From Brick's shocking revelation to Big Daddy in Act 2 of `Cat on a Hot Tin Roof' that it was his disgust with "mendacity" that drove him to alcoholism, the overall theme of mendacity in the play becomes a lot clearer. An insight into Brick's psyche and surroundings is given here; into 1950s America, into social position and wealth, and into chasing the American Dream, even if all this is not truly what you desire.

The Southern Ideals of perfection seem to be at the root of all the characters' problems, as lying and mendacity appear to be the only ways to assure ultimate success, by marrying for money and status, by conforming to a very rigid society, and by keeping secret anything that might be seen as `abnormal', such as Skipper's and Brick's intimate friendship. The mendacity in this play refers to the traditions that keep what Tennessee...