In the opening of the book, Arthur Miller tries to have a good atmosphere. In the beginning he starts to introduce the characters. The characters that are being introduced are Joe Keller, Jim Bailey the doctor and neighbour and Frank Lubey the neighbour also. In the opening of this book, the atmosphere seems to be very calm and very positive. There is only Joe Keller and Jim Bailey.
They are outside in the garden; they start a very usual and everyday conversation about the weather and the news paper. Everything seems to be going smoothly until Frank Lubey, who is also Joe Keller's neighbor, comes into the scene. Since Frank came in, Jim Bailey did not even greet him. This make the scene have another look, it gives it a little more tension. .
Since Frank's entry, the conversation takes a different switch. They still talk about the weather and what there is in the news paper. This shows some characterization for Joe Keller, because he talks about the ads in the news paper, he tells us that he is interested in what people are looking for now a day. Miller uses this conversation to show us the atmosphere that he has made for this particular scene. This is a very bright beginning with a very delightful conversation which gives us an idea of how the play is going to be.
The mood changes very drastically when Frank notices that the tree; which was planted for Larry who has gone missing during World War II, has been blown down by the windy storm that happened last night. That changes the mood because the Keller's still believe that Larry is alive and when the tress falls down, they think that it's a sign for them that Larry might be dead. They think that this will really devastate Kate Keller, Joe Keller's wife. This is like a very big tragedy for the Keller family. .
I think that Frank has noticed that he has brought up the wrong topic; he wants to lighten up the situation by remembering Larry's birthday which made Joe feel really touched by this.