Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and East of Eden
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and East of Edenthis essay is based on the FILM VERSIONS!!!
East of Eden and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof both deal with the relationships in families. Each of these families tries to hide the fact that they are not fully functional. The main problems in both movies are the relationships between fathers and their sons. Both movies deal with two brothers and their competition to be favored by their fathers. When each family is confronted with a crisis, it is forced to reshape the nature of its relationships. Though it is painful, the surviving relationships are stronger.
In East of Eden, Cal and his brother Aaron compete for love and admiration from Adam, their father. Adam generally favors Aaron, which makes Cal’s struggle to prove himself all the more difficult. Although Aaron is successful in his father’s eyes, Aaron is not content with himself. Cal and Adam are not completely happy with their lives either. East of Eden also involves Cal and Aaron’s curiosity about what truly happened to their mother when they were young. Cal eventually finds his mother and gets a chance to know the other half of what he came from. Relating with his mother helps him since he does not have a very meaningful relationship with his father.
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof also deals with the relationship between a father and his two sons. Big Daddy is a controlling father who expects the best from his family. He is a materialistic man who values money and luxuries over altruism. Brick and Goober are his two sons. After a failed football career and a rocky marriage, Brick resorts to alcohol in order to escape from his problems. Goober, however, has a good marriage and is favored by his father. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof mostly consists of Brick’s struggle to clear out the “mendacity,” as he calls it, among his family and especially in his relationship with Big Daddy. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is more about Brick and Big Daddy’s relationship than the relationship between Brick and Goober.
As the East of Eden continues, Aaron’s assumed perfection begins to fall apart. He cannot handle this; he feels like a failure. Aaron then enlists in the military which, at that time, is suicide. In the meantime, Adam has suffered from a stroke. Cal wishes to make peace with his father, but he cannot do it by himself. Abra, Aaron’s girlfriend and a good friend of Cal’s, talks to Adam as he lies in bed sick. She tells him that Cal acted indifferent because he does not feel that he is truly loved. This brings to light an idea that never came to Adam’s mind. Abra’s talking to Adam helps to bring about a revitalization of Cal and Adam’s relationship.
In Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Brick and Big Daddy eventually have a very important conversation in which Brick is finally able to clear up the mendacity in their relationship. Brick explains to Big Daddy that all the land and money in the world would not make up for the fact that he does not feel loved by his father. After a long conversation, Big Daddy finally understands what Brick has wanted to explain to him for many years. This provides a since of closure to the relationship. It took much pain to reach that point in their relationship, but the struggle was well worth it.
As you can see, the two most difficult relationships in East of Eden and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof turned out to be the strongest. It took a lot of time for a change in these relationships to occur. However, the change that did eventually occur was very meaningful. The relationships became stronger because those involved endured so much in trying to make them work.