What is the overall thesis?
While Big Daddy converses with Brick about giving him the family estate, Big Daddy tries to figure out if Brick has a secret love affair with Skipper, and when Brick denies it Big Daddy accuses him of lying. Big Daddy knows that Brick is in denial so he exclaims the overall theme of the play when he says "He [Skipper] killed himself. You and Skipper and millions like ya are livin' in a kid's world, playin' games, touchdowns, no worries, no responsibilities. Life ain't no damn football game. Life ain't just a bunch of high spots. You're a thirty-year-old kid. Soon you'll be a fifty-year-old kid, pretendin' you're hearin' cheers when there ain't any. Dreamin' and drinkin' your life away. Heroes in the real world live twenty-four hours a day, not just two hours in a game. Mendacity, you won't... you won't live with mendacity, but you're an expert at it. The truth is pain and sweat and payin' bills and makin' love to a woman that you don't love any more. Truth is dreams that don't come true and nobody prints your name in the paper 'til you die... The truth is, you never growed up. Grown-ups don't hang up on their friends... and they don't hang up on their wives... and they don't hang up on life. Now that's the truth and that's what you can't face" (99). He tries his best to bring Brick back into reality, he feels that Brick's drinking has taken him off to a whole other world and by telling him the truth, he hopes to bring him back. Once Big Daddy catches Brick's attention with this claim, Brick replies that "Mendacity is a system we live in. Liquor is one way out and death's another" (100). In saying this Brick slightly admits that he is living a lie, but when he drinks he can escape the lies and all of his problems.Brick was correct when he claimed that we live in a mendacious society. In the play Brick is not the only mendacious character. His wife Margaret lies about being pregnant in order to ensure that they receive Big Daddy's estate.Bricks brother Gooper and his wife Mae lie about why they have come to visit Big Daddy. They have not visited in years and they barely remembered Big Daddy's birthday; they came so they could try to convince Big Mama and Big Daddy that he and Maggie should receive the estate because they have six children. From the revelation of Brick's love for his friend Skipper, to Maggie's staged pregnancy and Gooper and Mae's deceitful attempt to take Big Daddy's property it becomes apparent that Brick was correct when he said "Mendacity is a system we live in"(100).
What makes this a great American play?
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is a great American play because it focuses on common, yet sometimes overlooked American values. Tennessee Williams discusses the struggles that families ignore yet they have to eventually face them. He discusses the relationship between Brick and Gooper and he tells how Big Mama considers Brick as her only son. He portrays Gooper as the older responsible son who does not get recognized for his many achievements. And Brick represents the younger son who does not have to do anything to receive his parents' love. Because of this Gooper resents Brick and Margaret claims "Never have I ever seen so much hatred for a brother"(112). The hatred towards the younger brother is not only present in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof it is also present in the Bible with the first brother Cain and Abel. Tennessee Williams is able to explore this long lasting troubled relationship along with the relationship of a married couple. Each couple in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof has the same common issues; the women suffer from bitterness and loneliness. Because of the lack of love from their husbands, the women become catty similar to women in today's society.
Besides exploring common troubled relationships in American society he also discusses the issue of alcoholism and homosexuality. By the end of the play it becomes clear that Skipper and Brick were secret lovers. In the 1950s and even today it is rather difficult for people to admit their love for someone of the same sex. Like Brick, many homosexuals may never admit their love for some one of the same sex so they become trapped in unwanted relationships and they may also use alcohol as an escape into a happier care-free world. As Williams discusses the struggles that homosexuals face in American society he makes the audience understand the troubles and the unhappiness that they face in their daily lives. In discussing their daily problems, Tennessee Williams attempts to make his audience become aware of how hard society makes it for homosexuals and he hopes that through his play, he can convince his readers to be more understanding towards them.
Works Cited :
Adenhart,Nick. “ Brick and Big Daddy posing in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof." Photo. fanpop.com 2 July
2008. 2 Dec. 2012 < http://www.fanpop.com>
Williams, Tennessee. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. New York: Penguin, 1985. Print.
What makes this a great American play?
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is a great American play because it focuses on common, yet sometimes overlooked American values. Tennessee Williams discusses the struggles that families ignore yet they have to eventually face them. He discusses the relationship between Brick and Gooper and he tells how Big Mama considers Brick as her only son. He portrays Gooper as the older responsible son who does not get recognized for his many achievements. And Brick represents the younger son who does not have to do anything to receive his parents' love. Because of this Gooper resents Brick and Margaret claims "Never have I ever seen so much hatred for a brother"(112). The hatred towards the younger brother is not only present in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof it is also present in the Bible with the first brother Cain and Abel. Tennessee Williams is able to explore this long lasting troubled relationship along with the relationship of a married couple. Each couple in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof has the same common issues; the women suffer from bitterness and loneliness. Because of the lack of love from their husbands, the women become catty similar to women in today's society.
Besides exploring common troubled relationships in American society he also discusses the issue of alcoholism and homosexuality. By the end of the play it becomes clear that Skipper and Brick were secret lovers. In the 1950s and even today it is rather difficult for people to admit their love for someone of the same sex. Like Brick, many homosexuals may never admit their love for some one of the same sex so they become trapped in unwanted relationships and they may also use alcohol as an escape into a happier care-free world. As Williams discusses the struggles that homosexuals face in American society he makes the audience understand the troubles and the unhappiness that they face in their daily lives. In discussing their daily problems, Tennessee Williams attempts to make his audience become aware of how hard society makes it for homosexuals and he hopes that through his play, he can convince his readers to be more understanding towards them.
Works Cited :
Adenhart,Nick. “ Brick and Big Daddy posing in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof." Photo. fanpop.com 2 July
2008. 2 Dec. 2012 < http://www.fanpop.com>
Williams, Tennessee. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. New York: Penguin, 1985. Print.