Mother Quotes

All my sons - Arthur Miller

“Everybody was in such a rush to bury him. I said not to plant it yet.”

“Everybody was in such a rush to bury him. I said not to plant it yet.”

Motif of death - Blaming others for accepting Larry’s death too quickly.

“He hasn’t been laid up in fifteen years.”

Climax + throwaway comment - seals Keller’s fate by accidentally revealing the truth

“Don’t, dear. Don’t take it upon yourself. Forger now. Live.”

Character development - Shows mother’s new perspective on life. From not accepting and needing comfort over Larry’s death to now being strong and being able to comfort Chris over a death.

“Get me an aspirin, heh?”

Question + motif of sickness - her denial of the truth has led to physical illness.

“Keller: You don’t sleep that’s why.”

Unmitigated declarative - sense of worry towards Mother. She is deteriorating mentally.

“There’s no jail here!”

Motif of jail + exclamative - desperate for Keller to stop lying.

“You’re sure?”

Questioning - shows her need to control those around her and make them believe what she does.

“Listen to your heart. Only your heart.”

Epiphora - She is innocently persuading Ann, showing her manipulativeness.

“Georgie, Georgie.”

Epizeuxis - shows her capacity for love + shows how she is stuck in the past.

“Honest to God, it breaks my heart to see what happened to the children. How we worked and planned for you , and you end up no better than us.”

Theme of generational conflict - each generation thinks they will do better than the last.

“Georgie and us have no argument. How could we have an argument Georgie?”

Epiphora - wants to secure George’s faith in her.

“The trouble with you kids is that you think too much.”

Pragmatic dialogue + unmitigated declarative - worried that they will find out the truth or perhaps that they are stressing themselves by searching for it.

“Why must you make believe you hate us? Is that another principle? That you have to hate us?”

Triadic structure - sense of innocence in her questioning. Doesn’t understand how she could be hated/in the wrong.

“You don’t hate us, Georgie.”

Hypophora (with last quote) - example of her manipulation and influence over George.

“I packed your bag, darling.”

Unmitigated declarative - disruption of the rules of hospitality. The Host Guest relationship is part of a Greek tragedy.

“She’s a good girl! You see?”

Exclamation - the idea of good being associated with repressing the truth. Mother shows typical gender roles of the era here, with girls being quiet and conforming to men’s rules.

“Your brother’s alive, darling, because if he’s dead, your father killed him.”

Dramatic tension - forbids anyone to face the truth.

“Because if he’s not coming back then I’ll kill myself.”

Dramatic tension + juxtaposition - Keller is the one who kills himself, not mother.

“He was so real I could reach out and touch him.”

Motif of sleep - Mother’s mind cannot let go of Larry.

“If I tell this to mother and she has a fit about.”

Motif of illness - she is mentally unstable and is unaccepting of Larry’s death, so the Joe and Chris try to protect her.