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- In fact, Larry committed suicide because of his father’s criminal negligence at the factory. Kate, for her part, worries that no one in the family wishes to remember Larry. She believes that remembering Larry’s life is inseparable from the belief that Larry will return one day, alive.
www.litcharts.com/lit/all-my-sons/themes/loss-and-memory
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How does Kate feel about Larry's death?
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But Kate protests—she feels that there is still hope Larry is alive. Annie says she has proof Larry is dead, and as Chris walks back onto the stage, exhausted after his night of ruminating, Kate reads the letter and moans, knowing that it proves Larry’s death.
- Act 2
What Kate really cares about is the idea that, if Larry is...
- Characters
Kate also waits, day in, day out, for her son Larry’s...
- Plot Summary
Annie, who wants Kate to believe that Larry is truly dead so...
- Bert
A small boy from the neighborhood, Bert plays a longstanding...
- Act 2
Expert Answers. Near the end of the play, Ann feels that she must reveal the truth about Larry because Kate simply will not accept the idea that he is most likely...
Ann appears and tries to convince Kate to be honest with Chris about Larry, freeing the two of them to marry. Kate refuses, they argue, and Joe goes back into the house at Ann’s request. Ann has a letter from Larry that she hadn’t wanted to share, but she now feels that Kate has left her no choice.
What Kate really cares about is the idea that, if Larry is dead, then in her mind Joe had something to do with that death; and a father killing his son, in Kate’s words later on, is not permissible—it is an act against God. This is the true reason why Kate cannot let go of Larry.
The moment in which Kate slaps her husband marks the emotional climax of Act Two, the instant in which the couple finally clashes over Larry’s death. Joe has finally told Kate that she’s “been talking like a maniac” for three and a half years, and she dismisses him.
Kate denies Larry’s death because she has no choice. Accepting his suicide would mean that Joe was responsible for the deaths of the pilots in the war, and Kate says explicitly that God would never allow such a reality.
In fact, Larry committed suicide because of his father’s criminal negligence at the factory. Kate, for her part, worries that no one in the family wishes to remember Larry. She believes that remembering Larry’s life is inseparable from the belief that Larry will return one day, alive.
