Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

Big Daddy is the ultimate realisation of the American dream. The patriarch of a growing family with seemingly endless self-acquired wealth, Big Daddy’s purpose in the play is to draw attention to the futility of affluence as an objective, much the same way Maggie is positioned to dismiss the importance of overstated beauty. As such, his role in Act 2 is almost identical to Maggie’s in Act 1 as he goes on anxious long-winded monologues that are self-indulgent yet equally dependent on the validation of an uninterested Brick.

Despite being one of Mississippi’s richest men, Big Daddy is unable to escape the inevitability of death, rendering his consumerist life mostly meaningless. In climbing the ranks of society, Big Daddy had to submit to the “convention” and “crap” to further his wealth, most notably spending over 40 years married to a woman he never truly loved. As soon as he enters the room, Big Daddy is presented with a “fierce, anxious look” that masks his weakness from others and himself, immediately depicting a man in denial about his own mortality.

The futility of wealth is evident throughout the second act and is particularly noticeable in anecdotes where even Big Daddy seems confused as to what he is trying to say. He speaks with an “unspoken anxiety” about the “great big auction” Europe, where Big Mama indulged in endless consumerism resulting in her husband insecurely reassuring himself that he is “lucky” to be rich, when in reality he is talking about how pointless it is.

These internal contradictions and their connection to his fear of death are symbolised through the “eerie greenish glow” and shrieks of children that remind him he “can’t buy back his life when his life is finished.” Like much of the characterisation in the text, these contradictions also manifest in irony with Big Daddy talking about the blessing of “ignorance” of mortality while naively accepting the lie that his own death is not rapidly approaching.

Big Daddy is also in many ways a mirror to Brick, with his behaviour being abrasive and showing little respect or affection towards anyone. At one point Williams notes that in the past, Big Daddy “must have” shared Brick’s “charming detachment” and with Big Daddy’s dream being for Brick to have a child that shares their qualities it is entirely possible that the purpose of Act 2 is to hint towards the futile, cyclical nature of life.

He also draws attention to the implied influence of social hierarchies in the text. Everyone in the text addresses him by this patriarchal moniker, to the point where it becomes comically absurd with the audience never learning his real name, and the implication made that his position of power has completely alienated his identity. It’s safe to say that not too many well-functioning adults in today’s society would refer to their fathers as “Big Daddy,” and in some ways this shows the childishness of such hierarchies. There is also a bizarre power dynamic amongst the family around the moniker, which for the most part Big Daddy controls. This becomes particularly apparent when he addresses Big Mama by her real name (Ida) as he publicly ridicules her and reduces her standing in the room.

While in more intimate moments Big Daddy considers the true value of his cancer scare, when talking to Big Mama he seems far more concerned with how it has threatened his position as the family’s patriarch. He reassures the members of the room that he has earned his position of wealth with immense hard work as overseer of the plantation; however, this was most likely an undemanding role and it seems his fortune was instead built upon the work of underpaid black labourers. Possibly the height of his internal inconsistency, Big Daddy’s desire to “smother [a prostitute] in minks” minutes after delivering a harrowing denouncement of child prostitution is William’s most stark portrayal of the dichotomy between vapid consumerism and sentimentality.

It is indeed this internal juxtaposition that prevents Big Daddy from finding truth as a “spasm of pain” emerges, reminding him that although he despises lies, he is willing to accept ones that provide comfort. The audience also sees the manifestation of this discord through Big Daddy’s “tolerance” or in many cases, lack of it, as his time in comparative poverty has given him a sense of understanding that contrasts the cruelty that his wealth has since pushed him towards.