Family

Keller: Everything I did, I did for family

Keller seems to admire Anns family, but harbors a secret resentment
for how Ann was spoiled
Keeps saying he did things for you meaning Chris
Kellers motivation to provide for his family, and uses his drive as an
excuse for inexcusable actions
A daughter is a daughter, and a father is a father.
The loss of love and respect from his family is the ultimate punishment
Feels great regret for helping in the destruction of Anns family and
wants to fix it, which is an example of his commitment to the idea of
family.
Chris: they were all my brothers
He was raised by a very family oriented father and therefore puts a lot
of emphasis on the idea of family but due to life experiences he has a
purer idea of how to maintain a family unlike his father.
His coping mechanism is to make light of things that seem hopeless.
I never saw you as a man, I saw you as my father.
Family is bigger than the American nuclear family
All of his comrades were his family.
Ann: a father is a father no matter what.
Ann had a very happy childhood and feels very tied to her old
childhood, perhaps because shes unwilling to believe that things have
changed and the old days are in fact gone.
Very disconnected from her fathers situation
Adopts the Kellers as her family, family is deeper than blood
Traditional familial expectations dont apply to Ann
Ann is not able to forgive her father unlike her brother and mother
Mother:
Stands her ground, will wait forever for her son till he comes home.
Will not give up the bond between mother and son even if hes missing
Refuses to let go of Chris since Larry is missing, if she lost both sons
then she would lose herself. Her family is her life, without it, shes
rendered superfluous
Sue: family is an institution, in more ways than one.
She wishes she had the happy family/marriage that the Kellers do
She doesnt like to complain about things and draw focus so she uses
her distress and refocuses it, hes over there so much theyll be
charging him rent
Jim: neighbors are family too

Takes care of Kates emotional and mental well being because he treats
his neighbors like family
Could have stayed away from his wife on his research trip but came
home, not necessarily because he loves his wife but because shes his
family.
George: blood is always thicker than water
Despite what he thinks of the Kellers he cant not fall back in love with
his childhood family. No matter what, the Kellers will always be
family and he cant deny that bond.
Always brings up actually knowing a person and being an outcast
What does it all mean?
Sure he was my son, but I feel like they were all my sons
Family runs beyond blood and genetics, its just a bond that is forged
between two people where you would die for them, protect them, and
will be there for them no matter what. Love and sacrifice
Family goes beyond the traditional American nuclear family.
At first Keller only claims Chris and Larry as his sons, but then he
comes to realize that everyone who was attached to his legitimate
sons in the war are his sons, and he killed them. He realizes that he
killed his sons so he doesnt deserve to live either.

Love and Marriage

Was Chris/Ann betraying Larry when they wanted to get married?
If Ann and Larry had actually gotten married, it would have been weird
The emotional commitment of marriage was there but the legal one
was not so its easier to say that they didnt betray Larry
Im not so sure that Ann and Chris really love each other or if they were
thrown together by a mutual tragedy
And for sure Ann knew Larry was deadbut Chris did notso Chris was
being slightly selfish, but he spent his life under his mothers thumb
and living in his brothers shadow so he kinda deserved to be selfish
maybe this wasnt the best way
Was Kate Keller selfish for denying Larrys death?
Her family was depending upon her as a mother and she was spending
all of her time focusing on Larry and worrying about him rather than
the people who are at home and right in front of her.
If its my kid or me, then I say take me shes being selfless by
concerning herself with the hope that he is still alive and keeping hope
alive but shes also being selfish because shes sparing her feelings.
Shes not living a happy life, but shes doing it on purpose because her
sons not here and she doesnt want to have happy moments without
him because she would feel bad.
If hes dead then she says shell kill himself, she feels horribly guilty
because shes hiding her husbands secret. Deep down she knows and
doesnt want to admit that her husband killed her son.
Shes terrified of what would happen if she found out her son died, in
her mind shes decided that if her son is dead then her husband
murdered him and she doesnt know how to handle that. She has no
life skills or even a job so without her husband and her family, shes
screwed.
Was Joe wrong for not stopping the default parts from being sent out,
wen he did it for his family?
Theres a slight justification for what he did, he did it to save his family,
but it still does not excuse all of the consequences that arose from his
actions: MOTHER: Joe, Joeit dont excuse it that you did it for the
family.
He also didnt think far enough down the line, he thought somebody
else might catch the fault. When he thought about it nobody was
dead, there was nothing to make him think that he could kill someone.
He was in the moment, nothing bad was going to happen.
He didnt think about killing people, but he did know he was technically
ending another persons life by picking someone as a scapegoat and
not taking the blame.
But faults in production happen when youre under a lot of pressure.

You cant judge past events with present day morality

Was Larry/Joe wrong and selfish for committing suicide?
Larry did it for Joe and Joe did it for Larry
They did it out of passion, Larry did it because he couldnt live with the
guilt of what his father had done, his view of his father was shattered;
Joe did it because he thought he was just destroying everyones lives
and needed to be taken out of the equation, if they find out what Ive
done then they wont love ME or respect ME
The act of suicide is selfish so no matter how one may think its better
for anyone else, its always selfish. You dont know what the actual
ramifications of your actions are, so there are no guarantees that what
you do will be beneficial to your family.
Larry: if my brothers died then I deserve to die too, especially since it
was my father who did it
Was Chris or Larry the final straw for Joes suicide?
It was the combination of finding out Larry committed suicide because
of what Joe did and then Chris blowing up at Joe about it. Chris kicked
him while he was down, the shock of the letter was enough for Joe.
Was it wrong for Kate to not hold Joe responsible for his actions?
It was kind of ambiguous whether Kate actually knew if Joe had really
done what he did, so if she didnt know 100% that Joe had killed all of
those boys then its not wrong. She was completely ignorant of the
facts so she cant be held responsible for what she does based off of
knowledge that she doesnt have.
Due to her fear of being alone, I would say no. Shes not comfortable
enough with herself to be alone so shes clinging to the idea that Larry
will come home, that her husband will be there and so will Chris. She
was looking through a straw at life having always been taken care of
and having devoted her entire life to her family, she didnt really know
what was beyond that. Her family and her entire career is
disappearing in front of her and shes terrified.
What is Miller saying about love and marriage?
That its tough, its messy and requires a lot of work. Marriage is more
of a label and doesnt always imply love (Sue and Jim). Theres also
the idea that marriage is love and because youre married you owe
your partner that unconditional love.

Truth, Lies, and Compromise

Self Deception KATE
Blatant Lying JOE
Lying Out of Omission ANN
Truth starts getting skewed if you begin to believe your own lies
Sheds light on many lies
Gives us many clues to his stance on truth and compromise, or lack
thereof
Joe Keller: I ignore what I gotta ignore
Very skewed view on what truth is, hes almost oblivious to reality
Handles truth in a joking fashion, the jail and Bert
Joe tends to lie, even when it comes to the small things
Compromising our family because of us being dishonest with each
other Chris