In the narration of Act 2, Miller presents the memory of Larry through the stage directions of Chris ‘sawing the broken-off tree, leaving stump standing alone’. This is a dramatic device, which would create tension in the audience, who realise the importance of the tree to Larry’s death. Miller chooses important actions to present as episodes, which start each scene off with a dramatic and tension rising effect.
Miller introduces the characters dramatically; Chris enters and ‘stands in doorway’ after Keller’s speech about war. This entrance creates tension, because of his cold appearance into the scene, and the audience would be suspicious of his entrance after Keller’s speech. Miller introduces the first four characters from the older generation in act 1, before introducing the characters from the younger generation. This is symbolic of the different morals and characters of the two generations. Chris’s character is introduced symbolically after Keller states that in his day ‘when you had sons it was an honour’, which is ironic because Keller did not honour his soldiers when he sent them off with faulty planes. This is another subtle reference back to Larry’s past, and his fellow soldiers who died as a result of Keller’s actions.
Miller’s use of dialogue for Keller- ‘in my day’, also creates a divide between the time before the play begins, and the time in the play. Keller’s deluded memory of his generation contrasts to his behaviour and character.
Miller uses the characters’ actions to present memory. He does not directly show events, but narrates them or recalls them through the dialogue of the characters’. An example of this is the storm that knocks Larry’s tree down. Miller re-enacts the dramatic event through the memory of Chris who ‘heard it cracking’ in the storm. This creates more tension and suspense within audience, as the Miller is able to create a more dramatic recall through the speech of the characters’. It is also more realistic than acting the event out, which might ruin Miller’s device of recalling the past through dialogue.
He increases the tension and suspense in the play by revealing more and more information gradually. The audience are shown enough snippets of the characters’ personalities for them to be suspicious of what happened in the past, yet are kept waiting for the final, dramatic truth. An example of this is Chris’s character; Miller gives subtle hints of the families past; Chris says ‘we haven’t had any hope for years now’, which suggests that the family has had many problems in the past, and is still suffering from them.
Keller’s character realises that ‘they were all my sons’; the audience can assume that “they’, are all the soldiers, from the amount of information revealed previously about Keller’s actions. Miller’s use of assumptions make the audience feel more involved, as they already know whom Keller is talking about.
Furthermore, Miller presents the fact that past events and memories change the characters’ outlook on their actions. Keller’s character realises that his actions were selfish and unforgivable, after he tells his memory of the war to Chris; Chris says that Keller is ‘not even an animal, no animal kills his own’. As the whole truth unfolds, the audience realise the true personalities of the characters, and all the previous tension and suspense makes sense- “ I was dying everyday and you were killing my boys and you did it for me?”
Miller integrates his moral that justice catches up with offenders eventually with the use of structured memories that are all arranged chronologically.
