Previous
Kate Keller
One of Joe and Kate’s two sons, Chris survives the war and works in his father’s business, making a good deal of money. Chris always had a nagging sense of doubt about his father’s innocence in the manufacturing affair, and Chris resents that peacetime life does not follow the clear moral breakdown into good and evil of wartime (as Chris describes, using the anecdote of dry socks lent him by a soldier with none to spare). Chris ends the play telling his mother that he did not intend to guilt his father into killing himself—Kate recognizes this, and, absolving Chris of guilt for his father’s death, tells Chris to move away with Annie.
Chris Keller Quotes in All My Sons
The All My Sons quotes below are all either spoken by Chris Keller or refer to Chris Keller. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Act 1 Quotes
She was out here when it broke.
When?
About four this morning. I heart it cracking and I woke up and looked out. She was standing right here when it cracked.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Kate has trouble sleeping, and when she this is the case, she tends to go out into the front yard to observe Larry's tree. The tree is a complex symbol for Kate. On the one hand, it represents Larry, her beloved son who was lost at war. It is a memorial to him. On the other hand, Kate wants to believe that Larry needs no memorial at all—that he is still alive, waiting to be found somewhere in the Pacific.Thus it is unclear what it means, for Kate and the other characters, when the tree is hit by lightning. Does Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim n
The trouble is, you don’t see enough women. You never did.
So what? I’m not fast with women.
I don’t see why it has to be Annie.
Because it is.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Both Joe and Kate have trouble with the idea, later revealed in the play, that Chris will marry Ann. This is because Chris's relationship with Ann upsets the agreed-upon order of the families before the war, when Ann and Larry were together. Kate even praised Ann later for "waiting" for Larry for many years after he has gone missing.But eventually Ann must move on with her life, and she does fall genuinely in love with Chris. Joe and Kate, for their part, however, have trouble accepting the idea that Chris and Ann could be together. Like the tree, this relationship Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Volupt
See? We should have never planted that tree. I said so in the first place; it was too soon to plan a tree for him.
Too soon!
We rushed into it . . . .
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
This is an even more explicit reference, on Kate's part, to the idea that Larry might still in fact be alive. Chris understands that this really cannot be the case. Furthermore, Chris knows that Kate and Joe's unwillingness to accept Larry's death is a way for the family both to deal with the trauma of the war and to refuse to move beyond it.Chris, however, does want to leave the war behind. He does not want to remain in Larry's shadow, and he does not want to be compared to his brother anymore. Larry is no longer alive, and so Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perfere
. . . one time it’d been raining several days and this kid came to me, and gave me his last pair of dry socks. Put them in my pocket. That’s only a little thing—but . . . that’s the kind of guys I had. They didn’t die; they killed themselves for each other . . . .
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chris's memory of a boy giving him a pair of dry socks is perhaps his lasting image of the war. For Chris, it contains both the brutality of battle—the fact that dry socks were at a premium in war-time—and the possibility of human generosity even during terrible circumstances. Chris seems to believe that the brotherhood of men at war was a real feeling, something he can hold onto even in the tragic aftermath of that conflict. That is why the image has remained so intensely in his mind—it is an indicator of the good that can come of a difficult, Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis.
Act 2 Quotes
. . . it’s very unusual to me, marrying the brother of your sweetheart.
I don’t know. I think it’s mostly that whenever I need somebody to tell me the truth I’ve always thought of Chris . . . . He relaxes me.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Sue makes no bones about telling Ann that her behavior—marrying Chris after being Larry's girlfriend during the war—is "strange" to her. Ann, for her part, admirably replies that she loves and admires Chris, and that the two themselves have had a long friendship, dating back even to when Larry and Ann were together. Ann thus parries Sue's attack—trying to brush off her concern while defending her choice to be with Chris.Sue seems to want to sow discord between Chris and Ann. She, like Jim and some of the other neighbors, is heavily involved in the privates lives of those she Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo
The man [Joe] is innocent, Ann. Remember he was falsely accused once and it put him through hell. How would you behave if you were faced with the same thing again? Annie believe me, there’s nothing wrong for you here, believe me, kid.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
At this point in the play, Chris still tries to defend his father. He genuinely believes that Joe has been falsely accused; Chris can not reckon with the possibility that his father really did allow faulty parts to be put in American planes. In this way, Chris's inability to cope with a difficult truth is not dissimilar to his mother's. Chris, for his part, believes that Kate is the most deluded in the family—the least willing to come to terms with the past. But Chris himself has "dark spots" of his memory, with which he'd rather not become reacquainted.Chris explains Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui
The court didn’t know your father! But you know him. You know in your heart Joe did it.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Here, George becomes even more explicit in his condemnation of Joe Keller, the man he has believed, all along, to be guilty. George references the idea that Chris could "know" that his father is guilty "in his [Chris's] heart," and that all Chris would have to do to understand the matter would be to think about it squarely, to approach it honestly. For George, trained in the law, the facts of the case are relatively straightforward, and Joe's alibi during the time of the crime does not make sense.But George is also pointing to perhaps the most powerful desire in Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptate
And now you’re going to listen to me, George. You had big principles, Eagle Scouts the three of you [Larry, George, Chris] . . . Stop being a philosopher, and look after yourself. Like Joe was just saying—you move back here, he’ll help you get set, and I’ll find you a girl and put a smile on your face.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Kate more explicitly addresses what she perceives to be George's "problem." Kate believes that everything can be solved by the creation of an intact family unit. This is perhaps why she is most haunted by Larry's loss—because Larry was not able to return, marry Ann, and begin his own family. Although Kate also wants Chris to have a family, she is cooler on the prospect of Chris's marrying Ann, who is "Larry's girl," and who belongs therefore to a different family unit.Kate ignores, then, what George is really saying—that Joe is a criminal and a liar, and that he has Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus
Act 3 Quotes
My dear, if the boy was dead, it wouldn’t depend on my words to make Chris know it . . . .The night he gets into your bed, his heart will dry up. Because he knows and you know. To his dying day he’ll wait for his brother!
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Kate's bitterness over the loss of Larry knows no bounds. She is even willing to compromise Chris's happiness in order to "prove" that Ann ought to wait for Larry, and that Chris is merely moving in on "his brother's girl." Kate appears to need this illusion—that of Larry's safe return—in order to keep living. But she does not seem to realize, or does not care, that her insistence on Larry's lingering presence is ruining the happiness of those around her, even her own son.Kate's argument here, too, echoes what she and Joe feel all the time: a deep-down, half-conscious guilt. Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam offici
What are you talking about? What else can you do?
I could jail him! I could jail him, if I were human any more. But I’m like everybody else now. I’m practical now. You made me practical.
But you have to be.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
"Practicality" is an important concept for all those in the Keller family, as well as for George and Ann. Joe believes it was "practical" to cover up his guilt and let Steve take the fall for the parts. After all, Joe thought, Steve was guilty of not standing up to Joe—and someone had to keep going and keep the firm alive. Kate is "practical" in her belief that Larry will return—even though this "practicality" is actually an irrational unwillingness to accept the overwhelmingly likely scenario that Larry is really gone.And Chris's "practicality" takes on many forms. He knows that it Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus volupta
If you can’t get used to it [the Keller family money], then throw it away. You hear me? Take every cent and give it to charity, throw it in the sewer. Does that settle it? . . .
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Joe wonders whether the guilt that Chris feels is related to the money that the firm has made. Of course, this is a part of it—Chris has expressed, here and elsewhere, that the company's profits, if indeed they are tied to a willingness to overlook the faulty plane components, would be stained with the blood of those who died in the airplanes during the war. Joe, in his qualified willingness to expiate the family's guilt, argues that the money can be refused—and that, in taking the money, Chris is complicit in the family's crimes.But the guilt runs much deeper than Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore.
Chris, a man can’t be a Jesus in this world!
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Joe's statement is fraught with meaning. "Chris," the name of Joe's son, echoes "Christ," itself a tragic pun when joined with the "Jesus" of his following exclamation. Joe believes that he cannot behave perfectly—that no man can. But, of course, Chris has not asked that his father be perfect. Chris would naturally have preferred that the past didn't take place—that Larry would instead be alive, and that Joe would not have been responsible for the crimes he has committed. But given all that, Chris only wants Joe to admit his guilt.This does not mean that Joe would have to be Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum do
The war is over! Didn’t you hear? It’s over!
Then what was Larry to you? A stone that fell into the water? It’s not enough for him [Joe] to be sorry. Larry didn’t kill himself to make you and Dad sorry.
What more can we be!
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Kate's statement—The war is over!—means that the past is really in the past, that there is nothing anyone can do to change it. Kate believes that, whatever crimes Joe committed, whatever guilt the family bears, they must be ignored if the family is to continue on into the future. This is why the Kellers remained in the neighborhood and lived their lives as though nothing had happened.But Larry also remains the reason why the Kellers cannot fully let go of the war. Because Kate holds out hope that Larry will, in fact, return, the war is never truly relegated to Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferend
Get the entire All My Sons LitChart as a printable PDF.
"My students can't get enough of your charts and their results have gone through the roof." -Graham S.
Chris Keller Character Timeline in All My Sons
The timeline below shows where the character Chris Keller appears in All My Sons. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Act 1
...the paper alongside his friend and neighbor Dr. Jim Bayliss. Keller has two sons: one, Chris, who works with him in the family business, and one, Larry, who died flying a...
(full context)
Chris comes downstairs, and Joe greets him, asking how Annie’s doing; Chris says she’s doing fine...
(full context)
Chris and Joe look at the shorn tree that once memorialized Larry. Chris tells Joe, to...
(full context)
Chris continues talking to his father, saying that they (he and his father) have “made a...
(full context)
Chris pulls closer to his father and continues talking. He tells Joe that he invited Annie...
(full context)
Joe is nervous about how this news will affect Kate, and he refuses to tell Chris, in a straightforward manner, how he feels about Chris marrying Annie—Joe is primarily worried that...
(full context)
At the high point of their argument, Chris threatens to marry Annie and run away to New York City—where Annie currently lives—in order...
(full context)
...maid, and that today is her day off. Joe sits off to the side, and Chris helps Kate peel green beans for dinner. Kate complains of a bad night’s sleep and...
(full context)
Chris becomes upset with his mother, indicating to her that, perhaps, Annie is no longer mourning...
(full context)
Chris is shocked to hear that Kate believes it is “too soon” to be mourning Larry....
(full context)
Just then, Annie comes out with Chris to say hello to Joe and Kate. Joe is happy to see Annie and tells...
(full context)
Annie tells Chris, in front of Joe and Kate, that she’s surprised he has so many clothes, but...
(full context)
Annie turns to Chris and asks him if the neighborhood is still talking about her father’s trial and imprisonment....
(full context)
...in prison, and Annie says she does not; she thinks he is a murderer, and Chris appears to agree, saying that Steve “killed” 21 American pilots in the war. Again, this...
(full context)
...not a bad man, that he just made a mistake, and that he’s no murderer. Chris becomes angry with his father for even bringing up this whole mess, which seems to...
(full context)
Joe goes inside, leaving Chris and Annie alone. Annie tells Chris he’s been acting strange so far on her visit,...
(full context)
Chris tells Annie that he’s not “ashamed” to be courting his brother’s girl, but that he...
(full context)
At that, however, Chris turns to Annie and says that he will make her a fortune—Annie replies that she...
(full context)
Annie goes inside to answer George’s phone call. Chris tells his father that he and Annie are getting married, and Joe seems unaffected by...
(full context)
After Chris insists that Annie’s visit would have nothing to do with George, and that Annie harbors...
(full context)
...something important he wants to discuss regarding his father with Joe. Annie, clearly shaken, tells Chris she wants to go for a drive, and the two exit to do so. Kate...
(full context)
Act 2
The Act opens on the evening of the same day. Chris is outside, in dress pants but no shirt, clearing away the brush from Larry’s sheared...
(full context)
Chris forcefully but still politely objects to the idea that Annie has anything to do with...
(full context)
Annie brushes off this criticism, but Sue continues, saying that, if Annie and Chris do marry, Sue and Jim want them to move somewhere far away. Annie is shocked...
(full context)
...she says she hates living next to the “Holy Family,” the Kellers, and she finds Chris’s “phony idealism” to be immensely frustrating. Annie cannot believe what she’s hearing, but as Sue...
(full context)
After Sue leaves, Chris begins saying how much he likes her, and that she’s a good nurse, but Annie...
(full context)
Annie tells Chris that he must be prepared to “leave his family behind” if it is revealed that...
(full context)
Joe comes outside and now seems happy at the idea that Chris and Annie are in love—he sees them together and assumes they are once again sharing...
(full context)
...George up at the train station. Leaving George in the car, Jim walks up to Chris and Annie, still outside, to tell Chris that he ought to drive George somewhere farther...
(full context)
...grape beverage Kate has set out for him—an old favorite—but announces sourly to Ann and Chris that he’s been to see his father, who looks “smaller” now in prison; George also...
(full context)
George then asks Annie, gruffly, if she’s married yet to Chris; Annie says she’s not yet married, and George announces that Annie will not marry Chris...
(full context)
George tells Annie and Chris, in the yard, that Joe ordered Steve, on the phone three years ago, to weld...
(full context)
Chris tells George that Steve is a timid man who wants to shift the blame to...
(full context)
...they will have a dinner at the house that night, instead of going out; but Chris tells George that, if he stays for the evening, there will be no more arguing....
(full context)
...out to announce that she’s packed Annie’s bag, and that Annie can leave with George. Chris and Annie both say that Annie will only leave when Chris wants her to, but...
(full context)
Kate then screams to Joe and Chris that Chris has to understand something: if Larry is dead, then Joe “killed” him, and...
(full context)
Chris can’t believe that his father is responsible for the murder of 21 pilots, and though...
(full context)
Act 3
...by the backyard, at two in the morning. Kate tells Jim she is waiting for Chris to come back; he took the car, after his argument with Joe, and drove to...
(full context)
Jim alludes to the possibility of an argument between Chris and Joe over Annie, but Kate tells him, flat-out, that the argument was about George...
(full context)
...goes offstage, saying he will take his car and drive around the park looking for Chris. Joe and Kate have a small argument, in which Kate says Joe always get angry...
(full context)
...to handle the family’s trauma, and so he does not learn of the letter immediately. Chris asks Annie and Kate, who is in morbid shock, to sit down: he announces to...
(full context)
Chris also announces that he would not want his father to go to jail; that jail...
(full context)
Annie takes the letter and, though Kate tries to intercept her, shoves it in Chris’s hands, telling Chris it was the last thing Larry sent her—Annie does this, it seems,...
(full context)
...deaths of some pilots, he was not responsible for Larry’s. Joe tells Annie, Kate, and Chris that, although he always thought he didn’t kill his own son, he has now realized...
(full context)
Chris tells his mother that, finally, the family is confronting the reality that they have obligations...
(full context)
