Chris' concern for his mother

Chris is most keyed into the pain his mother is feeling. His ambivalence about his father's industry (whereas his father makes no apologies for having found American success) helps to understand why Mother's inability to accept Larry's death spooks him. He wants her confronted; he wants her to face the truth. Keller, who knows the deeper ugly depths of the family secret, thinks they should baby her, but Chris, with a heroically naive sense of how bad the truth actually is, thinks the best thing is to help her move forward.