In Arthur Miller's An Enemy of the People, the respected Dr. Stockmann sacrifices his personal life in an attempt to speak out against the establishment and reveal the truth about the city's contaminated springs to the public. Similarly in the film A Civil Action, Jan Schlichtmann's search for the truth through the justice system ruins him and his company financially. Both the play and the film explore the audience's surprising resistance to accepting "the truth," however, the play much more prominently emphasizes the family conflict that results from the discovery. While Jan fights an impersonal battle against big business, Dr. Stockmann endangers the safety of his family. Namely, Dr. Stockmann's brother, Peter, is mayor and thus responsible for overseeing the construction of Kirsten Springs, the city's new major source of revenue. Due to the nature of their relationship, when the Doctor discovers bacteria infesting the springs, his motives for revealing the truth are questioned, particularly by his unreserved father-in-law Morten Kiil. Kiil refutes the Doctor's claims regarding his intentions ...