Isolation and the Lack of Communication in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

In the preface to Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Tennessee Williams views the human beings' inability to communicate meaningfully with other individuals as one of the tragic situations in modem life. In the play, this theme becomes a dominant one. The drama is full of individuals who are deeply for each other, but are unable, because of character and circumstance, to talk seriously to each other, and to comprehend each other's problems.


Tennessee Williams (1911-1983)

The three major characters in the drama Margaret, Brick, and Big Daddy are aware of this lack of true communication, and are attempting to break through the veil of incomprehension to be a better, more meaningful awareness of each other. The greatest example of this lack of communication and the attempt to overcome it, can be found in the relationship between Big Daddy and Brick.

Big Daddy and Brick love each other and yet they hurt each other deeply. They cause pain to each other as each makes the other face a terrifying truth- Brick, in a bitter and shameful defense against his father's probing, and Big Daddy, because his love for his son will not allow him to throw his life away. At the conclusion of the second act, they have lied to each other openly. Unable to communicate with each other all their lives, they finally tear through the veil of incomprehension in the shadow of death. At last they have fully understood each other, but at a terrible price. Each has destroyed the other's illusion, and each is faced with the truth- complete and tough. Neither can fully face it, and yet both know they must. Brick must see that his disgust with the world, and with his wife in particular, is really disgusting with himself and the fear to admit it. Big Daddy must face the fact that he is dying. The two men have hurt each other, but their argument has been a meaningful one. For perhaps the first time in their lives, they have spoken to each other from their hearts, in an attempt to truly understand each other, as a father and a son.

The inability to communicate is also manifested in the relationship between Brick and Margaret. During the course of the play, Margaret becomes increasingly frustrated to her ineffectual attempts to pierce the wall Brick has built between her and himself. In this relationship there is a lack of communication because Brick no longer wants to understand Margaret or to be understood by her. But we must also remember that a great deal of their marital problems originated from Margaret's inability to meaningfully communicate with Brick, from the day they were married. In the original third act, the lack of communication between Margaret and Brick is as hopeless as ever, but in the revised act there is the indication that the husband and wife are drawing close to each other.

Lack of communication is also an important theme in the relationship between Big Daddy and Big mama. These two individuals have lived an entire lifetime together and have been unable to truly understand or sympathize with each other, although all the efforts have certainly been made by Big Mama. The theme is evident again in the almost nonexistent relationship between Big Daddy and Gooper. Part of Gooper's greed stems from his feeling that Big Daddy has never cared for him the way he cared for Brick. He feels that since Big Daddy never acted as a father towards him, he owes Big Daddy very little as a son. This is of course Gooper's rationalization for his greediness, but the fact remains that to a degree it is based on truth. Finally, it may be stated that the entire Pollitt family shows the theme of isolation and lack of communication. The parents and the children have created a great deal of the tragedy that now envelops them because they have been unable to communicate with each other as human beings.

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof Study Center

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Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

Introduction of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

Summary of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

Dramatic Technique in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

Biography of Tennessee Williams

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