How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Act.Line). Every time a character talks counts as one line, even if what they say turns into a long monologue.
Quote #1
Chris: We've made a terrible mistake with Mother… being dishonest with her. That kind of thing always pays off, and now it's paying off
Keller: What do you mean, dishonest?
Chris: You know Larry's not coming back and I know it. (1.167-69)
A small foreshadowing of the moral positions of both Joe and Chris here. Chris acknowledges a reality but does nothing to address it; Joe pretends it doesn't exist.
Quote #2
Joe: So he takes out his tools and he… covers over the cracks. All right… that's bad, it's wrong, but that's what a little man does. If I could have gone in that day I'd a told him – junk 'em, Steve, we can afford it. (1.481)
This is the opposite of what really happened. When asked for advice, Joe directed Steve to cover the cracks. Now he lies to Ann and Chris with ease. Perhaps he's been telling this story for so long he's begun to believe it himself.
Quote #3
Ann: Don't yell at him. He just wants everybody happy.
Keller: [clasps her around the waist] That's my sentiments. Can you stand steak? (1.487-88)
Joe is a socially talented man, usually able to charm away any conflict.
Quote #4
Keller: I want a clean start for you, Chris. I want a new sign over the plant – Christopher Keller, Incorporated.
Chris: [a little uneasily] J.O. Keller is good enough. (1.583-4)
Chris's deceit lies in his refusal to investigate his own suspicions. He won't accuse his father of wrongdoing, yet he doesn't want his name dragged into the business.
Quote #5
Sue: I've got nothing against Joe. But if Chris wants people to put on the hair shirt let him take off his broadcloth. He's driving my husband crazy with that phony idealism of his, and I'm at the end of my rope on it! (2.89)
Ouch. What a thing to hear about your fiancée. On your engagement day, no less! Sue's accusations make Ann suspicious that Chris knows more about his father than he admits.
Quote #6
Ann: I don't care what they think, I just don't understand why you took the trouble to deny it. You said it was all forgotten. (2.113)
Ann's realization that Chris lied about this makes her suspicious. What else might he be lying about? His father's guilt?
Quote #7
George: Oh Chris, you're a liar to yourself! (2.275)
George believed Joe because Chris believed him. He feels doubly betrayed now that Chris is taking Ann without acknowledging his father's crime.
Quote #8
Mother: Why must you make believe you hate us? Is that another principle? – that you have to hate us? You don't hate us, George, I know you, you can't fool me, I diapered you. (2.381)
Kate is very sly, very manipulative. With her magnetic maternal power, she almost successfully coaxes George into forgetting about the whole thing.