In the play/book All My Sons by Arthur Miller, the character of Joe Keller makes a rash and uninformed decision to tell his employee and friend, Steve Deever, to cover a mistake that directly leads to 21 killed pilots. His reason in doing so, he explains it that he was trying to provide for his family and care for them. As he told his son Chris, "Chris...Chris, I did it for you, it was a chance and I took it for you" (70). He does his best to explain his actions to his son but he just can't understand what could drive him to do this. Joe thinks that by providing for his son with money, he is doing what is best.
I think that Joe's limited education and worldview makes his perspective on ethics narrow and limited to the people he knows personally, eg. his family and friends. Because of this he feels its completely justified to provide for his son the best way he knows how. Even though this meant that he sent his neighbor to prison, he still felt he was doing good by offering Steve a position back at the factory when he gets out. All this is understandable and rightous to Joe, but to Chris, who has more experience in the world and has really come to understand death and war the things his father did are sheer acts of immoral and preventable murder. Chris' view is that all actions have consequences beyond what we experience and that is something that has to factor into making a difficult decision. My personal views align with my interpretation of Chris' because we can't just look at whats around us, we have to think outside of that box and look beyond what we encounter every day.
Link and Ike Caramelldansen
4 comments:
The fact that Chris Keller had fought in the war and experienced the death of many people who were close to him really does help us understand his viewpoint considering his father's actions. He knows that the men his father killed were just like the friends he lost, and there was another person just like him who was mourning their deaths. This experience is the center on which his beliefs rest, so he believes strongly in the duty man has to honor society's code above your own flesh and blood.
I do think that the fact that Chris is more worldly affects his view of ethics. But, I think that you can't make that generalization for everyone. Joe was put out at the age of ten, which although makes him know the hardships of the world, would also make him value family more. I also think that the fact that Chris is younger and the stereotype of young people is that they're more liberal. Chris and his belief in something bigger than the family is more idealistic, and young sounding. You can be worldly and have a non-idealistic view.
Joe as well as Kate both seem to believe in the choice of family over society at that time, but I'm sure they would've considered otherwise. Chris who got his experiences by war, differs from Joe's experience of life. Chris doesn't seem like he has more experience then Joe, but it seems that he has more societal knowledge while Joe has more paternal knowledge. Joe had to make a living of his own when he was little, but when Chris was born, he had it all as Joe stated. It is debatable which view is right, but it looks like anyone can lean towards either view because both of them have the same experience, just DIFFERENT ones through DIFFERENT experiences.
I don't really see how it was a rash and uninformed order to his employee. He knew perfectly well what he was doing and what the consequences were.
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