AMS all super quotations

“you always look at the book section but never buy a book” Joe to Chris

page 11

direct pronoun ‘you’, repetition of book

suggests Chris is always within reach of changing his life / moving on, but he never does it, reflects how he never does anything for himself, reflects he has not yet acknowledged the truth or looked past the superficialness of the neighborhood, perhaps he is no better than Joe, he continues to pretend everything is normal

“Otherwise, what you have is really loot, and there’s blood on it. I didn’t want to take any of it. And I guess that included you”

page 36

metaphor, declaratives

reflects his survivor’s guilt, he feels that life after the war is immoral, what the soldiers went through has not been appreciated, society has moved on as normal, taking for granted everything they have

‘But if Chris wants people to put on the hair shirt let him take off the broadcloth’ Sue

page 45

metaphor

Sue is a chorus character who speaks on behalf of many of the peripheral characters in the neighborhood, she implies that Chris thinks he has moral superiority to everyone else but in reality he doesn’t

“For me! ...I was dying every day and you were killing my boys and you did it for me?”

page 70

exclamative, non-fluency feature, metaphors, possessive pronoun ‘my’, interrogative

Chris feels that the other soldiers were like his family, they were all in the war together, they had a duty to each other - therefore knowing his own father’s actions killed them enhances his already strong survivors guilt, Keller saying he did it for me is so aggravating to Chris because what he did is the opposite of what he would ever want him to do

“I could jail him! I could jail him, if I were human anymore. But I'm like everybody else now I'm practical now. You made me practical.”

page 80

exclamatives, metaphor

he suggests that by viewing things practically he has lost his moral, ‘human’ outlook on life. he has become like his parents who do immoral things selfishly for the practicality of their own lives. Chris realises that jailing his father would not help his family or himself in any way.

“You can be better! Once and for all you can know there’s a universe of people outside and you’re responsible to it, and unless you know that you threw away your son because that’s why he died.”

page 84

exclamative, euphemism ‘throw away’, direct pronouns

these words reflect the theme of responsibility which is so significant throughout the play, finally Chris confronts his parents with the fact they do not see themselves responsible for others, Chris ends the materialistic ideologies in the generation before him,

Joe, who can not do what Chris asks, responds by killing himself. shoeing the ultimate intergenerational conflicts.

“I’ve been a good son too long, a good sucker. I’m through with it.”

page 17

negative tone, repetition of ‘good’, declarative

repetitive adjective ‘good’ has positive meaning but is used negatively to suggest Chris feels by pleasing everyone else he is actually doing himself wrong, he wants to live his own life and follow his own personal dream, the use of ‘son’ and ‘sucker’ suggest he feels pathetic constantly acting a certain way for his mother when he is a grown adult

“you killed them, you murdered them”

page 69

anaphora, unmitigated declaratives

murdered is more accusatory then killed and more violent / immoral, shows Chris sees what his dad as extremely wrong and despite his dads justification he can only see it as a guilty act

‘I felt wrong to be alive, to open the bank-book, to drive the new car, to see the new refrigerator.’

page 36

asyndetic list, anaphora

‘to’ is universal to suggest that daily life actions, done by everyone, felt unnatural and wrong to Chris, he knew many men just like him, including his brother couldn’t do the same. truth reveals that his father was cause of many of these men’s deaths, enhancing his shame.

‘You know Larry's not coming back and I know it.’

page 14

Unmitigated declarative

Chris acknowledges a reality but does nothing to address it; Joe pretends it doesn't exist. (Act 1) Miller sets up Chris and Joe as opposites - Joe is blind but Chris is also cowardly.

“I know you’re no worse than most men but I thought you were better. I never saw you as a man. I saw you as my father.”

Recurring theme of gender roles, direct address

Chris views morality as more important than masculinity which creates intergenerational conflict - Chris is sensitive vs Keller who has more toxic masculinity. Chris has a poor view of society/men therefore hopes his father is better, links to his idealistic mindset

‘(a little apologetically) No, he was always one year ahead of draft’

page 60

Lydia is aware of sensitive nature of the topic - tries to soften impact - trying to mitigate potential discomfort

direct evidence of moral/personal responsibility

‘Hey, Georgie! Georgie! Georgie! Georgie! Georgie!’

page 59

epizeuxis - security, excitement

representing an idealised / comforting figure in Lydia’s life

colloquial language

exclamative

‘I forgot all about it… (sees Chris and Ann) Hiya, I promised to fix Kate’s hair for tonight. Did she comb it yet?’

page 50

concerns herself over traditional womanly trivial tasks

defense mechanism - Lydia avoiding deep conversations

‘its so strange. Annie’s here and not even married. And I’ve got three babies? Always thought it’d be the other way around’

page 11

Lydia is visual reminder/symbol of what Ann’s life would’ve been

ellipsis - careful to say right thing

“reading the want ads”

page 5

stage directions - kinesics

shows his refusal to face truth - recurring motif

shows his belief the rest of the world is not relevant to him

“Chris, the whole shootin’-match is for you”

Page 17

metaphor, prolepsis to suicide

shows the competitive nature of business that Joe is caught up in

“I mean with joy, Chris, without shame… with joy”

Page 38

repetition of abstract nouns, prolepsis to truth

Joe needs Chris to use the wealth he made for him with happiness, his guilty conscience can only be diminished knowing he made the right decision for his family

“. . . you and George . . . go to prison and tell him [Steve] . . . “Dad, Joe wants to bring you into the business when you get out.”’

page 49

non-fluency features, tone of certainty

Joe creates himself an image of righteousness and morality, attempting to cover the truth even more by appearing less guilty

“You lay forty years into a business and they knock you out in five minutes, what could I do, let them take forty years, let them take my life away”

Page 69

repetition - emphasizes the time he has put into his business, he has always cared about the business

collective pronoun ‘they’ - vague, suggesting higher power, exploiting himself and others

passive verb ‘let’ - insinuates that he would be weak to not send off the cylinder heads, he would be acting passively, contrasting his usual state

justifying his actions to Chris, acting as though he had no choice, shifting the blame to ‘they’

‘The paper, it was all over the front page, twenty one went down, it was too late.’

page 70

recurring theme - ‘want ads’, afraid of bad reputation, truth about him

euphemism - ‘twenty one went down’, can’t say truth outright

declarative - ‘too late’, using certainty to suggest there was a nothing he could have done

‘I'm sixty one years old, when would I have another chance to make something for you? Sixty one years old you don't get another chance, do ya?’

page 70

interrogatives, anaphora

evoking sympathy, older people often thought of as vulnerable, once again using family obligation as justification

“it dont excuse it that you did it for the family” Kate

“It’s got to excuse it!” Joe

Page 77

exclamative

as the play goes on we understand joe’s idea that his family duty was justification for his actions is wishful thinking, he also comes to realize this but for a while is in denial

“Chris, a man can’t be a Jesus in this world!”

page 83

biblical references, exclamative

Joe believes that all of society is corrupt, he is no worse than any other man, again trying to justify his actions, Chris doesn't to accept this - different ideologies

“I think to him they were all my sons. And I guess they were, I guess they were.”

page 83

Joe’s anagnorisis

“In my day, either you were a lawyer, or a doctor, or you worked in a shop. Now-”

Page 5

Syndetic list, repetition of 2nd-person pronoun ‘you’, possessive pronoun ‘my’

Reflects simplicity of the past and Keller’s developed ideology that work is about earning money, not about enjoyment, link to him not understanding Chris’ desires.

Frank interrupts - more modern job (forester) - reflects more modern, optimistic views. Seen also in his astrology beliefs, he is not invested in his work life like Keller.

“You have such a talent for ignoring things” - Chris

“I ignore what I gotta ignore”

Page 16

Repetition of ‘ignore’, colloquialism of ‘gotta’ - he is flippant

lack of acknowledgment of Chris’ concerns in order to resolve conflict and keep family together - thinks he knows best so ignores the requests/concerns of Chris

foreshadows his ignorance to the wider world, he does what he thinks is best for himself and his family but not the majority

“All the ones who yelled murderer takin’ my money now'“

page 28

euphemism/collectivism of ‘ones’, hyperbole of ‘taking’

Sense of self-righteousness/hubris - as though he is better than those around him, ironic considering his immoral actions

‘I think it was, yeah. And he worked in his basement discovering things. That’s what you ought to do; you could help humanity, instead of…’

page 9

Frank appeals to idealistic pursuits - linking to Jim’s compromise to fulfill his money-making duty - hilighting the internal conflict between ambitions and practicality

‘Lydia, come in here! If you want the toaster to work don’t plug in the malted mixer.’

page 11

exclamative - shows domestic realism and ordinary struggles of characters

character’s gender roles

‘But the odds are a million to one that a man wont die on his favorable day. That’s known, that’s known, Chris!’

page 66

foreshadowing by using verb ‘known’

direct address to Chris, convincing Chris of something

epizeuxis - certainty - contrast to truth

‘you look more womanly. you’ve matured. you..’ (to Ann)

page 28

focuses on external changes, reflects superficial perspective

gendered language of ‘womanly’ - social expectations of femininity

‘a very wry, self-controlled man…with a wisp of sadness’

page 6

abstract noun ‘sadness’ suggests the trauma of war, the fact he has just a ‘wisp’ insinuates that he is trying to disguise his sadness, just like everyone else in the neighborhood he is trying to live a life of ‘normality’

‘Him? He’s all right. He’s completely out of his mind that’s all’

page 8

cynical tone, Jim is dismissive from the beginning of any kind of hope - he is a realist and sees the world as it is, contrasting to Kate and Frank’s supernatural ideals

‘I would love to help humanity on a Warner Brothers salary’

page 9

talk of money in order to help others shows the post-war mindset of many Americans, materialism and wealth being the priority, not having an occupation out of passion

‘Kate is in bad shape, you cant explode this in front of her’

page 50

Jim anticipates exactly what is going to happen, as he knows the hidden truth, and he wants to keep up the normality of the neighborhood - after the war many Americans wanted to put the past behind them and go back to normal as if the war never happened

‘they’re cracked as coconuts. Money. Money-money-money-money. you say it long enough it doesn’t mean anything’

page 73

alliteration of ‘cracked as coconuts’ - he criticizes society, he is disillusioned of the materialistic society at this time

‘cracked’ is prolepsis to cracked cylinder heads

epizeuxis of ‘money’ reflects he simple mindset of many Americans - links to desire to have ‘American dream’

Jim feels money is meaningless - perhaps as he has seen firsthand the sacrifices and tragedy of the war - he also has survivor’s guilt, he feels as though society has not appreciated the sacrifices of men in the war and have moved onto a life of materialism too fast

‘Don’t be afraid Kate, I know. I’ve always known.’

page 74

Jim represents the neighborhood outside of the Keller family - shows how they all move on from the past to live a normal life

epiphora of ‘know’ - emphasizes the fact that he has concealed the truth for the Kellers - perhaps Jim is not fully moral

‘every man does have a star. the star of one’s honesty. And you spend your life groping for it, but once its out it never lights again’

page 74

unmitigated declarative of ‘once its out it never lights again’ suggests the damage caused by hiding a truth - Jim understands that the past always comes back, and that by burying the truth Keller has drastically impacted his life

suggests that from hiding the truth in the first place Keller’s life was inevitably going to break apart

‘when you marry, never- even in your mind- never count your husband’s money.’

page 25

Jim refers to his life being one of a duty to his wife, because of money his marriage is not loving and passionate but is an obligation to earn and provide for his wife (gender roles) - here he tries to teach the younger generation to not live like this

“I cant leave here alone again”

page 79

unmitigated declarative

shows how Ann is still affected by past tragedy

perhaps suggests gender roles as she feels unfulfilled leaving without a husband - she feels weak and vulnerable

“I want you to set him free”

direct pronoun ‘you’ suggests she blames Kate for Chris being stuck in the neighbourhood - perhaps naïve as Chris could have left himself

links to her being ‘Larrys girl’, until Chris is freed and she can marry again she is stuck with that label - in the past

“I turned my back on my father, if there is anything wrong here now…”

Shows she has strong morals and will deeply regret doing that to her father if he was innocent

non fluency feature of her pausing at the end shows her unease and her guilt propping up

“He’d never take 5 cents out of a plant if there was anything wrong with it”

unmitigated declarative

is certain of Chris’ good morals, never doubts him or his family - eventually we see she is wrong about this and perhaps has been naïve

shows how she sees morals very differently to Joe, she admires Chris for not being driven by money - she has same ‘American Dream’ as him

“If I need someone to tell me the truth, I’ve always thought of Chris”

Irony because of the secret unveiled in Act 3 that Chris admits he suspected

Shows difference between Kate and Ann, Ann always wants to be honest whereas Kate hides the truth for ‘normality’

“I guess I never grew up”

Reflection of how the Keller’s treat her - like a young naïve girl

could link to the trauma of her tragedy she experienced, she is almost stuck in time because her life stopped

“That’s the way I saw him. Only high up. Way, way up”

page 20

symbolic of heaven - suggests she subconsciously knows Larry is dead but is in denial

also shows her mental infragility as she is constantly thinking of Larry even in her dream

“I said not to plant it yet [to Keller] I told you too!”

page 21

Kate has supernatural ideas she feels planting the tree was wrong as Larry is still alive

exclamative gives angry tone - perhaps she blames Joe here in order to channel her real anger as she subconsciously knows he killed Larry

“I want you to stop that, Joe. That whole jail business”

page 23

Kate gives prolepsis to what the Keller’s are hiding also prolepsis to Joe going against the law

she uses a euphemism to hint to the real truth

“Why, Joe? What has Steve suddenly got to tell him that he takes an airplane to see him?”

page 40

‘airplane’ is prolepsis to the truth about the cylinder heads and therefore suggests George is coming to reveal the truth

Kate is constantly worried about the revelation of the truth - this suggests that as a woman she is not as strong as Joe and cannot give the same illusion of normality that he can

“They made an old man out of you.[Touches his hair]”

page 57

kinesics - she is acting affectionately and maternally

manipulative nature to once again avoid truth coming out - she uses the past to persuade him to ignore what has happened in recent years

“Listen to hell with the restaurant! I got ham in the icebox, and frozen strawberries”

page 58

the meal is symbolic of making peace as a family - Kate is desperate to ignore the truth and make peace - she wants things to be normal again

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

page 65

Kate is the one to slip up and reveal the truth

highlights gender roles, how Kate cannot be trusted with power and is weak at containing the truth

“till he comes: forever and ever till he comes!”

page 68

epanalepsis emphasizes her obsessive nature and extreme denial

her obsession affects her family: Chris - she refuses to let him marry Ann

“[to Chris but not facing him] Your brother’s alive, darling, because if he’s dead, your father killed him…God does not let a son be killed by his father”

page 68

Kinesics - she can’t face Chris with the truth, she is guilty

Declaratives show how she is fed up of hiding the truth but is still in denial - biblical reference - common motif

Also reflects greek literature, common theme of sons being killed by their fathers, leads to punishment from Gods

“Don’t dear. Don’t take it on yourself. Forget now. Live.”

page 84

Minor sentences - contrasts to her speech at the beginning, symbolizes how she has changed from the truth coming out

Her imperatives show her selfless act, wants only what is best for her son now

‘it seems to me that for ten dollars you could hold his hand’

page 10

mitigated declarative

sarcasm, commenting on materialistic viewpoint that her and Jim share

‘men are like little boys ; for the neighbors they’ll always cut the grass’

page 43

metaphor - suggests men will always try to please those around them

she knows that everyone looks up to the Keller family, feels ignored by her husband and is bitter towards the Kellers because of this

‘And he’s got money. that’s important, you know’

page 44

reinforcing materialistic society where money is a priority, also shows gender roles, suggesting husband must be breadwinner

‘it happens with Jim every couple of years. He meets a man and makes a statue of him’

page 44

metaphor - ‘makes a statue’ Jim feels unfulfilled in life so looks to other men to try and see how to live a better life - Sue resents this and therefore resents Chris for being the ‘statue’

‘ I resent living next door to the Holy Family’

page 45

Biblical - suggests Sue hates how everyone admires the Kellers as though they are ‘holy’ - however we see Sue act friendly towards them as well, she does not confront them, like everyone else she will do anything to live a life of ‘normality’

‘Everybody knows Joe pulled a fast one to get out of jail’

page 45

Sue is the chorus, she speaks for ‘everyone’

she insinuates that they all know the truth but have been happy to conceal it in order to keep up the ‘American dream’

‘if Chris wants people to put on the hair shirt let him take off his broadcloth’

page 45

suggests that Chris is hypocritical - he thinks he is more moral than anyone else yet he is no better - perhaps Sue knows he suspects Joe’s truth but has also kept it secret

‘[her pity, open and unabashed, reaches into him, and he smiles sadly]’

page 57

the abstract noun ‘pity’ may suggest that Kate still sees George as a little boy

Kate puts on a facade, despite her anxiety and stress towards George’s abrupt arrival she shows kindness and openness, she is desperate to return to normality

‘open’ juxtaposes Kate’s actual situation, she is hiding the truth

George smiles ‘sadly’ indicates he may feel sorrow and regret for the way things turned out, he remembers his past and the way things used to be with the Kellers and his own father

‘Is Lydia…? I mean Frank and Lydia coming?’

page 64

frank visually shows the change the war has brought to George - and the whole country - he didn't get to live the life he wanted to, he didn’t get to achieve his own ‘American Dream’

the low fluency feature of a pause highlights his mind going back to past, as he dwells on what could have been with Lydia

‘you too Joe, you’re amazingly the same. The whole atmosphere is’

page 65

the adverb ‘amazingly’ suggests how it is surprising how normal Joe and the whole neighborhood is; despite the tragedies of the war, Joe appears unaffected - reflecting his facade

‘‘your dad took everything we have. I cant beat that. But she’s one item he’s not going to grab’

page 56

unmitigated declarative

active verb ‘took’ suggests Joe’s direct impact on George and his family

George now feels desperate and in despair, he cannot let Ann be another thing he loses as a result of Keller’s actions, and the war

‘I cant beat that’ suggests George feels that he is in a battle, or competition, but in no way can win.

‘Joe cant come down…He’s sick. Sick! he suddenly gets the flu! Suddenly!’

page 54

repetition of ‘sick’ and ‘suddenly’ to emphasize how ludicrous it is that Joe coincidentally couldn’t work that day, this is reinforced with the exclamative

minor sentences - emphasis

‘Annie you dont know what was done to that man. you dont know what happened’

page 54

unmitigated declaratives

anaphora - trying to convince her she is wrong

direct pronoun ‘you’ suggests she needs to change her perspective