Cat on a Got Tin Roof presents an audience with three main themes: sex, desire, the American Dream, and deception or “mendacity”. Tennessee Williams’ characters are presented as somewhat two-dimensional stereotypes; Margaret and Brick are both examples ‘the American Dream’, both are beautiful, Maggie with her long neck and graceful arms, and Brick, the glorious All-American sports hero. Their ‘in-laws’, Mae and Gooper seem farcical copies of this perfect couple, with their five “no-neck monsters” that are disliked even by Big Daddy himself. Throughout the play, they are icons of “avarice and greed” on a quest for wealth, climaxing in ACT THREE, with Gooper’s production of a will that would grant them all Big Daddy’s land and money.
Big Daddy, “a tall man with a fierce, anxious look” is being eaten alive by cancer and although he only appears in ACT TWO, he remains the subject of discussion throughout until in ACT THREE his condition is finally discussed openly.
Big Mama Pollit, has until now been referred to as “some massive animal” that is presented as a larger-than-life joke. We do not totally respect her, which makes the scene preceding Big Mama’s discovery of Big Daddy’s true state, a far more dramatic one. The naúvety with which Big Mama has been portrayed contrasts vastly with her new position; “Why’re you all surroundin’ me –like this?” she says perceptively, “Why’re you all starin’ at me?” As a character, she varies between silliness and wisdom that makes her seems surprisingly perceptive at times. She is strong and desperate to find the truth, however bad it might be, and as a viewer, we can respect this strength in her because we know that the news she will receive is going to change her life completely.
Tennessee Williams supports this through his directions for the actors, which provide us with an insight of the protagonists’ histories; Big Mama, who loves Big Daddy with a “great, almost embarrassingly true-hearted and simple-minded devotion”, rises from her seat, “terrified”, yet with a dignity that renders her a vision of brilliance and might. “She almost stops being fat”, Williams says, bringing to mind some powerful figure of beauty, reminiscent to the almost god-like image that is cast of Brick.
The dominance of her character is emphasized by her continuous demands for the truth, she stresses, “I want to knowwwwwww…. I want to know!” and her desperation is illustrated by her ”curious” action of throwing her corsage to the floor and stamping on it. Big Mama is in control and she will not be put down by anyone until the situation has been explained to her. To the audience, these actions could be seen as almost childlike, especially during her outburst. Williams encourages this by drawing attention to how she steps on the “withered corsage with her short, fat feet.” These are not kind words, but they remind us of Big Mama’s comical appearance and her innocent belief in the “little spastic condition of the colon.” It is this that makes us pity her the most, the fact that she is the last character of all to find out about Big Daddy’s cancer. Big Mama’s actions could be an outward symbol of her trying to stamp the mendacity out of their lives. Her outbursts make us recall her tragic and comical persona, making the viewer pity her; she is pathetic, and we cannot totally respect her because of this. Moreover, Gooper and Mae’s treatment of her make her appear even more pitiable, as they fawn over her and encourage her with endearments, “Mommy, be a brave girl!”
The childish light in which Big Mama is presented is echoed in Brick’s ridiculous interruption as he sings drunkenly to himself from the doorway. He seems uninterested and detached, “wandering out into the gallery” when silenced. This disinterest on Brick’s part is both unexpected and typical of the behaviour that we have come to anticipate from him; his main concern is achieving “the click” that will shut off the world and launch him into his own sweet oblivion. Like Reverend Tooker and Doctor Baugh, Brick is there to break the tension with his obsessive search for the click, his singing, and the way in which he challengingly drops ice cubes into his glass. Similarly, Reverend Tooker’s presence is equally outrageous, with his obtuse comments about windows, chasubles and air conditioning – none are relevant to the situation at hand, and none are suitable themes of conversation for such an event.
This particular scene ends with the complete explanation of Big Daddy’s cancer, “they cut a piece of this growth, a specimen of the tissue and it’s malignant….” Doctor Baugh explains: Big Daddy is going to die, and no amount of Big Mama’s love, the false hope which they had held , or treatment from “THE best clinic in the country” could save him. No lie is ever great enough to fool death, yet the horror that Big Mama now faces, with nothing to cling on to, makes the viewer wonder if the lie of false-hope is truly inferior to unfeeling truth and hopelessness.