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Synopsis

Act I

The play begins on a Sunday in late August 1946. Joe Keller is reading the Sunday paper and talking to his neighbors, Dr. Jim Bayliss and Frank Lubey. Frank talks about a horoscope for Joe's son Larry that he is compiling for Kate Keller, Joe’s wife. Jim's wife, Sue, and Frank's wife, Lydia, each make brief appearances.

Ann Deever, the Kellers' former next-door-neighbor, has come to visit the family and is asleep upstairs. While waiting for her, Joe and Chris talk about Larry's memorial tree, which has blown down during the night. Larry was reported missing during World War II and is presumed MIA, as there has been no contact with him for more than three years. Kate clings to the hope that he will come back, but Chris feels that it is wrong to keep up such a pretence for her. Bert comes by to play jail with Joe and runs off to patrol the neighborhood.

Chris admits to his father that he wants to marry Ann; however, Ann was Larry’s girlfriend before he served in World War II, and since Kate does not believe Larry to be dead, Ann is still technically "Larry's girl." By marrying Ann, Chris is effectively pronouncing Larry dead, so Joe fears that Kate will object to the proposal of marriage.

Kate emerges and describes her nightmare from the evening before; it is about Larry falling from his plane and crying her name. She objects when Chris tells her that the family should try to forget Larry. Kate admits to Joe that she is suspicious about why Ann has come to visit; she tells him that she knows that Ann believes with her that Larry is still alive, and tells Joe that he must keep believing also. Bert reappears, but is harshly banished by Kate.

When Ann finally comes down, everyone talks about how beautiful and mature she looks, and the family engages in smalltalk until Kate asks Ann if she is still waiting for Larry. Ann says that she is not, and realizes for the first time how deeply Kate's hope runs.

It is revealed that Steve Deever, Ann’s father, is serving time for the deaths of 21 pilots who crashed over Australia due to the faulty cylinder heads shipped out by the Keller/Deever factory in 1943. Keller insists that it was Steve's crime and recalls how he successfully appealed against his conviction for the crime while Steve remained in prison. Keller reacts strongly to Ann's conviction that her father is guilty. Ann has refused all contact with her father since Larry was reported missing, and insists that her father's actions may have related to Larry's death.

When Chris and Ann are left alone in the yard, they reveal their love for each other; however, Ann senses that Chris seems somehow ashamed, and asks him to tell her about it so their relationship can be an honest one. Chris recounts his experience of losing his company during a battle in the War. He is still angry that at home, life has continued as normal, and this affects his ability to accept the gift of having Ann.

Joe emerges and tells Ann that her brother George is on the phone from Columbus. Joe tells Chris that he mustn't feel ashamed of the family money; then Ann comes out and reveals that George is coming back to the house after visiting his father in prison for the first time, and Joe is clearly worried.

Act II

As they come out, Chris is removing Larry's fallen tree and the family is inside getting ready for dinner. Kate confides in Chris Keller's concern that George may bring up the case again, and says she won't live through it if he does.

Ann emerges and is met with Chris's assurance that they will tell her of their marriage plans tonight. Sue Bayliss interrupts Ann's solo reverie by searching for Jim, and they share a drink of juice. Sue asks Ann to move away from the area if she and Chris marry because Chris’ idealism is negatively affecting her husband Jim. Jim had always wanted to become a medical researcher but Sue did not want him to because of the unreliability compared to his current stable job. Sue implies Joe's guilt and insists that Chris and everyone else know something about it. Ann defends Chris, saying that he wouldn’t take money out of the plant if there was anything wrong with it, but she becomes disturbed because Chris told her that the case was all forgotten.

Chris reassures Ann by telling her he wouldn’t be able to forgive his father if he had murdered the pilots. Ann's faith in Chris is restored, and they and Joe share conversation in the yard. Joe offers Steve a job for when he gets out of jail, but Ann insists that Joe owes Steve nothing and Chris refuses to have him at the plant.

Jim enters, having gone to pick George up from the train. He warns Chris and Ann that George is angry and should be driven somewhere to talk, a proposition which Chris promptly refuses. A loud argument ensues, in which George tries to convince Ann that Chris knows Joe is guilty, having allowed his father to take the blame for shipping the damaged parts, and Ann is caught between the two men that she loves, unable to make them reconcile with each other. Kate enters, causing Chris and George to halt their argument; she is extraordinarily happy about seeing "Georgie" and pacifies him enough to settle everyone down for a time. Keller then enters; George reluctantly greets him. Then Lydia emerges and her past relationship with George is then revealed. Lydia has had three children and shows George the life on which he missed out while he was serving in World War II.

Ann goes inside to call a cab for George, having insisted that he must leave on the next train and not start a fight. Keller asks George about Steve and then argues that throughout Steve’s life he never took responsibility for his own actions, so he must be guilty now. Just when it seems that George is convinced and he agrees to stay for dinner, Kate tells him that Keller has never been sick in fifteen years, thereby disproving Keller's earlier alibi that he had the flu on the day that Steve allowed the cracked heads to be shipped, and was not able to come to the office. George latches on to this slip of the tongue and begins to interrogate Joe.

Frank rushes in with Larry's finished horoscope and asserts that the day Larry was supposed to have died was his "favorable day" and he must therefore be alive somewhere in the world. Kate believes him unhesitatingly and tells Ann that she packed her bag and that Ann must leave with George. Ann insists that she will stay until Chris tells her to go, and reluctantly tells George to leave, running after him to try to make amends.

Chris tries to insist that he will marry Ann, but Kate finally tells him that if Larry is dead, Joe killed him. Chris understands this to mean that Joe was guilty of shipping the faulty parts. Which means that Joe would have been responsible for Larry's death. Keller at last admits his guilt, but justifies his actions saying that if he had done it for his family. And if he went that day the factory would have been shut down and he would have lost money needed to support his family. Chris rejects this explanation, telling Joe that his responsibility to his country sometimes outweighs that to his business and family. Chris storms off, leaving Joe worn out and heart brokenly guilty.

Act III

Kate waits on the back porch for Chris- he took the car six hours before and has not come back yet. Jim enters and consoles Kate before the entrance of Joe. Ann has stayed in her room for those six hours: having seen Chris storm out of the house, she now knows the truth about Keller’s guilt. Joe insists that Chris just doesn't understand what responsibility for family means, and that Larry knew better what the business was all about. Joe tells Kate that he did it all for her and their two sons.

When Ann emerges, she asks Kate to tell Chris that she knows Larry is dead, so that Chris will no longer feel ashamed about his love for Ann. Kate still insists that Larry is alive; Ann insists that she loved him and wouldn't have even considered marrying anyone else if she weren't sure he'd died. Finally, Ann finally shows Kate a letter that Larry wrote her the day he died; she tells Kate that she didn't bring the letter to hurt the family, but she is sure Larry is dead. This destroys Kate's hope.

Chris returns and tells Ann and Kate that he is going away to Cleveland to start over; he rejects Ann when she begs to go with him, saying that he can no longer bear to look at his father but can also not bring himself to send him to prison as he deserves and therefore is not a moral and strong enough man for her. When Joe enters, he confronts Chris and they argue about Joe's guilt. Ann rushes forward and gives Larry's letter to Chris; Kate tries to take it away from him and to prevent Joe from hearing it, but it is too late. Chris reads the letter aloud: it describes how, upon learning about the investigation into the incident and his realization of his father's guilt, Larry couldn't bear to live anymore; he told Ann that he knew he'd be reported missing and that she mustn't wait for him. All realize that Joe was responsible for Larry's death: Although Larry's plane did not have a cracked cylinder head in it, Larry found out that his father was not the kind of man he thought he'd been. He took his own life by crashing his plane during a mission rather than face the disillusionment he could now see through. On hearing this news, Keller goes inside the house to get his jacket and turn himself in; but while Chris and Kate argue about sending him to prison and Ann watches the results of the letter unfold, a shot is heard. Joe has committed suicide. Ann runs off to find Dr. Bayliss, and Chris and Kate are left alone in a final tableau of their grief.