Despite Joe Keller being considered a tragic hero by the author and others his cowardice led to his downfall . He fails to evoke a sense of empathy from the audience. Instead he evokes a sense of apathy with his lies and deceit; making him an apathetic character . Joe Keller displays a great deal of self- deception. Joe Keller denies the truth when he states, “So he takes 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,” (Miller 365). Joe Keller is denying the truth by lying to his family. He lies to his family and he has been telling this story for so long he starts to believe it himself. He brings
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He concealed the truth which made the guilt grow, like adding gas to fire. It got worse as time went on and his lies just added to the fire. The revelation of his son’s death drives him over the edge in the line,“I can't’ sleep i’ll feel better if i go….A shot is heard in the house,” (Miller 432). That was his breaking point because not only was he the cause of the death of many sons, he's to blame for the death of his own flesh and blood. His betrayal was disastrous to the Keller family. It is the ultimate downfall of this family. In an escape to run away from his reality he kills himself. Joe Keller’s wife's wall of denial was just broken by the news that her son is really dead and he has the audacity to leave her alone in the line, “Oh, my god… my god, my god,” (Miller 428). Leaving someone you vowed your life to alone and broken is the ultimate betrayal. He betrayed her by leaving in the time she needed him most. His is nothing more than a coward who betrayed his family. It is hard for an audience to evoke a sense of empathy to a character like joe Keller because he displays poor qualities. He was toxic to the Keller family and led to everyone's downfall. Joe Keller symbolizes the corrupt mentality of American society through guilt, self- deception, betrayal, and his cowardice
He concealed the truth which made the guilt grow, like adding gas to fire. It got worse as time went on and his lies just added to the fire. The revelation of his son’s death drives him over the edge in the line,“I can't’ sleep i’ll feel better if i go….A shot is heard in the house,” (Miller 432). That was his breaking point because not only was he the cause of the death of many sons, he's to blame for the death of his own flesh and blood. His betrayal was disastrous to the Keller family. It is the ultimate downfall of this family. In an escape to run away from his reality he kills himself. Joe Keller’s wife's wall of denial was just broken by the news that her son is really dead and he has the audacity to leave her alone in the line, “Oh, my god… my god, my god,” (Miller 428). Leaving someone you vowed your life to alone and broken is the ultimate betrayal. He betrayed her by leaving in the time she needed him most. His is nothing more than a coward who betrayed his family. It is hard for an audience to evoke a sense of empathy to a character like joe Keller because he displays poor qualities. He was toxic to the Keller family and led to everyone's downfall. Joe Keller symbolizes the corrupt mentality of American society through guilt, self- deception, betrayal, and his cowardice