Joe Keller - Quotes Act 1

“a heavy man of stolid mind and build… with the imprint of the machine shop worker and boss still upon him.”

establishes Joe as someone unchanging, and some of his background. Explains why material goods are so important to him, and how he has worked his way up.

“A man among men.”

Int. 1: he is the Everyman, and someone that the audience will be able to relate to. As the Tragic Hero, this makes his story all the more important as it is a reflection on society.

Int. 2: he is the ideal man, someone to be looked up to and revered. Places him on a pedestal.

“I don’t read the news part any more. It’s more interesting in the want ads.”

Clearly establishes his relationship to money and commerce: shows his singular focus. Also shows that Keller is not educated on the modern ways of the world as he does not pay attention to the happenings in the news.

“You look at a page like this you realize how ignorant you are. [Softly, with wonder, as he scans page] Psss!”

Shows that Keller is aware of his ignorance and that he does not keep up with the modern world, but that he is not that interested in doing so. Prosodics and non-verbal utterance.

“Well, that’s what a war does. I had two sons, now I got one… Today a doctor could make a million dollars if he could figure out a way to bring a boy into the world without a trigger finger.”

Impact of war, shows how the war has affected Keller and the male identity - violence, cruelty, focus on money.

Keller [looking at broken tree]: See what happened to the tree?

Chris [without looking up]: Yeah.

Keller: “What’s Mother going to say?”

Establishes their bond; they can communicate without looking at each other. Also shifts the focus to Kate and her role as a mother figure.

Bert: “But that’s a hunting gun.”

Keller: “That’s an arresting gun!”

This is played off as a joke with a neighbourhood kid, though Keller later ‘arrests’ himself through suicide. Chekhov’s gun.

“A policeman don’t ask questions.”

Establishes a connection with the law.

“You can talk yourself blue in the face, but there’s no body and there’s no grave, so where are you?”

Idiom - colloquialism, casual language.

Syntactical patterning gives his speech rhythm. Warns Chris against speaking to mother.

“I ignore what I gotta ignore.”

Elision, US dialect.

This is a key theme throughout the play: Keller is unwilling to accept his guilt, and works his worldview around absolving himself from it.

Chris: “But if that can’t happen here, then I’ll have to get out.”

Keller: “What the hell is this?”

Keller is threatened by Chris’ warning that he might leave. The bond between them is extremely important to Keller, and Chris leaving would devastate him.

“Because what the hell did I work for? Thats only for you, Chris, the whole shootin’-match is for you!”

American Dream - Keller has worked his whole life to build the life he wants for himself and his family. Shows the importance of family to him. End-clipping conveys lack of education.

“[lowering his hand]: I don’t understand you, do I?”

Breaking off of violence, kinesics. Highlights the generation gap and the conflict between the protagonist and antagonist.

“Calm yourself” x3

To Mother. Joe tries to get her to calm down, clearly not in control here.

“[alarmed, therefore angered]”

So typical of men. Defensive, shows a potential future of this behaviour.

The Beast Speech

“Listen, you do like I did and you’ll be all right.”

“The beast! I was the beast; the guy who sold cracked cylinder heads to the Army Air Force”

“I was guilty as hell. Except I wasn’t”

1. Hubris. Shows that he believes his way of life is the right one.

2. Zoomorphism, hyperbole. Attributes a monstrous quality to Keller.

3. Plot development; ironic as he is actually guilty. Colloquialism.

“you play cards with a man you know he can’t be a murderer.”

Hubris, ignorance, irony. Keller is a murderer, and can’t or won’t accept this fact.

“I never believed in crucifying people.”

Biblical connotations. Very strong punishment.

2nd speech - little man:

“It was a madhouse… they were whipping us with the telephone.”

“just try to see it human, see it human.”

“that’s bad, it’s wrong, but that’s what a little man does.”

“Thats a mistake, but it ain’t murder.”

1. Metaphor, simple sentence, hyperbole; conveysKeller’s feelings about what it was like to work in a factory during the war.

2. Imperative. Encourages the characters to ‘see it human’ as a way to make them understand and forgive the mistakes and bad decisions he made.

3. Excuses Steve and himself, comment on male pride and cowardice. Masculinity.

4. Absolving himself of guilt. Non-standard grammar, US dialect.

   The whole speech is more natural and less rehearsed (non-fluency features used throughout). He needs his family’s a[probal/

“She don’t hold nothin’ against me, does she?”

Hinting at Kelley’s guilt. Non-standard grammar, end-clipping.