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Critical views of cat on a hot tin roof
Cat on a hot tin roof essay
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Lies and Mendacity run rampant in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. They help keep the play going and keep it interesting. The play shows us the lies that people tell themselves and other instead of the truth that is hard to accept but must be said.
The entire family is involved with lies to Big Daddy and Big Momma, as are the doctors. They tell them that Big Daddy does not have cancer, but only a spastic colon. Brick lies to himself about his feelings for Skipper until Big Daddy forces him to face it. He then understands that he is upset about the way his clean friendship has been misinterpreted. Gooper and Mae pretend to be loving and doting children, when in fact all they want is money and land. Big Mama lies to herself, think all the cruel things Big Daddy says are just jokes. She also lies to herself by thinking that a child from Maggie and Brick would turn Brick into a non-drinking, family man qualified to take over the family place. Big Daddy is even wrapped up in the mendacity. He admits to Brick that he is tired of letting all the lies. He has lied for years about his feelings for his wife, his son Gooper and his daughter-in-law Mae, he says he loves them, when in fact he can't stand any of them. Maggie, who seems to tell close to the truth the entire play, breaks down and lies about her pregnancy.
Sometimes the lies are not even lies; they are just seen to be that. Big Daddy thinks that Big Momma is scheming to take over the place, when in fact she really does love him. He only sees this as a lie because of his feelings toward her. Brick seems to feel them same way about Maggie, and is surprised in the end when Maggie declares her love for him.
In others he stated he didn 't like having sex with her and didn 't really love her. I think if Big Daddy would 've been up front and honest when he started feeling that way, then he wouldn 't even had to deal with Big Mama and pretended to be something that he really wasn 't. She was crushed to find out as well that Big Daddy had kept his diagnose from her.
At the beginning of the short story Maggie's family is introduced, from her scrappy little brother Jimmie, to her short lived brother Tommie, her alcoholic mentally-abusive mother Mary, and her brutish father. Jimmie's friend Pete is introduced and becomes a mirror image of Jimmie later on in the book. They both are portrayed as Don Juans, the seducers of young women who treat women as objects rather than people. Maggie's father is as short-lived as her brother Tommie. However, he becomes a negative social factor in Maggie's life. Maggie’s mother was an essential symbol of hypocrisy and pessimism throughout the book, from her drinking to her last comment in the book “I'll Forgive Her” (Crane).
In life there comes a time when everyone thinks that they are surrounded by phoniness. This often happens during the teen years when the person is trying to find a sense of direction. Holden Caulfield, a 16-year-old teen-ager is trying to find his sense of direction in J.D. Salinger's, "The Catcher In The Rye." Holden has recently been expelled from Pency Prep for failing four out of his five classes. He decides to start his Christmas recess early and head out to New York. While in New York Holden faces new experiences, tough times and a world of "phony." Holden is surrounded by phoniness because that is the word he uses to identify everything in the world that he rejects.
The patriarchal figures in both plays are portrayed as omnipotent. In other words, both male figures belief that their rules must be obeyed and the expectations they have for their children must be exceeded. Tennessee Williams, depicts Big Daddy as the leader of Brick´s family. Big Daddy is described as an old aristocratic man, living in a mansion. Big Daddy represents the successful American men during the 1950´s a man of power and family priorities. Although this patriarchal figure shows his love for his family through materialism, he also portrays a dominating face through his actions towards his son.
Deception is present in Tennessee Williams’s drama ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’, William Shakespeare’s Tragedy ‘Othello’ and L. P. Hartley’s novel ‘The Go-Between’; the writers choose to use characterisation to explore the theme in depth. Often the protagonists of each text are the primary offenders of deceit, though some supporting characters mislead as well; although Iago is the antagonist of ‘Othello’, he is incomparably the most deceitful character in the entire play. Similarly, Williams uses Blanche to develop the plot by misleading the other characters and even herself at times, though arguably, unlike Iago, Blanche is presented as a character who lacks the motivation to hurt anyone. Conversely Leo, although the protagonist and narrator of the novel, is not the most deceitful character – Ted Burgess and Marian Maudsley not only coerce him into the deceit, but they themselves are presented as masters of the game they play, however, this essay will focus on Leo as he is a unique symbol of deceit; he is unaware of the consequences of his actions.
Truman Capote once said, "I don't care what anybody says about me, as long as it isn't true" (Creative). Surely enough, Capote himself kept true to this statement throughout his life. According to Johnny Carson's ex-wife, Joanne Carson, whom Capote lived with near the end of his life, Capote would take her on imaginary trips to Paris, China, or Spain while in her front yard (Plimpton 422). But on a more serious note, Carson claims that Capote would lie about the simple facts about a party or an outing they had gone on (Plimpton 304). When confronted by Carson, Capote replied, "If that's not the way it happened, it's the way it should have happened" (qtd. in Plimpton 304). Eventually, Capote's lies caused his own friends to become his enemies when he published his book Answered Prayers that openly criticized them (Plimpton 338). But why did Capote lie so often? Was lying a disease or did he lie merely for entertainment purposes? Because of his lying patterns, one may easily infer that Capote was a pathological liar. But was he really?
Friendship ends with a tragic death. The book “Of Mice and Men” helps decipher realistic events, characters from cities and lower classes, and speech patterns. The main points of this essay are to analyze the realism values presented in this book.
Every time the family comes to a confrontation someone retreats to the past and reflects on life as it was back then, not dealing with life as it is for them today. Tom, assuming the macho role of the man of the house, babies and shelters Laura from the outside world. His mother reminds him that he is to feel a responsibility for his sister. He carries this burden throughout the play. His mother knows if it were not for his sisters needs he would have been long gone. Laura must pickup on some of this, she is so sensitive she must sense Toms feeling of being trapped. Tom dreams of going away to learn of the world, Laura is aware of this and she is frightened of what may become of them if he were to leave.
Big Guy share his self-destructive behaviour as an open invitation for the narrator’s guidance and support. She is able to offer this to him through simply being present in his life, she does not judge or ridicule his behaviour but is just there experiencing it with him. Such as when she plays into his attempt to crack his teeth by drinking ice water and coffee, she is also chewing on ice in an act of support. This is her first acknowledgement of Big Guy’s feelings towards his mother’s suicide. As well, when she talks about Big Guy’s fathers approach to the suicide, “his father had added, “And what’s more, the Cubs lost” (153), the inclination to support Big Guy strengthens, as she relates it to how he addresses situations, “matters large and small” (153), from then on. This reinforces the lack of support and significance his father is employing on his mother’s suicide. These examples show the narrators devotion and understanding of Big Guy as a whole. The road to recovery begins as she allows him to lovingly razor X’s onto her mosquito bites without question. This acknowledges the truest form of trust and consents Big Guy to let go and the two to connect, “We take the length of the couch, squirming like maggots” (164). This then signifies their re-birth, “If it’s
Incomplete An exploration of Shakespeare’s presentation of trickery and deception in his play ‘Much Ado about Nothing.’ In William Shakespeare’s play ‘Much Ado about Nothing’, there are many instances of trickery and deception, which seem to surround the whole of the play. These instances are as follows: Don Pedro wooing hero for Claudio, Don Pedro wooing hero for himself, Claudio pretending to be Benedick to find out information from Don John and Borachio, Don John and Borachio both know that Claudio is not Benedick but trick Claudio into thinking that they believe that Claudio is in fact Benedick, Benedick pretending to be somebody else whilst talking to Beatrice, Beatrice pretending to believe that she is in fact talking to Benedick, Beatrice having romantic feelings for Benedick, Benedick having romantic feelings for Beatrice, Beatrice not having romantic feelings for Benedick, Benedick not having romantic feelings for Beatrice, Hero is unfaithful with Borachio, Hero is dead, and Antonio having another daughter.
One conflict that divides the family from seeing the dream is the clash between mama her other family members. Walter feels that mama is blocking his dream of owning a liquor store because of her religious background. Her value system is so strong and the fact that it is her apartment, amplifies this conflict. Due to her domineering personality, Walter is not able to partake in the liquor store business. Mama also shows conflict with Beneatha when their view on religion differs. As a result, mama uses her domineering ways to keep Beneatha down by telling her that she can't speak against God as long as she lives in her house. Lastly, mama finds out from Ruth that she might get an abortion. This is unacceptable and is also against her religious beliefs. Since mama is the matriarch of the family, she is very much in control of her children's lives. She is driven by a strong sense of pride and a strong faith in God.
The movie of Of Mice and Men had many differences while still giving the same message that the book was portrayed to have. One of the major differences was that Candy never came into the room when Lennie and Crooks were talking to each other. This was major because Crooks never found out that the plan was true about the little house. In the book after he heard Candy talk about it he wanted to get in on the deal. Also the movie it never showed Lennie have his illusions of his Aunt Carla and the rabbits when he was waiting by the pond.
The film chronicles the histories of three fathers, and manages to relates and link their events and situations. First is Mitchell Stephens and his relationship with his drug-addict daughter. Second is Sam, and the secret affair he is having with his young daughter Nicole. He is somewhat of a narcissistic character because of his preoccupation with himself and pleasing himself, and his lack of empathy throughout the film for the others in the town. Third is Billy, who loves his two children so much that he follows behind the school bus every day waving at them. Billy is also having an affair with a married woman who owns the town’s only motel. On the exterior the town is an average place with good people just living their lives. But, beneath all the small town simplicity is a web of lies and secrets, some which must be dealt with in the face of this tragedy.
Maggie is claiming that her relationship with Brick was always like a three-way love triangle that she always seemed left out of. Even back in the college days she felt as though she was just chaperoning Brick and Skipper to keep up a public appearance. She also claims that when Skipper and Maggie made love they did so wanting it to be Brick instead of each other however it made them somehow feel closer to Brick in an odd way. Based on all the evidence it pretty clear that Brick had something more than just friendship with Skipper no matter how much in denial he tries to
Willy and Jay both have betrayed someone in these two stories. Willy betrayed his wife by having an affair with another woman. According to “An overview of Death of a Salesman” by L. M. Domina, “What had happened, of course, as Willy subsequently remembers and as he has probably remembered frequently during the intervening years, was that Biff had discovered Willy in the midst of an extramarital affair. In contrast to Linda, who frequently appears with stockings that need mending, this other woman receives gifts of expensive stockings from Willy. The existence of this woman (and perhaps others like her) is one factor contributing to the financial strain of the Loman family. Biff understands this instantly, and he also understands the depth of Willy 's betrayal of Linda—and the family as a whole.” During this part of the play, Willy has a flashback about the time he had an affair and his son caught him. One thing that Biff notices right away are the stockings that Willy gives the woman. While Linda has to mend her stockings, this lady gets lavish gifts and stockings. Also, back in that time period stockings were expensive, so it is shameful that he buys a random woman a pair than his wife that he “loves”. The guilt is eating him alive and can’t deal with it anymore. Not only does he betray his wife but also his son Biff. Biff idolized his father as a child, but when he caught his father with the woman, he finally saw the truth about his hero. In this play, Biff yells “you fake! You phony little fake! You fake!” to his father thus making him feel even guiltier (Miller 194). In The Great Gatsby, betrayal is a recurring theme that happens quite often between all characters such as Daisy and Tom, and Daisy and Gatsby. Jay Gatsby ends up betraying someone that probably is not ideal. He ends up betraying himself. According to "The Et Tu Brute Complex" compulsive self betrayal by Robert Lawrence Antus,