I am not too sure that "immature" is the right word to
describe Chris Keller. I would definitely want to describe him as an idealist and
perhaps somewhat naive about the state of the world and man's role in it, but immature
is perhaps an innaccurate description to apply to this central
character.
He certainly does have an idealised picture of
what he thinks life should be like. Note his conversation with his in Act One when he
talks about his plans for the future and how the family business does not inspire
him:
If I have
to grub for money all day long at least at evening I want it beautiful. I want a family.
I want some kids, I want to build something I can give myself
to.
Whilst we can appreciate
the high morals and expectations in his words, perhaps we can also reflect that he has a
very idealised picture of what life is like and what he can expect from
it.
Likewise, he has very strict and unyielding notions of
justice and right and wrong, compounded by the guilt he feels at having survived the war
when so many of his friends perished. Note the way his high ideals are expressed when he
tries to convince Jim Bayliss to leave his profitable medical practice to pursue medical
research, a supposedly "higher calling." Ultimately it is these higher notions of what
is right and wrong that force Chris to see that his father must return to jail for what
he has done when the truth of what happened in the factory emerges. Thus immature is not
entirely accurate, but Chris Keller can definitely be described as naive and having a
very strict notion of nebulous concepts such as right and wrong.
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