What a tangled web Brick is in, albeit not one that he weaved, but that his wife Maggie created for him. I’m still not quite sure myself whether or not Brick is actually homosexual or if it is just his friend Skipper, but either way, their relationship is obviously stronger than the bond that Brick has with his wife. He could possibly be similar to Clive in the fact that he wants to uphold a physical distance with Skipper due to social pressures, or perhaps he really does find homosexuality “dirty” as he refers to it. Either way, it is apparent that his wife is jealous and took it upon herself to mess things up for him and Skipper. Poor Skipper is so distraught over the realization that he is a homosexual, a truth forced upon him by Maggie, that he feels obligated to try to prove his manhood by sleeping with her. (I’m sure this is at her suggestion, demonstrating the influence of peer pressure on sexual orientation…and of course the power of persuasion that women possess!) What a mess!!
Still, the character of Brick raises some interesting questions about the pressures of sexual orientation on an individual. If he is a homosexual, than why would he rather deny it, reject and distance himself from Skipper, blame himself for his death, and commit to a life of guilt driven drinking, all as opposed to admitting that he loves his friend. Why would anyone torment himself in such a way just to avoid the truth? Perhaps the peer pressures in Brick’s society are too great for him to ignore. Brick openly admits that he doesn’t love his wife and that their relationship “never got any closer together than two people just get in bed,” yet he married her and continues to be with her, suggesting that he is merely following suit in his life to what is expected of him by society. He is obviously very easily influenced if this is the case, or powerless against the “big brother” of society.
Or perhaps social standards of the “family” are influencing his decisions. After all, his father is a high society, wealthy, hardworking man who has been married 40+ years, leaving huge footprints for Brick to follow in. In some ways he is following suit with the life his father leads; I’m sure it’s no coincidence that his father is unhappy in his marriage too. Just like Maurice, the pressures to uphold a position in society and in the family may be driving Brick to reject his current place in life. He blames his drunken state on “mendacity,” the lies upon which his life, and the lives of the ones around him are based. Still, following suit with social construction and instead of being honest with himself and his sexuality, he just abides by and conforms to the heterosexual life that is laid out for him. (It’s a good thing that it’s socially acceptable to drink!!)
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