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All My Sons Theme Of Family

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The themes of family and responsibility can be found in both All My Sons and What’s Eating Gilbert Grape. However, while All My Sons show the dark, selfish side of humanity through portraying these themes, What’s Eating Gilbert Grape shows the glory of human nature. The theme of family portrayed in the two texts can be further divided into two parts: filial love and family conflict. Filial love in All My Sons can be shown by Joe Keller and Chris Keller’s attempts of getting Kate Keller to forget about her dead son, Larry, so that she can move on and lead a new life. Joe and Chris also display immense care towards Kate and comfort her when she has a nightmare about Larry, which shows how much of a close-knit family they are. However, Joe and Chris’s concern about Kate’s inability to move on from …show more content…

In All My Sons, Joe Keller lack social responsibility as he knowingly ships out faulty parts knowing full well that his actions could lead to the deaths of the pilots. Additionally, he fails to take responsibility for his mistake by framing Steve Deever. The guilt that is a result of his irresponsible actions s borne by him and his wife, Kate Keller. Kate knows about Joe’s mistake but keeps it a secret to keep her family together, so in a way she just just as responsible as Joe Keller for the deaths of those twenty one pilots and her son. Joe starts to feel ashamed of his despicable actions after the truth is revealed to his son, Chris, and he is devastated after finding out that he was partly, if not directly, responsible for Larry’s suicide. Joe is too afraid to face reality and take responsibility for what he had done by going to jail, so he decides to kill himself. The Kellers’ lack of social responsibility show how deluded and selfish they are, and they ultimately pay the price with their

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