All My Sons

The characters choices and actions in All My Sons directly relate to whether they want to benefit their family, or benefit society.  The glaring example of a character whose purpose is to protect and benefit his family is Joe Keller.  He says "For you, a business for you!"  after his son confronts him about the crime he committed.  He thinks that because he was protecting and benefitting his family, it justifies his horrible actions.  Although he wants to support his family (with especially finance/keeping the business) his son disagrees and thinks the opposite: that one should follow the rules of society above anything else, including family.  Chris gets very upset with his father, and just the thought that his dad "killed hundreds of men" is repulsive.  The dynamic differences between the two bring about a very emotionally-charged conflict, and these conflicting views of what is important, family or society, is a center of discussion in today's society as well.

I think that the needs of society are almost always more important and should be obeyed most of the time.  Although family is above all for many people, hurting people for your family is across the line.  Major offenses against society are never justifiable, however doing something harmless against society in order to benefit family is sometimes okay.  Depending on the issue, Society should be, and normally is above all and should always be obeyed.