Abstract
Although various motivations have been analyzed for Joe Keller's suicide in All My Sons, this essay argues for a new motivation by reexamining Joe's psychology, dialogic consistency, symbolism in the play, suicides in other Miller plays, and Miller's Chekhovian technique. Joe's motivation for suicide is to preserve his manufacturing business and pass it to Chris. To live, once Joe's secret is exposed, would endanger his mission. In his final practical, psychological, and philosophical battle with Chris, Joe wins, that is, achieves his goal, in the only way he knows how. If all elements of the play and their cohesiveness are considered, All My Sons then does not have a flawed ending, puzzling previous interpreters, but is a well-crafted, coherent work of art.
