Characterism In Brick Pollitt's Cat On A Hot Tin Roof

In society, people have a tendency to slice away pieces of themselves to morph into someone or something that truly isn 't them. They conform into the ideal image of what society believes to be “normal.” People will begin to act a certain way or say certain things to suit a particular relationship, job, or group of friends. People are incessantly editing who they are until they “fit in.” Brick Pollitt was society 's crowned prince of masculinity. Brick did everything right in the books. He went to college, joined a fraternity, played pro football, married a drop dead gorgeous wife, and became a famous sports announcer. He is every boy 's idol and every girl 's fantasy. Brick was living on top of the world and life couldn’t be any better, right?

He used to be a man that everyone envied and admired because of his good looks and talent. But now, all Brick is, is a physically and emotionally broken man. Act one of, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, reveals that Brick has a broken ankle. At around 2 or three o 'clock in the morning, Brick drunkenly decided to jump over hurdles at his old high school. Brick was trying to relive his glory days, but he couldn 't even clear the first hurdle. Brick being crippled in the beginning of the play reveals how Brick is physically deteriorating. He can no longer do the things that he used to be able to do, like play professional football. That 's the reason why he quit his job was because he couldn 't stand not being capable of playing the game he loved. In act two of the play, Brick exclaims to Big Daddy, “Sit in a glass box watching games I can’t play? Describing what I can’t do while players do it? Sweating out their disgust and confusion in contests I’m not fit for?” (Williams, p.115). Brick doesn’t want to announce sports anymore because it hurts him that he can’t be out on the gridiron with the

Brick told his father that he and his brother married into society. He seems like he never wanted to marry Maggie at all, that it was something that he thought he had to do. However, he says in the play that he is disgusted with homosexuality and disgusted with the way Skipper acted before he died. “Skipper went to bed with Maggie to prove it wasn’t true, and when it didn’t work out, he thought it was true!...he made a drunken confession to me and on which I hung up!” (Williams, p. 125-126). Brick was disgusted with the idea that Skipper had any feelings for him and he’s disgusted that his family feels the same way. He is truly homophobic, but is he like this to hide his true feelings for Skipper? What if Brick is really disgusted with the fact that he regretted the fact that he conformed and will never have a chance to reveal himself to Skipper? He told Big Daddy that he was disgusted with, “lying and liars” (Williams, p. 107). Some readers can assume that he is referring to his family and how they are lying to Big Daddy. But if the reader tries to read it through Brick’s shoes, it could possibly mean that he is disgusted with his lies. That he is disgusted with the fact that he couldn’t be open with Skipper and reveal the truth about his feelings. Brick was always accepted into society, he was the star football player and took pride in his masculinity. Having feelings for men would ruin his image and