Kate Keller "All My Sons"

Character analysis

Kate Keller. I am interested in this character because of how it (she) changes throughout the play. At first, she appears as someone naive and vulnerable, but then we comprehendthat her delusions about Larry's disappearance are a symptom of self-protection to cover the truth, that her husband was the one who gave the order to sell the faulty cylinders that (which) made thetwenty-one pilots die, and in consequence the one who kills Larry.
Kate Keller clearly contributes in the play to the themes of guilt and blame. She felt terribly guilty for her husband’s mistakeand like her husband, she is in denial. She forces herself to believe her son is alive, and in order to do so, she is capable to manipulate the people surrounding her and supports Joe in his deceit.She thinks that to believe Larry is dead would be to believe his death was a punishment of Joe's crime, then she cannot bear this, so she must persuade herself that Larry still lives. Her motherlinessis one of her defining characteristics, but she also uses this as a resource to protect her family and to continue denying the truth. Ann and George represent a threat for her and Joe’s security, soKate with sharp instincts creates a comfortable atmosphere around them, specially with George that (who) almost makes him forget his desire for justice.
She is also a superstitious character, sheprefers to believe that there are forces outside her control, astrology and God, that will not allow that a father kills his own son. Although she constructed this lie inside her head, in order to copewith the painful truth, she always knew in her heart that Larry was dead. When Ann shows her the letter that proves Larry's death, Kate suffers no great shock and that’s when his self- deception dies.In addition, she contributes to the theme of Nuclear family. For Kate there is nothing more important in this world than the family individual's responsibilities to the family are first (no enteni...