All My Sons - “in Protecting Her Husband She Betrays Her Sons” Do You Feel This Is a Fair Assessment of Kate?
“in protecting her husband she betrays her sons” Do you feel this is a fair assessment of kate?
The character of Kate has a central role, in this play by Arthur Miller, because the story is about her family and set in the mundane arena of her back garden. Kate is the wife of the main protagonist and her actions affect her sons, her husband and future daughter in law. Kate is a woman of enormous maternal love, which extends to her neighbors’ children George and Anne. Despite her instinctive warmth, she is also capable of supporting her husband Joe in his criminal deceit.
Kate’s husband, Joe Keller, was accused of shipping damaged aircraft engine cylinder heads out of his factory during world war one. The damaged engines inadvertently caused the deaths of 21 pilots. Kate provided an alibi for her husband. In doing this Kate changed the course of all their lives. She did this but not out of love for her husband who in the text she obviously resents enormously. She protected him for her own misguided reasons.
When Kate’s son Larry, who was also a pilot, found out that his father was responsible for the deaths of so many innocents, he took his own life. Missing in action, Kate can not acknowledge that Larry is dead. In her mind to believe he is dead would mean his passing was some karmic punishment for Joe's crime. This is an intolerable thought, so she must persuade herself that Larry still lives. In one of her lines, “Your brother's alive, darling, because if he's dead, your father killed him” this is apparent. Her family sees this idea to be ridiculous, but they tolerate it for many different reasons.
Kate knows that Joe is guilty but lives in her world of denial for three years hoping against hope that Larry will return. Later on in the play it is confirmed that Larry is dead and in fact killed himself because he was so ashamed of what his dad had done. Thus proving Kate’s fears that Joe was responsible, indirectly for his death. By backing up her
The character of Kate has a central role, in this play by Arthur Miller, because the story is about her family and set in the mundane arena of her back garden. Kate is the wife of the main protagonist and her actions affect her sons, her husband and future daughter in law. Kate is a woman of enormous maternal love, which extends to her neighbors’ children George and Anne. Despite her instinctive warmth, she is also capable of supporting her husband Joe in his criminal deceit.
Kate’s husband, Joe Keller, was accused of shipping damaged aircraft engine cylinder heads out of his factory during world war one. The damaged engines inadvertently caused the deaths of 21 pilots. Kate provided an alibi for her husband. In doing this Kate changed the course of all their lives. She did this but not out of love for her husband who in the text she obviously resents enormously. She protected him for her own misguided reasons.
When Kate’s son Larry, who was also a pilot, found out that his father was responsible for the deaths of so many innocents, he took his own life. Missing in action, Kate can not acknowledge that Larry is dead. In her mind to believe he is dead would mean his passing was some karmic punishment for Joe's crime. This is an intolerable thought, so she must persuade herself that Larry still lives. In one of her lines, “Your brother's alive, darling, because if he's dead, your father killed him” this is apparent. Her family sees this idea to be ridiculous, but they tolerate it for many different reasons.
Kate knows that Joe is guilty but lives in her world of denial for three years hoping against hope that Larry will return. Later on in the play it is confirmed that Larry is dead and in fact killed himself because he was so ashamed of what his dad had done. Thus proving Kate’s fears that Joe was responsible, indirectly for his death. By backing up her