Read Act One, pages 2-21.
Content Summary for Teachers
Act I, pages 2-21
All My Sons takes place in a small American town in August, a few years after WWII. The events of the play occur on a single set, the backyard of the Keller home, where a tree has recently been torn down by a storm. The Kellers are solidly middle-class and have a working-class background. They are not rich, but they are financially comfortable, and there is a sense throughout the play that they worked hard to reach this state of stability.
At curtain rise, Joe Keller and Dr. Jim Bayliss are in the yard. Keller is a middle-aged father, uneducated but sensible and generally unexceptional. Jim, the local doctor, is...
