Keller And Nixon Relationship
Explore the similarities and differences between the tragic journey of Richard Nixon(Frost/Nixon) and Joe Keller(all my sons).
Firstly both Joe Keller and Richard Nixon have the tragic characteristic of 'greed', or always wanting something more than they already have, Nixon being involved in the watergate scandal and trying to cover up his part in all of it,' it's true, I made mistakes. Horrendous ones- ones which are not worthy of a president'. Similarly, Keller, was greedy when he didn't want to lose his contract of selling parts of a plane, therefore he sent out faulty parts to maintain the contract and make money, which resulted in a number of deaths, 'You're a boy, what could I do! I'm in business, a man is in business: a hundred and twenty cracked, the process don't work you're out of business', this highlights both are willing to make bad decisions which can affect others for their benefit.
Secondly, they both come from humble backgrounds, in which they have had to work hard …show more content…
to get where they are, Nixon shows this when he says, ' that's are tragedy isn't it, mr frost? No matter how high we get, they still look down onto us', this shows Nixon understands that they have a similar upbringing. Keller says, ' I should've put him out when he was 10 like I was, and made him earn his keep', this shows a hard work mentality which they both have and how they both have had nothing giving to them for free.
My next point, that both Nixon and Keller, try to avoid the blame, they do this by putting up a defensive barrier, for example Nixon does this when he answers questions in a way that makes him look better than in reality, ' the taping system in the White House was set up by my predecessor president Johnson, I insisted on dismantling the system', in doing this he has taken the blame away from himself and also stated that he tried to do something about this, furthermore when he answers questions in that manor he makes him Self look better. On the other hand Keller takes away the blame from himself by not letting George get a word in and question him, he does this by cutting him out, for example George says, 'well, I-', before being cut out by Keller on three occasions, Keller keeps cutting him out until he takes all the suspicion out of George, this shows Keller desperate to not be in the wrong. The actions from both, show that they have expectations of themselves and want to do the best whenever it is possible.
In addition, both view themselves so highly, that they see them being in the wrong is impossible, with both willing to straight up lie and make statements that are not possible to show if they are genuine. Keller does this when he says, ' how could I kill anything', this shows that he hasn't even thought about the possibility of him being linked to the plane crashes and that he almost feels offended that he has been linked with it in the first place. Nixon shows himself as never to be wrong, when he says, ' when the president does it, it is not wrong', this shows that he believes every decision that he made was with a reason and therefore was correct.
Next, when put under pressure, both Keller and Nixon's appearances or capacity to cope is different. Firstly Keller when put under pressure is shown to be desperate and nervous, the stage directions show this, '( he takes a step towards Chris, pleadingly)', '(horrified at his overwhelming fury)', these stage directions of Keller show that he is not used to being questioned and put in the wrong. However, on the other hand, Nixon is shown to be calm and collective, the stage directions show this, '(Nixon clears his throat)', '(Nixon smiles coldly)', this shows that with his experience of being the president he knows how to deal with being questioned and put under scrutiny.
Linking with last point, Keller is shown to be not prepared to answer the questions about the plane parts, where as Nixon is shown to be prepared and expecting to be asked on the watergate scandal.
For example when Chris, says to Keller , 'dad...dad, you killed twenty one men', Keller answers by saying, ' I'm in a business, a man is in business; a hundred and twenty cracked, you're out of business', this shows that Keller dosent really know how to react, so shows all his cards at once, admitting that he had a part to play in the deaths, it also shows that he is to proud of his reputation that he wasn't expecting the question. Whereas, when Nixon is asked one of the hardest questions for him to answer, by frost in, ' why didn't you burn the tapes', Nixon expects it and 'smiles coldly', this shows that he has planned for it, also that he is confident and uses long sentences in his answers, also he dosent give frost a chance to question him again, until later during the
interviews.
After admitting they are wrong and opening up about their individual wrongdoings, they react In Different ways. Firstly with Keller committing suicide, 'a shot was heard in the house', this shows that Keller could not face being looked down upon, also that he has to be in control and respected.
On the other hand, after Nixon admits to being guilty, he moves on, still entertains at his house and still maintains the mentality that he wants to be the best, when referring to what his daughter Julie said, ' really! That young! Hah my daughter Julie. She thought on tv you and I looked the same age', this shows Nixon putting down Frost even after he supposedly lost, it shows he keeps is personality after being knocked down. It also highlights the difference in mistake they made, with Nixon's being morale wrong, whereas Keller endangered people's life directly, this is also reflected in the guilt with Keller killing himself.
Firstly both Joe Keller and Richard Nixon have the tragic characteristic of 'greed', or always wanting something more than they already have, Nixon being involved in the watergate scandal and trying to cover up his part in all of it,' it's true, I made mistakes. Horrendous ones- ones which are not worthy of a president'. Similarly, Keller, was greedy when he didn't want to lose his contract of selling parts of a plane, therefore he sent out faulty parts to maintain the contract and make money, which resulted in a number of deaths, 'You're a boy, what could I do! I'm in business, a man is in business: a hundred and twenty cracked, the process don't work you're out of business', this highlights both are willing to make bad decisions which can affect others for their benefit.
Secondly, they both come from humble backgrounds, in which they have had to work hard …show more content…
to get where they are, Nixon shows this when he says, ' that's are tragedy isn't it, mr frost? No matter how high we get, they still look down onto us', this shows Nixon understands that they have a similar upbringing. Keller says, ' I should've put him out when he was 10 like I was, and made him earn his keep', this shows a hard work mentality which they both have and how they both have had nothing giving to them for free.
My next point, that both Nixon and Keller, try to avoid the blame, they do this by putting up a defensive barrier, for example Nixon does this when he answers questions in a way that makes him look better than in reality, ' the taping system in the White House was set up by my predecessor president Johnson, I insisted on dismantling the system', in doing this he has taken the blame away from himself and also stated that he tried to do something about this, furthermore when he answers questions in that manor he makes him Self look better. On the other hand Keller takes away the blame from himself by not letting George get a word in and question him, he does this by cutting him out, for example George says, 'well, I-', before being cut out by Keller on three occasions, Keller keeps cutting him out until he takes all the suspicion out of George, this shows Keller desperate to not be in the wrong. The actions from both, show that they have expectations of themselves and want to do the best whenever it is possible.
In addition, both view themselves so highly, that they see them being in the wrong is impossible, with both willing to straight up lie and make statements that are not possible to show if they are genuine. Keller does this when he says, ' how could I kill anything', this shows that he hasn't even thought about the possibility of him being linked to the plane crashes and that he almost feels offended that he has been linked with it in the first place. Nixon shows himself as never to be wrong, when he says, ' when the president does it, it is not wrong', this shows that he believes every decision that he made was with a reason and therefore was correct.
Next, when put under pressure, both Keller and Nixon's appearances or capacity to cope is different. Firstly Keller when put under pressure is shown to be desperate and nervous, the stage directions show this, '( he takes a step towards Chris, pleadingly)', '(horrified at his overwhelming fury)', these stage directions of Keller show that he is not used to being questioned and put in the wrong. However, on the other hand, Nixon is shown to be calm and collective, the stage directions show this, '(Nixon clears his throat)', '(Nixon smiles coldly)', this shows that with his experience of being the president he knows how to deal with being questioned and put under scrutiny.
Linking with last point, Keller is shown to be not prepared to answer the questions about the plane parts, where as Nixon is shown to be prepared and expecting to be asked on the watergate scandal.
For example when Chris, says to Keller , 'dad...dad, you killed twenty one men', Keller answers by saying, ' I'm in a business, a man is in business; a hundred and twenty cracked, you're out of business', this shows that Keller dosent really know how to react, so shows all his cards at once, admitting that he had a part to play in the deaths, it also shows that he is to proud of his reputation that he wasn't expecting the question. Whereas, when Nixon is asked one of the hardest questions for him to answer, by frost in, ' why didn't you burn the tapes', Nixon expects it and 'smiles coldly', this shows that he has planned for it, also that he is confident and uses long sentences in his answers, also he dosent give frost a chance to question him again, until later during the
interviews.
After admitting they are wrong and opening up about their individual wrongdoings, they react In Different ways. Firstly with Keller committing suicide, 'a shot was heard in the house', this shows that Keller could not face being looked down upon, also that he has to be in control and respected.
On the other hand, after Nixon admits to being guilty, he moves on, still entertains at his house and still maintains the mentality that he wants to be the best, when referring to what his daughter Julie said, ' really! That young! Hah my daughter Julie. She thought on tv you and I looked the same age', this shows Nixon putting down Frost even after he supposedly lost, it shows he keeps is personality after being knocked down. It also highlights the difference in mistake they made, with Nixon's being morale wrong, whereas Keller endangered people's life directly, this is also reflected in the guilt with Keller killing himself.