Big Daddy and the American Dream in Tennessee Cat on a Hot Tin Roof by WilliamsCat on a Hot Tin Roof by Tennessee William is a thought-provoking work that explores human relationships among all types. Brick's character is forced to examine his relationship with his friend Skipper, his wife, his family, and himself. Other characters, Gooper, Mae, and Big Mama, demonstrate suffocating marital relationships. Big Daddy, however, is one of the most interesting characters as he illustrates the strange relationship one can have with one's possessions. Watt and Richardson, the editors, say the work is about "acquisition." That is, the acquisition of material goods is central to the work and to this family. The Pollitts own a plantation in the Mississippi Delta. Their house is as key a figure in the play as are all the characters as it encapsulates the family's legacy of secrecy. For starters, there's the central area of ​​Brick and Maggie's bedroom scene. This room was once shared by the previous owners, two men, a fact that seems to haunt Brick. Williams describes the room's decor in detail. His main concern is the "combination radio phonograph, television and liquor cabinet." He seems incredulous of the size and symbolism of this possession. He writes: "This piece of furniture (?!), this monument, is a much more complete and compact little sanctuary for practically all the comforts and illusions behind which we hide from the things the characters in the work deal with..." (Williams 660). He's absolutely right. Not only is Brick hiding behind the liquor in the cabinet, his true crutch, but the furniture exemplifies all the modern conveniences that many p... middle of paper ... the system he speaks of is more than lies and liars that immediately surround him; it's not just his family. The system he lives in is materialism. He accepted the American dream, indeed capitalism, and ultimately discovered the lack of it. Yet it's doubtful whether this revelation will truly change Big Daddy in how he lives out his final days. Williams' words about Brick also apply to dad. He writes, “I do not believe that any conversation, however relevant, ever produced such an immediate change in a person's heart or even conduct” (706 act 3). Big Daddy is trapped in his American dream even as it has become his nightmare. Work cited Williams, Tennessee. Cat on a hot roof. In Stages of Drama: From Classical to Contemporary Theatre. Ed. Carl H. Klaus, Miriam Gilvert and Bradford S. Field, Jr., 4th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin, 1999.