father dying when I was ten years old This line shows his deep childhood trauma The loss left him hopeless and full of pain Boredom with Post-war Society Jimmy feels trapped in a lifeless society He sees people around him as dull and passionless In Act I his sarcasm cuts through when he says Let s pretend that we re human beings and that we re actually alive This shows his frustration His energy turns into anger instead of action Cruelty and Psychoneurotic Behavior Jimmy s cruelty to Alison shows his unstable mind He sometimes wishes the worst for her In Act I he shocks Alison with his harshest line If you could have a child and it would die Later her miscarriage fulfills his bitter prophecy This cruelty reflects his psychoneurotic mind mixing love with violence In short Jimmy Porter s anger and psychoneurotic nature come from class conflict childhood trauma and frustration with modern life He becomes the voice of post-war frustration yet also its saddest victim