Kate Keller and Larry Keller:
Two children Larry and Chris were born to Kate and Joe. Being the first child of the family, Larry had been dear and loving for his mother Kate. Both of them (Larry and Chris) joined Air Force and went to fight in the war. After the war is over Chris and George came back home safe and sound while Larry was reported missing even after three and half year of the war . Everybody is sure that Larry is no more now, but Kate Keller does not agree to this at all. She firmly believes that Larry is still alive and he would come back home someday. She feels strengthened in her belief by the fact there is an occasional newspaper report about a soldier who had been reported missing during the war but who had suddenly turned up. When Chris, Annie and Joe Keller try to explain Kate, she does not pay any attention at this she persists in her fond and irrational belief that Larry is still alive. This is one of the aspects of the mother - son relationship which constitutes a subsidiary theme of the play.
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| Comment on the Mother-Son Relationship in All My Sons by Arthur Miller |
Kate's Opposing Marriage of Chris and Annie:
Chris now wants to marry Annie who had originally been engaged to Larry, and who is absolutely certain that Larry had died. Annie has given her consent to Chris’ proposal of marriage. When Kate Keller learns of this love affair and marriage, she does not agree to it. She takes this marriage impious because Annie is Larry's fiancé and she (Annie) should wait for Larry. She says that Larry is still alive. About Larry she says,
“Because certain things have to be, and certain things can never be, like the sun has to rise, it has to be. That's why there's God. Otherwise anything could happen. But there's God - so certain things can never happen.”
Of course Kate is absolutely mistaken in her view that Annie too thinks Larry to be still alive; and Kate is also mistaken in her belief that Larry is still alive.
Kate's Belief in Conflict with Chris’ View:
When Chris points out to Kate that she is wrongly persisting in her belief that Larry is still alive, Kate insists that Larry is certainly alive and that he would come back home someday . Chris finds it a hopeless business to convince Kate that Larry is dead. Chris feels that they have made a serious mistake in dealing with his mother. Annie also tells Kate that she does not expect Larry to return home because he is dead. But Kate expresses the view that, if there is a God in this universe, then Larry is certainly not dead. Her mother's instinct, she says, tells her that Larry could not have died. Thus Kate still clings to her belief about Larry and she thus comes into conflict with Chris even though she loves this son of hers as much as she loved Larry.
Chris’ Showing Love for his Mother:
When Kate comes to know that George, the son of Steeve Deever is approaching soon to Keller's family, she becomes somewhat apprehensive. She thinks that George may reopen the case of supplying the defective cylinder heads to the Air Force during the war. She feels much worried because she inwardly knows her husband's guilt. Chris assures her that she need not be afraid. Chris consoles her saying that George is just a damned fool, and she should not take that fellow seriously. Kate says that if George has begun to hate the Keller family, then George would surely proceed against Joe and would do something desperate. However Chris assures her of his support against George. Chris tries to satisfy Kate in every possible way. He tries to avoid all the fears of Kate Keller.
Kate's Losing Control over herself:
A heated argument takes place between Kate and Chris. Kate does not want that Annie should prolong her stay with the Keller family. She wants that Annie should now go back to New York from where she had come. She even packs her luggage. But Chris feels greatly annoyed with his mother for having packed up Annie's bag. He asks in a loud voice how she had dared to back up her bag. At this Kate replies that Annie must leave because she does not belong here. Chris thereupon says that, if Annie does not belong here, then he too does not belong here. Kate says that Annie is Larry's girl and Chris replies that he is Larry's brother and that he is going to marry Larry's fiancé because he is dead. Kate says that she would never permit Annie's marriage to Chris in this world. Here Joe Keller intervenes in the talk and says that Kate seems to have gone crazy and that she is talking like a mad person. Now Kate loses entire control over herself and says that, if Larry is dead, then Joe had killed him. Thus Kate unknowingly gives out Joe's guilt which so far she had, like Joe himself, been hiding.
Kate's Motherly Affection for George:
George Deever is the brother of Annie Deever and the only son of Joe Keller's business - partner Steeve Deever. He lives in New York. After getting higher education, he becomes a lawyer. When he comes to see Keller family, Kate welcomes him warmly. She behaves him as a mother. She prepares juice of grapes for him, she says Chris—“I made a grape - drink for George. He always liked grape.” When George comes before her, she tells that George is looking almost an old man because he had been fighting too hard during the war in order to win medals. Then Kate scolds Annie who had told her that George was fine with good health whereas he is looking like a ghost. To see his mother's affection towards George, Chris says— “She (Kate Keller) could turn Mahatma Gandhi into a heavy weight champion.
A Perfect Reconciliation between Kate and Chris at the End of the Play:
When, ultimately, Joe gets ready to confess his crime going to the police station, Kate tries to stop him. But Chris says that nothing can now stop Joe from going to the police, and no power of the world can stop him (Chris) from taking Joe to the police. Soon afterwards, Joe commits suicide; and both Kate and Chris are plunged into grief. Chris tells his mother that he had not wanted this sort of thing to happen, and Kate tells him not to take the blame for it on himself. She advises him not to celebrate sorrow over what has happened but to start a new life.
Thus at the end there is a perfect reconciliation between Chris and Kate. Thus, it can be said that mother - son relationship is one of the important point of the play. Kate Keller, who is the major character of the play reflects her love for his son in the following lines: “If he's (Larry) not coming back, then I'll kill myself.”
