Malicious Manipulative Kate All My Sons example essay topic

Malicious Manipulative Kate All My Sons is a play about the trials and tribulations of the normal everyday suburbia. The play brings out the reality that not everything is perfect. Holes are created by the fight between good and evil. In this play the evil is the act of lying, and the good is the innocence of ignorance.

The play starts with an everyday business man given the age-old fight of man versus himself. He had to decide whether or not to ship defective parts. On the one side if he did not, he would lose his business and his life as he knew it. On the other hand, he could send parts that could kill innocent others. Evil came out of him and he lied and shipped the defective parts. Later on twenty one soldiers died from this, and his business was put on the spot.

He lied yet again and had his partner take the blame to spend years in prison. Joe was found not guilty by the court of law and only a few knew of the real happenings. One of those few was his wife, Kate. She was one of the good, innocent few until she began to lie to everyone, keeping in her husbands secret. Problems arose when her one son never returned from war.

She did not want to assume he was dead; she was only lying to herself. Over time, Kate started to change; she never acknowledged the truth and kept trying to live her own little lie. A sinister outlook started to set in. Certain danger was imminent as Kate's presence leached into the people of the formerly peaceful suburban town.

Kate is sinister by her controlling behavior of those around her. She kept the thought of the late Larry in people's minds while ruining a close father son relationship. Kate is the only person in the play that never lets go of the thought of Larry. She brings an essence of sadness of the death of her one son.

Chris tries to tell Kate, "I've let him go. I've let him go a long [time ago]". It has been a couple of years since the death of her son, and she has yet to put it behind her. It is tougher on others because of her unrelenting thought of Larry. Chris and Ann were in love before they even knew it. They made a plan of getting married but the thought of telling Kate keeps their decision at bay.

The plan was for Ann and Larry to get married after his return. Kate insists the proposed marriage will occur. Chris will also never get approval from his mother, thus making his marriage obsolete. Kate also greatly affects her husband Joe. She keeps Joe thinking about the twenty one soldiers that he killed because of his defective parts. Joe tries to forgive himself for the terrible mistake he caused years back.

Kate reminds Joe that her son Larry could have been one of those soldiers in the sky. Joe tries to assure himself that Larry was never on one of the planes flown with the damaged engines he made, but Kate keeps pounding the suggestion into his head. The thought of killing his own son tore apart Joe's mental stability. Through Kate's unyielding remembrance of her long lost son, she started to greatly affect those around her. Two people closest to Kate are her son and husband. The biggest problem between Joe and Chris is Kate.

Chris became blinded by what others told him because he was never told about the truth. If you lie enough, you begin to believe yourself. Chris was lying to himself for years, but he never knew it. Kate kept the secret of Joe and the business to herself, and the few that knew.

Because she never told Chris, he believed whole heartily that Joes partner was the cause of all the chaos. The moment when Chris found out about the truth was his major turning point in his life. For years he fought for his dad, and argued with others that said otherwise. The point when he knew that the demise of those twenty one soldiers was his fathers fault was the single point where he lost all respect in his dad.

Kate brings Chris in a fit rage against his father, .".. Explain it to me or I'll tear you to pieces!" In an instant, the solid father son relationship turns into a battle of words and anger between strangers. Because of Kate's consistent lying to her son, in the end she brought the father and son far apart. Although she controls others lives, she does so in a kind and motherly way. She is a deeply caring mother that just wanted her own type of peace to set into her own life, even if that affected those around her.

From the time of the war to the time of certain doom, Kate never gave up on the fact that her son was still alive. She showed a strong self poise that only a few can posses. Kate was one of a few that could keep hope for so long, even with the many challenging her. As I watched the play at Arden, it was easy to see how everything was going on.

The actors did a good job bringing the play to life. Joe was well played at Arden. They showed his internal struggle by the emotions represented by the actor of Joe. Arden showed Kate as a very caring mother that only wanted the best. It was much easier to visualize this at Arden, than reading the play. Kate was beautifully played by her actor in they play done by Arden.

The actor brought the text to life through her merciless screams to her morns of sorrow. The story focuses around a mother and her uncontrollable urge to control those around her. This urge made Kate act in a sinister way. She tried to make others act and feel the exact same way she did. Kate was blind and was only lying to herself about her long lost son. The people that were part of her life were greatly affected by the many things she did and incorporated.

She did everything from postponing marriages to making a son spit in disgust of his father.

Bibliography

Miller, Arthur. "All My Sons". New York: Penguin Group, 2000.