Presentation of Kate in All My Sons

'Kate is a woman of both incrediable strengths and incrediable weakesses.' Do you agree?

One of Kates obvious strengths is her powerful maternal instinct. She is clearly much loved by Chris who struggles to do what he wants at risk of hurting her. Kates motherly role is extended beyond her own family throughout the neighbourhood. this is apparent through her relationship with Annie, Lynda, and in particular George. her reunion with George could be a reunion with her own son. on seeing him she moves as if to hug him, and ensures there is grape juice espically for his arrival. when she speaks to him, how much she loves and cares for him is clearly expressed through her concern that 'they made an old man of you' and 'he looks like a ghost.' She insists on feeding him as though he sere her own son, claiming that 'If he ate in my house he'd have an appetite.' It is clear that George feels Kates love and in the brief moments he spend with her his anger melts away and he allows himself to be cared for.

However, though Kates maternal nature is undeniabely a strenght, it has led to one of her greatest weaknesses - self-deception. Kates obsession to keep Larry alive is pitiful, and has brought her character to a state of emotional instability, an incrediable weakness. Her emotional vanuralibility is presented to the audience through what we are told by other characters, for example when Chris reveals that she was up at four in the morning watching Larry's tree be destroyed. Her vanurability is emphesised through her need to twist things into signs that Larry is alive, such as claiming that 'we rushed into' planting a tree in Larry's memory when it blew down. Kate refuses to admit to herself that she is the only person clinging to the empty hope that Larry is alive. She has convinced herself that Annie is waiting for Larry's return also and refuses to accept that she could ever marry Chris when as his brother is alive somewhere, and she has Frank Lubey making him a horoscope. ths is not helped by her husbands reluctance to try and convince her of the truth. however it seems that Kate does know Larry is dead deep down inside. this is reflected in her dream in which she sees him fall. Again this shows the flimsy foundations of her hope, as though she feels that if she believes strongly enough she can bring him back.

Kate also has the ability to manipulate the other characters. she has put her friends and family in a position where they cannot disagree with her over Larry's existance. Instead they are forced to play along. Through her kindness to George she achieves the reaction she wants from him and temporarily distracts him from his purpose of coming to see her and her husband. Her ability to manipulate those around her is both a strength and a weakness. As a strength it allows her to get what she wants