Comparing A Streetcar Named Desire And As I Lay Dying
Intuitive Yet Institutionalized
In life, if a person is considered strange, different, or simply not the “norm”, they are immediately out casted and ostracized. Even though that specific person could be a genius or misunderstood they do not have the opportunity to show who they really are because his or her society may not care at all. The authors Tennessee Williams and William Faulkner show, in their works, that sometimes the people with the greatest differences are the most insightful. This proves that the main characters of A Streetcar Named Desire and As I Lay Dying are very similar because they both experience tragedy and are affected by such. In the play A Streetcar Named Desire, by Tennessee Williams, one of the main characters,
Blanch DuBois, is portrayed as the typical rich southern belle who fell down on her luck. The other characters, specifically her brother in-law, dislike her “hoity-toity” mannerisms and the fact that she has an aura of self-righteousness. After her past is revealed, the reader is aware of the reasons for her actions. Her pain lies behind the death of the one man she ever loved and the guilt that she feels for his suicide. This tragedy causes her to be more aware of her looks and it drives her insane to the point where the music from that night constantly plays in her head. She is now more perceptive but the other characters do not appreciate her actions. In the novel As I Lay Dying, by William Faulkner, one of the main characters, Darl Bundren, is also disliked because of his actions. Darl is the most perceptive of his southern family and he recognizes things that the others of his time would never understand. After the death of his mother Darl is broken especially since he knows that his mother did not love him as much as she loved his brother. Even though this was true Darl still loved his mother and set the barn on fire where she was in her casket. His family members saw this and were instantly appalled by it. Only Darl would see this as a way of cleansing the family after keeping her body for days post mortem. Both Darl and Blanche are looked down upon but no one truly understands the reasons for their ways. This causes a great repercussion that changes their lives forever. Even though Blanche is dealing with the suicide of her only love and her attempts to find love in all of the wrong places, she still notices when her brother-in-law is being abusive and when her sister should attempt to find a way out. As well as being perceptive, Darl is also a genius who notices things that others would not even if he did attempt to set his mother’s dead body on fire. The fact that these two are so misconstrued and later thrown into a mental asylum shows how similar they are. During this time period a mental asylum was the cure for everything but it was not what the two of them needed. They share a similar story in which a person who had to deal with problems on their own was immediately thrown into an “asylum” that really would not help them at all. Dealing with the death of a loved one, either a boyfriend or a parent is hard enough but having to deal with the pressures of a severe society makes the transition even harder.
In conclusion Darl Bundren and Blanch DuBois were similar because they both did not have the opportunity to communicate their feelings to others in a healthy way. When society could not handle their dissimilarities they were immediately thrown to the wayside. This shows how during this time there was very little acceptance from the entire society of our nations. When looking at today’s society and the society of the early 20th century the differences are staggering. Darl and Blanch would have had the chance to lead a normal life only if they had lived today. It is hard to watch brilliant minds being thrown away.
In life, if a person is considered strange, different, or simply not the “norm”, they are immediately out casted and ostracized. Even though that specific person could be a genius or misunderstood they do not have the opportunity to show who they really are because his or her society may not care at all. The authors Tennessee Williams and William Faulkner show, in their works, that sometimes the people with the greatest differences are the most insightful. This proves that the main characters of A Streetcar Named Desire and As I Lay Dying are very similar because they both experience tragedy and are affected by such. In the play A Streetcar Named Desire, by Tennessee Williams, one of the main characters,
Blanch DuBois, is portrayed as the typical rich southern belle who fell down on her luck. The other characters, specifically her brother in-law, dislike her “hoity-toity” mannerisms and the fact that she has an aura of self-righteousness. After her past is revealed, the reader is aware of the reasons for her actions. Her pain lies behind the death of the one man she ever loved and the guilt that she feels for his suicide. This tragedy causes her to be more aware of her looks and it drives her insane to the point where the music from that night constantly plays in her head. She is now more perceptive but the other characters do not appreciate her actions. In the novel As I Lay Dying, by William Faulkner, one of the main characters, Darl Bundren, is also disliked because of his actions. Darl is the most perceptive of his southern family and he recognizes things that the others of his time would never understand. After the death of his mother Darl is broken especially since he knows that his mother did not love him as much as she loved his brother. Even though this was true Darl still loved his mother and set the barn on fire where she was in her casket. His family members saw this and were instantly appalled by it. Only Darl would see this as a way of cleansing the family after keeping her body for days post mortem. Both Darl and Blanche are looked down upon but no one truly understands the reasons for their ways. This causes a great repercussion that changes their lives forever. Even though Blanche is dealing with the suicide of her only love and her attempts to find love in all of the wrong places, she still notices when her brother-in-law is being abusive and when her sister should attempt to find a way out. As well as being perceptive, Darl is also a genius who notices things that others would not even if he did attempt to set his mother’s dead body on fire. The fact that these two are so misconstrued and later thrown into a mental asylum shows how similar they are. During this time period a mental asylum was the cure for everything but it was not what the two of them needed. They share a similar story in which a person who had to deal with problems on their own was immediately thrown into an “asylum” that really would not help them at all. Dealing with the death of a loved one, either a boyfriend or a parent is hard enough but having to deal with the pressures of a severe society makes the transition even harder.
In conclusion Darl Bundren and Blanch DuBois were similar because they both did not have the opportunity to communicate their feelings to others in a healthy way. When society could not handle their dissimilarities they were immediately thrown to the wayside. This shows how during this time there was very little acceptance from the entire society of our nations. When looking at today’s society and the society of the early 20th century the differences are staggering. Darl and Blanch would have had the chance to lead a normal life only if they had lived today. It is hard to watch brilliant minds being thrown away.