The Stage Is Hedged on Right and Left by Tall, Closely Planted Poplars Which Lend The

Joe Keller

"The stage is hedged on right and left by tall, closely planted poplars which lend the yard a secluded atmosphere"

Suggests that this family has deliberately shut out the outside world, and suggests that they have something to hide.
Reflects Joe's inability to consider his relationship with the outside world.

"What the hell did I work for? That's only for you, Chris, the whole shootin' match is for you!" (pg. 17)

We see Joe's priorities in life very near the start of the play - family.
It's not just about money - Joe has worked hard and devoted his whole life to his family; he cares deeply for them.

"All right - that's bad, it's wrong, but that's what a little man does"

Joe is talking about Steve here. He is saying that he is a weak, spineless man, and by comparison is suggesting that he is strong himself, and a more moral man.
He seems convinced of Steve's guilt, but it is suspicious that he is trying to excuse him.

"A daughter is a daughter, and a father is a father."

Nothing is more important than family to Joe. His outburst here shows his real fear that Chris may abandon him if he knows the truth. He repeats this statement later, showing how important the idea of family is to him.

"There's nothin' he could do that I wouldn't forgive. because he's my son. Because I'm his father and he's my son.

He shows real loyalty here, and shows that he expects the same from Chris. Family is the most important thing.

"Nothin's bigger than that…if there's something bigger than that I'll put a bullet in my head."

Dramatic statement emphasises how much he has put into his belief that family is the most important thing.
He reveals here that he cannot cope if he loses everything that he has built his life on - if there is more to life than what he believes then he will have to end his life, as he will have lost everything.
His tragic weakness is that he cannot see beyond his own little world.

"He understood the way the world was made. He listened to me. To him the world had a forty-foot front, it ended at the building line."

He uses Larry as a defence here, believing that he also shared the same views as him; that his world was small and compact, only concerned with his family and the business.
He tries to avoid guilt by criticising Chris's views, but he is completely crushed when he realises that Larry's views were even stronger than Chris's - he literally caused the death of his own son.

"Who worked for nothin' in that war…war and peace, it's nickels and dimes. What's clean? Half the Goddam country is gotta go if I go! That's why you can't tell me."

Keller argues that everyone else has made money; he ignores the idea of how many died in the war.
Keller reduces the horror of war to a financial exercise here (business) - this is what causes Chris's anger to increase. He has unwittingly trivialised Chris's experiences of war.

"Sure, he was my son. But I think to him they were all my sons."

He realises the importance of responsibility for others. This is a sudden and momentous realisation for him. He knows now how wrong he has been, but only when he knows the effect it has had on his own son.
He finally acknowledges Chris's point of view - he is not only responsible for his immediate family. But it is too late for him to change. Everything he ever believed in has been destroyed.

Chris Keller

"If that can't happen here then I'll have to get out."

Here, the conflict between Chris and Joe begins; Chris is unhappy with his life and is disillusioned: after the war he cannot feel happy with his affluent life. Joe, however, has built his life on the idea that Chris will take over his business,and is obviously unhappy that he suggests he may need to move away to be happy.

"In the battalion he was known as Mother McKeller"

Chris is a caring, kind person. He looked out for others.
He cares for others outside his own family circle - relate to theme of social responsibility.
Here we see a real difference in Joe and Chris's view of the world.

" (with admiration) 'Joe McGuts'"

Chris says this of Joe when he tells the story of his difficult return to the neighbourhood after his trial. Chris genuinely believes that his father is innocent; he has faith in him and really respects him.

Joe: "You know Larry never flew a P-40"

Chris: "So who flew those P-40s, pigs?"

Conflict builds here. Chris's views of social responsibility are in direct contrast to his father's views on life.
He suggests that to Joe, these men were no more than animals, or if they were not real to him like they were to Chris. ('pigs might fly' expression). He believes that they deserve the same consideration as Larry.

"Everything was being destroyed see, but it seemed to me that one new thing was made. A kind of responsibility. Man for man.

Chris's experience of war has changed and affected him deeply. he is tormented by the memory of his lost fellow soldiers and feels guilty about taking anything for himself now (i.e. business, Ann). He is reluctant to enjoy the comfortable life which he knows is built on the backs of soldiers who gave their lives for others.
He has a real sense of responsibility for others, and believes in a world where people look out for others and are not selfish.

"It came out of the love a man can have for a man, you've got to be a little better because of that. Otherwise what you have is really loot, and there's blood on it. I didn't want to take any of it."

Chris has come away from the war with very strong moral views. He feels that any money made from the war is tainted, and he is full of guilt. (You can use a lot of the analysis for the above quotation here too.)

"Now I'm practical, and I spit on myself."

Chris is full of self-hatred here. He admits that he did suspect his father but his love and faith in him stopped him from seeing the truth. Now that he knows the truth, his whole world-view is smashed.

"This is the land of the great big dogs, you don't love a man here, you eat him…the world's that way…this is a zoo, a zoo!"

He is cynical and disillusioned with the world here.
Chris described his time at war as a time when he experience the goodness in humanity, but he acknowledges that the real world is brutal and selfish.
He describes the world here as cannibalistic, showing a real hatred of it. He sees it as uncivilised, barbaric and savage, devoid of morals and high ideals. It is a horrible realisation for him.

"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."

He idolised his father.
There is a real deterioration in their relationship here.
Chris has difficulty distinguishing between his father as a role model and as a real man with weaknesses. Because he looked up to Joe so much and aspired to be like him, he will struggle with his own identity now.
He desperately wants to recover some respect for his father and this is why he wants Joe to confess what he has done.

"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 did."

Chris impresses his views on Kate here. He refuses to believe that all is lost and stresses the importance of social responsibility. Idealistic.
Chris does not understand the strength of Joe's commitment to his own beliefs, or the effect both his and Larry's rejection of them will have. He does not understand that Joe cannot change. His only option is death, now that he has lost everything.

Kate Keller

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

She accepts responsibility here for how her generation caused the war that resulted in the deaths of so many of their children.
They worked so hard so that their children could have a better life.
Kate is a mothering, caring person and has a genuine affection for George.

Joe: "Three and a half years you been talking like a maniac"

(Kate smashes him across the face)

The play has become more and more tense, but this is the first time we see real violence and loss of control.
Joe's words are cruel here; the truth is coming out and his strong, calm exterior is crumbling.
This act of violence has more impact as there is a lack of it earlier in the play; it is a powerful symbol of a family being torn apart.

"Don't, dear. Don't take it on yourself. Forget now. Live. (Kate)

Here we have a glimpse of a possibly positive future. She is no longer in denial and stopping him from moving on. There is still hope for Chris.

Jim & Sue Bayliss

"Chris makes people want to be better than it's possible to be…that phoney idealism of his." (Sue)

Chris's ideals are a threat to her comfortable life, as Jim is influenced by them - both men believe in bigger, higher responsibilities than just their families.
Themes of disillusionment and failure.
Sue speaks for the wider community here and we see that the neighbours do not believe Joe is innocent; Chris is tainted by this as they assume he must know.

"Every man does have a star. The star of one's honesty. And you spend your life groping for it, but once it's our it never lights again. I don't think he went very far. he probably just wanted to be alone to watch his star go out."

Jim speaks from experience here. He too has had to compromise in life; he has sacrificed his dreams so he knows what Chris is going through.
Theme of disillusionment: both of these characters have been forced to see that the world is not what they believed it to be..
The extinguished star symbolises Chris's inability to have an idealistic view of the world anymore. All of his beliefs have been shattered and he has been forced into the realisation that the world is selfish and people do not care for others.

Turning Point

"Your brother's alive, darling, because if he's dead your father killed him." (Kate)

Kate is living in denial. She knows that Joe lied about his involvement in the cylinder head incident as she knows he was not ill that day; she doesn't like to think about it. However, she cannot cope with the thought that he has killed anyone; she is a caring, motherly character ("it breaks my heart, what happened to all the children") and to accept that her husband caused the deaths of anyone's "children" would destroy her.

If she persists in the belief that her son, who was also a pilot, is not dead, then she can pretend that Joe has not harmed anyone. This quotation shows that Kate believes that if Larry is really dead, then his death will have been a punishment to Joe for his actions. If Larry is alive then Joe appears to be unpunished and she can go on in the pretence that he has not harmed anyone.

"You killed them, you murdered them" (Chris)

This is a direct, urgent accusation which shows how seriously Chris is taking the crime. He refuses to acknowledge his father's excuses and shows that he believes there is more to the world than just family.
His beliefs are shattered by his father's confession.

Joe: "Chris, I did it for you, it was a chance I took for you"

Joe is trying to justify his actions by showing his love for his family.
Joe's real weakness is revealed again: he cannot see the wider consequences of his actions; for him, the world consists only of the business and his family.
Joe's selfishness and blindness to his responsibilities towards society have polluted the positive aspects of his character. He has convinced himself that his actions were selfless, and only for his son, and it is not until he receives Larry's letter that the realisation of what he has really done hits him.

"For me! I was dying every day and you were killing my boys and you did it for me?" (Chris)

Joe's lack of morals make Chris's anger much worse: he drives Chris further away by implicating him in his crime.
"My boys" - this shows a real connection to his fellow soldiers; they were like family to him - social responsibility.

"Don't you have a country? Don't you live in the world? What the hell are you? You're not even an animal, no animal kills his own." (Chris)

Chris completely rejects his father's views here.
The repetition of questions emphasise his shock at his father's actions and the intensity of his emotions at this point. Chris is destroyed here - all his beliefs are shattered and he is horrified by his father's actions.