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Lying In Mark Twain's Cat On A Hot Tin Roof

Decent Essays

Mark Twain states in his essay on the Decay of the Art of Lying that “No fact is more firmly established than that lying is a necessity of our circumstances” The characters in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof often deny their circumstances and outright lie to one and another about their personal lives. However, these lies are spoken out of necessity, at the expense of social ranking and past remembrance. Tennessee Williams communicates to readers that verbal abuse and inabilities to tell the truth create unclear communication which breaks down relationships.

Big Daddy hasn't demonstrated any gratefulness for Big Mama's affections or apprehension for his condition. Throughout the novel, all the characters know that Big Daddy is dying of cancer, except Big Daddy. Big Daddy is a very invective husband towards Big Mama and it appears through his actions and selection of words “All I ask of that woman is that she leave me alone..” (William 98). He had no enthusiasm for the woman he wedded over forty years and quite recently has the dauntlessness to express it. Big Mama cherishes Big Daddy with all her heart and is more than ever devastated about his health situation. Big Mama manifests her affection for Big Daddy: “In all these years you never believed that I loved you??” (William 80). She even continues explaining that she loved him depict his hardness and hate (William 80). Big Mama deserves a more meritorious man than Big Daddy and should not have to put up with his disrespectful

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