Furthermore, Kate's reluctance to accept events of her own life is a great source of tension in the passage. Kate states that Larry is alive "because he has to be", thus showing her stubbornness, and, as a direct result, her unwillingness to move on with her life. She resists any change that would imply any acknowledgment of Larry's death. She is willful and assertive in her speech, speaking with "increasing demand" and saying to Ann: "but don't say it's ridiculous,". Here, she is commanding, directly showing her determination to have power over Kate. She also uses her body to try to intimidate Ann, as she is said to be "going to Ann", thus showing how she approaches Ann to try and make her point even more forceful. This aggressiveness show her exasperation to hear Ann admitting that she will wait for Larry, as, if she did, Kate's delusion that Larry is alive would go by unrivaled, and she would thus not have to admit to herself that both she and Keller had something to do in their son's death. She then asserts that Larry must be alive "because certain things have to be. like the sun has to rise, it has to be. That's why there's God." Here, Kate shows the full extent of her delusion: she asserts that because of God's existence, Larry cannot be dead, and if Larry is not dead, a God must exist. This vicious cycle exemplifies her extreme stubbornness, selfishness and manipulation, as she uses God's existence to justify her belief that Larry is alive, hoping that, by stating that a divine entity watches over Larry, Ann will be forced to accept her belief. She convinces herself that she can keep Larry alive as long as she forbids any questioning on Larry's state and as long as no one says anything that could amount to an implicit acknowledgment of his death.
Moreover, Kate's intent to prove Chris and Ann's relationship as impossible is a great source of tension in the passage too. For Kate, Chris and Ann's relationship is a defiance of her belief that Larry is alive: Ann is Larry's girl, and, as long as Larry is alive, no one else should take Ann, hence Kate's constant nagging at whether Ann "goes out much?", as she secretly hopes that Ann is waiting for Larry.