There is also the horoscope that Frank drew up for Kate about Larry. She believes that if the day that Larry supposedly died was a ‘lucky day’ then it is pretty much impossible he is dead. When Frank and Kate start discussing this towards the end of the play, Joe finally flips and says ‘You lost your mind……I got plenty to say. Three and a half years you been talking like a maniac.’ This outburst finally shows Joe let out his true feelings instead of bottling them up for years. When he says he’s been waiting for three and a half years to say something to Kate, it shows that he has a certain talent for trying to please everybody, by just letting them think what they want to, and not expressing his true feelings.
When George arrives and pushes Kate to say that Joe hasn’t been ill in fifteen years, Joe is obviously scared at the prospect of being caught out in front of his son. He doesn’t know how to diffuse the situation, but luckily Frank enters at that point and changes the subject. At this point in the play the audience can see that Joe’s past is finally catching up with him, and he is beginning to realise that he may have to in fact face up to what he has done. This is true to the nature of a tragic hero, as they have to learn their fault and accept it, and it seems that it is at this point where Joe finally begins to see that he should come clean about what he did and deal with the consequences.
The audience really get an understanding of what Joe has done when Sue and Annie talk about Chris and Joe in Act Two. Sue starts of by saying how Chris is an idealist and shouldn’t push his views on others, such as her husband Jim. She thinks that Chris is a hypocrite for saying that money should not e made from the war, yet he works at his father’s factory, which does exactly that. Annie says that Chris would never take money from the factory if there were anything wrong with it, and that she is surprised Sue would say such a thing. Sue replies ‘ You’re surprised at me?’. She is surprised that Annie is so naïve not to have worked out the truth by now. This conversation between the two women is the point in which the audience realises that quite a few people actually know what Joe did but have chosen to keep it quiet.
This makes Joes character seem all the more tragic because there are obviously people around him that are willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, but he still cannot seem to actually come straight out with the truth. It makes it seem as if Joe does not really feel close to any of his friends because if he was, he may have already shared the true version of events with them, and he probably would have felt better for doing so, instead of keeping everything bottled up inside.
Chris’ experiences in the war also help Miller reveal the tragic nature of Joe. When Chris talks to Ann about being in the war in Act One, the audience can see he felt a strong sense of responsibility and justice. He felt guilty for surviving the war, when the men he commanded died unselfishly to save other people. He says ‘I felt wrong to be alive, to open the bank-book, the drive the new car, to see the new refrigerator.’ He feels it is wrong to have all these material possessions if you cannot appreciate how men have died for you to live to have these nice things. The irony in him saying this is that he hates people who cannot see that men died to give them freedom, when his father clearly thinks this way. This is tragic for Joe because he only wants to help make a better life for his family, and by sending out the faulty cylinder heads he thought he could, but Chris would not be able to understand that Joe cannot see beyond the forty-foot line.
In Act Three Joe begins talking with George about Steve, George and Annie’s father who is in prison instead of Joe. Joe seems to be really concerned about how Steve is. He says ‘ A little man makes a mistake and they hang him by the thumbs’. It is as if he is trying to reassure himself that the crime he committed was not as bad as it really was by saying ‘ makes a mistake’. He is accounting for his own actions through Steve. George goes on to say how Steve hates Joe’s guts, which prompts a backlash of sorts form Joe. He says ‘I’m sad to see he hasn’t changed. After 25 years he still hasn’t learned to take the blame.’ At this point Joe feels threatened by George and feels he needs to re-clarify that it was Steve that did it to make himself feel better. It is as though he is trying to convince himself more than anyone else that it wasn’t his fault. This is another part of what makes Joe’s character seem all the more tragic. He is willing to try to fool even himself into believing a lie because it is easier than hearing the truth. He will not own up to his own actions.
George is the catalyst for revealing Joe’s secret. When he arrives he puts a small idea in Chris’ head about the fact that Joe could be lying, but Chris ignores it. George then says he wants to take Annie away with him when he leaves. Chris says that that is not going to happen, but Kate thinks it is a good idea. Chris argues with Kate about it, but Kate says that Chris and Annie should not be together because Annie is Larry’s girl. Chris tries to tell Kate once and for all that Larry is dead but she says ‘Your brothers alive darling, because if he’s dead, our father killed him.’ Chris asks Joe if he did it but Joe keeps saying ‘ He never drove a P-40.’ But Chris persists ‘ But the others?’. Joe tells Chris he did it all for him, so he would have money to live on, but Chris doesn’t care about the family. He is heartbroken that the man he adored could do such a thing. This is the point in the play when Joe seems most tragic, although it isn’t the most tragic event. It is at this point when Joe realises he has lost the love and respect of his son forever, and there is nothing he can do to fix it.
Joe finding out about Larry’s suicide letter is probably the most tragic event in the play because it is what prompts Joe to take his own life. He cannot live with the fact that he drove one son to kill himself and the other to hate him. It is the point where Joe realises his flaws. He realises that what he did affected his family for the worse instead of the better and his death is him trying to escape from the guilt he feels of ruining his families’ lives.
Settings are also used by Miller to create a sense of Joe’s character. The Keller’s house is secluded from the neighbourhood by a row of trees. This subconsciously indicates that the Keller’s have something that they wish to keep secret from the rest of their neighbours. However, this contradicts the seemingly open nature of Joe at the beginning of the play. It could be said that the setting is slightly forewarning of the families need for secrecy from others. However, Miller describes the porch of the house as being ‘open’, which indicates a certain openness between the family. This would seem to be true of Joe and Kate as they have shared the secret, but Chris has no idea that his father is a criminal.
The props used by the characters are important as they give away subconscious messages to the audience. For instance the cigar Joe is smoking when George arrives. This could serve a dual purpose. Outwardly it shows he is relaxed as he calmly ‘ blows out smoke’, but on the other hand it could show his nervous interior, as some people have bad habits they use to try and combat nervousness, and smoking is a well known one.
Another prop used by Joe is the newspaper at the very beginning of the play. Joe says that he doesn’t like to read about what is going on in the world anymore. This is because he really is not interested in anything that doesn’t directly concern him or his family. Instead he turns to the for sale section. This indicates that he has a need for material possessions, almost to the point of obsession. This again shows his tragic flaw of not being concerned with anyone but himself and his obsession with the American Dream.
The entrances and exits of characters in the play are to help to move the story in different directions and allow Miller to discreetly control events in the play. For instance on page 95 when Chris enters, Lydia and Joe stop talking about Larry and Annie’s past relationship, which is a delicate subject for Chris. This entrance allows the audience to see the father-son relationship between Joe and Chris, which, at this point, seems to be very good. On pages 108-109 Ann enters. This stops Keller and Kate from talking about jail any longer. Miller uses this entrance to his advantage to stop the truth about Joe’s crime come out prematurely.
Miller also uses foreshadowing to his advantage. The tree being knocked down was a warning that events in the play were not going to run smoothly. Also when Joe talks to Bert in the beginning of the play, the audience doesn’t know about the crime, so Joe talking about jail is a forewarning that someone important is in prison, and that it may have something to do with Joe. The gun Joe shows Bert is an indication that Joe is going to kill himself. It shows the audience he has a gun, so would therefore have the means to commit suicide if he wished.
Stage directions also play a part in helping Miller portray Joe as a tragic hero. Throughout the play, the stage directions state that Kate has headaches. This shows that she is under an obvious amount of pressure, perhaps from trying to keep something hidden. This shows that Joe has trusted Kate with something that she is having trouble dealing with. The stage directions at the end of the play also tell the audience what has happened to Joe. ‘ A shot is heard from the house. They stand frozen for a brief second.’ These stage directions explain exactly what has happened without the audience actually having to see his commit suicide.
Miller uses dramatic devices to portray Joe Keller as a tragic hero in different ways, which are very successful. The way, in which he uses dialogue to reveal Joe’s tragic flaw slowly and to then confirm the reasons behind the flaw, is a very subtle yet utterly effective means of portraying a character to an audience. You get to know what other characters think of Joe, and also what he is thinking himself, without the plot being too obvious and being revealed too early. The way that Miller uses these dramatic devices to piece together the story slowly makes for a very effective tension builder, which will keep the audience captivated throughout.
Miller makes it easy for the audience to identify that Joe is a tragic hero right from the start. As soon as the audience is aware that Joe is keeping a secret is it obvious that he has committed an offence, which he is going to suffer for. Miller then shows the audience Joe’s suffering, mostly through dialogue he has with the other characters. He then uses mostly stage directions to let the audience know how the play has finished, which is a very effective way to show his suicide, as it is not too brash, and perhaps unsympathetic of the situation.
