Novels and plays often depict characters caught between colliding cultures – national, regional, ethnic, religious, institutional. Such collisions can call a character’s sense of identity into question. Select a novel or a play in which a character responds to such a cultural collision.
Then write a well organized essay in which you describe the character’s response and explain its relevance to the work as a whole. “Home is where the heart lies”, goes the saying.But what about instances when one’s home is snatched away from beneath one’s feet, and you are left to fend for yourself in the big world outside? Cultural and social collisions can have a deep impact on your life, and nowhere is this better brought out than in Tennessee William’s classic play, “A Streetcar Named Desire”. Blanche, a sophisticated upper class lady, loses her ancestral property, Belle Reve, and is relegated to the cold, unfeeling world.
For someone who has been used to tender, loving care all her life, she is unable to adjust to the coarse life of the common folk.Blanche DuBois’ holier-than-thou attitude and her priggish ways are by no means a sign of a bad character – they are simply manifestations of the sea change that she has experienced after leaving the confines of her house. We can see Blanche looking down upon her sister Stellla’s house, displaying emotions of shock and anxiety on seeing its small size and relative simplicity. She regards Stella’s husband, Stanley, as a mere “commoner”, and wonders how Stella can bear to stay with him after their fights and his atrocious behaviour.She cannot come to terms with her isolation and loss of prestige, and creates a parallel world – a virtual reality – wherein she tries to recreate her past. The elegant evening siestas with wine, the long baths, the sensuous and flirtatious attitude – all are part of her desire to regain her old life.
Blanche’s constant need for compliments and her dependency on male companionship and support is indicative of her struggle towards “fitting in” with the people of New Orleans.Memories of her dead husband continue to haunt her, and in moments of anxiety and fear she can still recall the music of the blue piano which was playing when her husband shot himself. The culture shock she must have received on hearing of her husband’s homosexual orientation is also shown in the play, albeit not directly. Blanche’s transition from Belle Reve to New Orleans is not a smooth one. A Southern gal with a pompous attitude cannot fit into the bustling metropolitan life of a city which is developing on the principles of equality and merit.Blanche is shocked at Stanley’s rough and unrefined behaviour and mannerisms.
Before coming to her sister’s house, she has suffered many rough transitions – from being thrown out of Belle Reve to being dismissed from Laurel. The morose period of her life post her husband’s death has left a deep psychological scar, which is aggravated by the culture shock she receives in New Orleans. Blanche tries to ignore her present circumstances, and displays several escapist tendencies. She tries to marry Mitchell, not just because she has taken a fancy to him, but also because she wants to escape from Stella’s house.She looks for support in an unfamiliar environment, finding solace in alcohol. Her emotions tend to veer towards the extremes, and she starts growing progressively mad.
From trifling things like elaborately decorating the room, to outrageous things like kissing the young man who comes home for collections, Blanche shows the characteristics of a person on the edge of going mad. She lives a life of lies – fabricating facts and twisting information to suit her world, because the real world is too harsh for her to live in.She faces an identity crisis, constantly trying to escape from reality, pursuing imaginary acquaintances like Shep Huntleigh. The simple transition from Belle Reve to modern urban America has changed Blanche forever. Tennessee Williams uses this change in environment to the fullest extent, describing in detail Blanche’s culture shock and subsequent actions. The change of scene is also used to reunite Blanche and Stella, and allow for the hostility between Blanche and Stanley.
Blanche’s reaction to the conflict in cultures is an integral part of the play, and allows for the consequent action.We see how her actions indirectly infuriate Stanley, and his desire for power leads him to ravish her, thus destroying her forever. Throughout the play we see Stella as a direct contrast to Blanche – a woman who has been brought up in the same household as Blanche, but has adapted to her new surroundings, thus surviving in the complex world. Blanche fails to move on, get along and accept the facts of the future, and in her stoic rigidity, is left behind to decay like a relic of the past.
