise and fall. From the very first set of stage directions, it seems as if his life is the epitome of ideal suburban life. The source of his wealth lies with his successful manufacturing company which he shared with his former business partner, Steve Deever. After knowingly selling faulty parts to the...
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...My son the fanatic - Hanif Kureishi Parvez & his enviroment Parvez is born and has grown up in Lahore which is the biggest city in Pakistan. Now he lives in England together with his wife and son Ali. Parvez likes to live in England and he makes a great effort to adapt to the English culture. Parvez has always been aware of the pitfall which other men’s sons had fallen into. Consequently he works really hard so his son can have a good education as an accountant. Earlier, Parvez often boasted to his friends about how clever his son was; Ali was very special and talented compared to many other boys. Parvez works as a taxi driver and has driven taxi for many years. Two of his closest friends he knows from work. Many of the other taxi drivers are Punjabis like himself. It a very simple job and the drivers are often having a nice time together in the taxi office away from their wives. They play cards, exchange lewd stories and discuss their problems in a superficial way. When Parvez asks his two best friends for a piece of advice, he gets a triumphant reply. - His son is presumably a drug addict killer! Parvez’s other friend Bettina, the prostitute, is a much better help. She tells him what to watch for and does not have a prejudiced attitude. Bettina and Parvez have known each other for three years. He once rescued her from a violent costumer. The taxi drivers often drive the prostitutes home at the end of the night. Some of them even go with the girls – “a ride in exchange...
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...Playwrights have the freedom to create a scenario, while incorporating their own opinions, use figurative language and use actors to make their story come to life. These ideas can be seen by comparing a work of a real event and how the concept was turned into a play. In Arthur Miller’s play, “All My Sons”, a conspiracy dealing with passed-defective engines that would go onto supporting planes belonging to the Air Force during World War II slowly unravels to what really happened and who was truly responsible. It is made apparent that Larry Keller, Joe’s son, went missing during a mission in World War II. Then Annie, Larry’s old girlfriend, was asked by Chris Keller, the other son, to come visit in hopes of asking her to marry him. While Ann is catching up with the Kellers, her father and Keller’s business partner, Steve Deever, is mentioned for the first time along with Keller’s question of whether her father is getting parole. It is eventually learned that Steve went to jail for being responsible of the shipment of defective engines, killing 21 Air Force pilots. Mother has a hard time dealing with her emotions, often feels ill and lashes out on people’s realistic views of Larry’s death. Steve’s son, George, arrives infuriated with the Keller family and looks to...
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...John Warren Mrs. Thomas English III - 6 20 October 2012 Miller’s Unfortunate Influences Many negative actions during the history of America such as the Salem witch-hunts and World War II brought upon a common psychology of desperation and deep meanings of struggle to many of Arthur Miller’s poems. “The Crucible” deals with extraordinary tragedy in lives of normal people due to the witch-hunts. “All My Sons” probes with the idea of dissatisfaction and unrest within the greater American population, influenced from the desperation and paternal responsibility put on people. Lastly, “Death of a Salesman” a work based on the American dream and national values, was influenced greatly by his hatred relationship with his uncle. The historical and personal events that occurred during Arthur Miller’s early life greatly influenced his writings of “The Crucible”, “Death of a Salesman”, and “All My Sons”. “The Crucible” was historically influenced by those trying to cleanse American culture of anyone who persisted in seeing the Soviet Union as a source of good in the world. This disgusted Miller so much that he based “The Crucible” on the anti-communist hysteria that pervaded the 1950s America, and the witch-hunts of the late 17th century He hated the idea of tragedy in ordinary lives and had much concern for the physical wellbeing of the working class. The outburst of these ideas caused him to be called before the House Committee...
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...three of his plays, Miller demonstrates tragedy wrapped within denial. The three families portrayed in Millers plays, All My Sons, Death of a Salesman, and A View From The Bridge are families that are consumed with denial to cover up and protect against their own guilt and selfish needs. Each of these families have characters who display such strong denial believing they are doing what is best for their family. However, when taking a closer look, what is reviled is failure and justifications to protect what is best for them selves. In All My Sons by Arthur Miller, the characters forming the Keller family are living in the 1940’s, a time where financial stability seemed out of reach. Joe Keller who is a father, husband, and business owner, is one of the main characters in this play. Joe is able to provide his family with the financial stability he has wanted but at a high cost. With one bad decision, Joe committed a crime that he never thought would affect his family directly. Joe allowed the defective airplane parts to be sent, causing the death of twenty-one men including his own son Larry. The guilt of his decision was too much to bare so Joe went into denial to cover up his guilt and protect himself. He knew admitting he made a wrong decision would mean going to jail, financially ruining his family and most of all confirming he had killed his own son. Joe knew what he did was wrong, but he justifies...
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...Jennifer Mills Professor Usha Wahwani English 102 1, April 2013 A Detailed Look at Death of a Salesman Death of a Salesman has been accepted worldwide as one of the greatest American dramas to premier in theatre. The story behind the play is based on Miller’s interactions with his Uncle, a salesman whose efforts to obtain the “American Dream” and pass his success on to his two sons becomes his main focus. Miller’s life during the preparation of Death of a Salesman provides the spark and inspiration needed to pen a literary classic. Almost five decades later, Death of a Salesman’s themes is still relevant in today’s society. Arthur Asher Miller was born October 17, 1915 in Harlem, New York City. Miller was the son of Isadora and Augustus Miller, Polish Jewish immigrants who settled in Harlem in the early 1900’s. Arthur’s father owned a successful women’s clothing manufacturing company that employed hundreds of people. Although he was a figure of wealth and prominence in the community the Wall Street Crash of 1929 left the successful family in a financial struggle. They relocated to a section in Brooklyn known as Gravesend. There Miller delivered bread to help the family maintain. In 1932 he graduated Abraham Lincoln High School. After high school miller enrolled at the University of Michigan. He worked several small jobs to pay for his college tuition. He first majored in journalism, taking up freelance writing for the Michigan Daily. While he served as a reporter and night...
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...human being thinks, feels, and worries about, but often has trouble expressing. The lead character is Willy Loman, a failing door-to-door salesman coming to the end of his life but doggedly holding on to lost dreams. In the beginning of the play, we see Willy returning home to his wife Linda after almost crashing his car. Linda begins to worry about her husband and fears what may happen in the future. We soon learn why Willy is unable to continue his career as a salesman, which he has followed for many years. He starts to explain to his wife why he has returned so early and empty handed: I was driving along, you understand? And I was fine. I was even observing the scenery. You can imagine, me looking at scenery, on the road every week of my life. But it’s so beautiful up there, Linda, the trees are so thick, and the...
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...My Son the Fanatic My Son the Fanatic is written by Hanif Kureishi and was published for the first time in 1994. It is a short story based on philosophical viewpoints of life and how valuable it is to tolerate and compromise with each other. The short story is also being contemporary because it’s concerning conflicts and difficulties with religious aspects, which are the main – and most complicated – conflicts existing on this planet. Basically it’s related to the issues of religion and intolerance, that we are to judge and face every day. My Son the Fanatic is about the relationship between a father and his son, which is slowly being shattered due to the son’s change of behavior. The father Parvez grew up in Pakistan but now loves England and is adapted to the Western culture – and that’s what he wants his son Ali to be as well. Ali, however, turns radically from being a smart and clever student, who he formerly has been. During the short story Parvez gently tries to figure out “what is wrong” with Ali. The story is set in London – the family lives here and the father works as a taxi-driver in London as well. The main characters in the story are Ali, Parvez and Bettina. We don’t get to hear about his wife; it seems that Bettina has replaced her and is a sort of escape gate away from his wife. During the story Ali is changing behavior and personality – suddenly he has lost all respect for his father. Since both of them are having a lack of acceptance and Parvez isn’t even...
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