It is a Sunday morning in the backyard of the Keller home. The house lies in the outskirts of an American town and the time is soon after the Second World War. Joe Keller is a middle-aged business man whose factory produced aeroplane parts during the war. Chris Keller, Joe’s son, comes into the yard with his father and sits down to read the newspaper. We soon become aware of how different father and son are when they start to talk about the tree that fell down in the storm during the night. It becomes clear that Joe is a man who does not like to face the truth when he suggests that they try to hide the broken tree from Kate, his wife. Chris makes it clear that this is a ridiculous thing to try and do as she already knows about the broken tree; he heard her crying in the night when it cracked.

They now start to discuss Chris’ elder brother, Larry, who was a pilot in the war and never came back. The tree had been planted in his memory. Chris, always honest, makes it clear that he thinks it was a mistake to let her think that Larry could still be alive. He tells his father that they must say to Kate that there is no hope, but Joe refuses to do so. Once more we see a man unable to face up to the truth. Chris then says that he has invited Ann, who was Larry’s girl, to come and visit. He has decided to ask Ann to marry him. Joe is appalled and says that he must consider his mother’s feelings. From her point of view Larry is not dead and so Chris can have no right to take his girl away from him. But Chris can wait no longer; he wants to marry Ann and go to live in a different town. Joe is shocked to hear that Chris intends to leave the business which he has built up. After all, he only did it for his family, and so expects Chris to take it over from him soon. But Chris does not care: all he wants is Ann and a family of his own.

His mother, Kate, appears from the house and starts to speak about Larry. She says that she is glad that Ann is a decent girl who did not marry another man as soon as she heard that Larry was missing. Chris is embarrassed and tries to change the subject, but Kate goes on to speak of a dream she had: Larry had crashed in his plane and when she woke up, the tree had broken. She accuses her husband of having planted the tree too soon in remembrance of Larry; after all, he might come back. Chris says they must try to put Larry out of their minds, rebuild their lives without Larry. He suggests going out to dinner at the shore and goes into the house.

Kate is angry and turns on Joe. She tells him she has noticed what is going on between Chris and Ann but she cannot tolerate the idea of a marriage. She wants them all to go on believing that Larry is coming back. At this stage we are led to believe that it is Kate who cannot face reality and that Joe is, fundamentally, a good man.

Ann and Chris appear on the porch and, after a brief but warm welcome, Kate again begins to speak about Larry; she more or less tells Ann that,deep in her heart, she is still waiting for him. Ann denies this, but Kate insists that it is true. We now learn that twenty-one pilots were killed in the war because Joe’s factory had produced defective cylinder heads. Joe and his manager, Steve, Ann’s father, had been convicted. Joe was later exonerated after an appeal and the blame was laid fully on Steve, who is still in prison. Neither Ann nor her brother George has ever written to their father because they cannot forgive him; Ann is haunted by the idea that Larry could so easily have been one of the pilots thus killed. In her seemingly naive ignorance of the truth, Kate gets very angry and accuses Ann of being heartless; she forbids any more talk of Larry’s death. She goes on to say that she knows Larry is alive and therefore all talk about his death is irrelevant. Joe also comes to Steve’s defence, reminding Ann that great pressure was put on Steve by the armed forces to deliver the cylinder heads on time; when a defective batch came out Steve had more or less been forced to hide the faults. This was wrong of him but it was not murder. The irony of Joe defending Steve will become clear later and Joe now goes out to order a table for dinner. The world would seem to be in order.

Left alone, Chris tells Ann that he loves her to which she replies she has been waiting for him a long time. Joe comes in to tell Ann that her brother George is on the telephone, calling from Columbus. As soon as she has gone out, Chris tells his father that he and Ann are getting married. Joe appears not to react; he seems distracted and worried about Steve, who is in prison in Columbus. He wonders whether the case could be reopened and cause trouble for him again. All he ever wanted was a new start for Chris, to build him a house and to see his son’s name over the factory. Chris is alarmed, but then Joe’s self- confidence returns; he even starts making plans for the evening which will be the perfect moment to tell Kate about the forthcoming wedding. Ann returns and announces that her brother is coming.

Ann and Chris then go for a drive. Kate tells Joe in a warning tone that it seems strange that George, who is a lawyer now and who has never even sent a postcard to his father, should suddenly take a plane to visit him and then come here. Unable to admit how frightened he is, Joe replies that he does not care and goes into the house in a rage; Kate follows him stiffly, staring, seeing.

It is the same evening and Kate is worried about George’s visit. She is afraid that the case will be opened up again; she remembers all too well that Steve never gave up his assertion that Joe made him cover up the cracks in the cylinder heads. She is convinced that the whole Deever family hates them and wants Ann to go home with George. Chris tells her not to worry. Left alone with Ann, he promises he will tell Kate about their engagement later that night. Joe joins them and remarks, too casually, that he has been thinking about George. He should leave New York, where there is too much competition and settle in this town where Joe knows many big lawyers who could help him. We also says that he will bring Steve into the business again when he gets out of prison. Chris is against this and Ann is surprised; she thinks that Joe owes her father nothing, but Joe shouts at her that a father is a father.

George enters having visited his father in jail; he is very angry after hearing his father’s version of what happened on that day in the factory during the war. Steve had seen that the cylinder heads were defective and telephoned Joe; but Joe did not come. When he phoned again, Joe told him to cover up the faults and ship the cylinder heads out. Joe had also promised to take responsibility, but later in court he said he had been ill on that day and denied having spoken to Steve on the phone. Now Joe is a successful businessman and Steve has had to take the punishment.

Neither Chris nor Ann can believe that Joe would do such a thing, but George now believes his father and wants to talk to Joe and then take Ann away with him. Kate enters, dressed for the dinner party. She is pleased to see George who has always liked her and asks him to stay for the meal. Joe then enters and greets George with strained cordiality. George refuses to stay to eat and Ann goes to call a taxi.

Joe now tells George about all the mistakes Steve made when he worked for the firm and that his father is a man who never learned to accept responsibility for his errors. George begins to feel less sure about his father’s innocence and, on Kate’s insisting, agrees to join them for dinner. He begins to feel at home and says that none of the Kellers has changed, especially Joe.

Kate proudly tells George that Joe has not been ill for fifteen years; Joe interrupts - too quickly - to remind her of how ill he had been on that fateful day. Now George becomes suspicious and asks Joe what really happened on that day. The quarrel comes to a head when Chris tells Kate that he is marrying Ann, and George accuses Joe of hiding in bed after telling Steve to murder the pilots. Kate becomes hysterical and insists that Larry will come back. Joe says that she is insane; losing all control, Kate hits Joe. She tells Chris that if Larry is dead, Joe killed him and then Chris turns on his father in horror and, at last, hears the truth. It had been Joe who also says that he will bring Steve into the business again when he gets out of prison. Chris is against this and Ann is surprised; she thinks that Joe owes her father nothing, but Joe shouts at her that a father is a father.

George enters having visited his father in jail; he is very angry after hearing his father’s version of what happened on that day in the factory during the war. Steve had seen that the cylinder heads were defective and telephoned Joe; but Joe did not come. When he phoned again, Joe told him to cover up the faults and ship the cylinder heads out. Joe had also promised to take responsibility, but later in court he said he had been ill on that day and denied having spoken to Steve on the phone. Now Joe is a successful businessman and Steve has had to take the punishment.

Neither Chris nor Ann can believe that Joe would do such a thing, but George now believes his father and wants to talk to Joe and then take Ann away with him. Kate enters, dressed for the dinner party. She is pleased to see George who has always liked her and asks him to stay for the meal. Joe then enters and greets George with strained cordiality. George refuses to stay to eat and Ann goes to call a taxi.

Joe now tells George about all the mistakes Steve made when he worked for the firm and that his father is a man who never learned to accept responsibility for his errors. George begins to feel less sure about his father’s innocence and, on Kate’s insisting, agrees to join them for dinner. He begins to feel at home and says that none of the Kellers has changed, especially Joe.

Kate proudly tells George that Joe has not been ill for fifteen years; Joe interrupts - too quickly - to remind her of how ill he had been on that fateful day. Now George becomes suspicious and asks Joe what really happened on that day. The quarrel comes to a head when Chris tells Kate that he is marrying Ann, and George accuses Joe of hiding in bed after telling Steve to murder the pilots. Kate becomes hysterical and insists that Larry will come back. Joe says that she is insane; losing all control, Kate hits Joe. She tells Chris that if Larry is dead, Joe killed him and then Chris turns on his father in horror and, at last, hears the truth. It had been Joe who

really gave the order to deliver the cylinder heads in order to save his firm; he had hoped that someone would notice the defects before it was too late. Chris is appalled at his father’s action, that he could think only of his business when boys were dying every day. He cannot accept Joe’s excuse, that he did it all for his son. He stumbles away, covering his face and weeping. Gradually the past is closing in on the family.

Joe now asks Kate what he should do and she suggests he ought to tell Chris that he is willing to go to prison for what he did. Perhaps Chris would then forgive him if he could feel that Joe was willing to pay. Joe becomes angry and says that he has spoiled his family. He even committed a crime to give them money. He thinks that there is nothing bigger than the family, but Kate says that there is something bigger. Ann enters, wanting to speak to Kate alone; she tells her that she will not reveal Joe’s guilty secret. In return, she wants Kate to set Chris free, to tell him that Larry is dead and that she knows it, otherwise Chris will always feel guilty about marrying her. Kate refuses, so Ann takes a letter from her pocket which Larry wrote to her before he crashed off the coast of China. Kate begins to read it and breaks down, moaning.

Chris comes back, looking exhausted. He has decided he must go away for good. He hates himself for not being able to give his father up to the police and sees himself as cowardly in giving up his principles, just like everybody else. Ann wants to go with him, but Chris is convinced she will never forgive him for not delivering up his father. He cannot find a reason to make Joe suffer; putting him behind bars will not bring the pilots back to life. Ann now refuses to let Chris go.

Joe enters and asks Chris what he intends to do. He works himself up into a fury trying to defend his action. If he has to go to jail, then so does half the country. Chris can only say that he thought that Joe was better than other men because he saw him as a father. Ann takes Larry’s letter from Kate and pushes it into Chris’s hand. Kate tries to push Joe away so that he will not hear what is in the letter. Chris reads out what Larry wrote to Ann three years before. He had read in the newspapers about their fathers being convicted. He could not stand life any more. He was going to commit suicide. Ann was not to wait for him. If he had had his father there, he would have killed him. The truth Kate hid for so long is gradually emerging. Joe grabs the letter and reads it. He tells Chris to get the car while he goes to put on his jacket. Kate begs him not to go and forbids Chris to take him. She says the war is over, but Chris retorts that it is not enough for them to be sorry about Larry’s death. They must realize that there is a universe of people outside and that they are all responsible to it. Unless they realise that, Larry has died in vain. A shot is heard from the house; Joe has killed himself.