All My Sons does include some tragic elements such as conflict, need to assign blame and a tragic flaw within the main character, although the moment the tragic hero makes a wrong choice and creates his flaw outside the confines of the play, his choice to send out faulty parts. Conflict occurs every couple of pages within the play separated by a false happiness, for example when Joe and Chris are arguing when Kate walks in and they play happy families again. The need to assign blame is the most prominant tragic element within the play as it is used as a basis to start from. George's presence in the play is only caused by his need to assign blame on Joe and Blame brings the play to a tragic end.
When first looking at the play it doesn't seem very tragic until the very end when the protagonist meets his tragic end but when the play is analysed more carefully it becomes plain to see that it is a subtle tragedy, just because tragedy isn't leaping off the page, like Hamlet, it doesn't mean that it isn't there.
The main flaw with the play as a tragedy is that Joe Keller doesn't seem to quite fit the bill of "tragic hero" but this may be what Miller was aiming for. As a "man among men" Joe Keller's problems dont seem as tragic as those of kings and princes of which we are used to in our tragic texts. But from this suburban view his problems are larger and far more tragic than the "everyday man".
