Antagonist

Character Role Analysis

Gooper and Mae Pollitt

Gooper and Mae Pollitt, with their little ears cupped against the flimsy walls of the next-door bedroom, will stop at nothing to convince the societal jury that Brick and Maggie are social misfits, aliens, and failures, who are incapable of ruling the Pollitt roost. They come armed with firecrackers, Skinerarinkadinkado-singing monster childrne, and a mock-up will that, when signed by all the right people, would bequeath the family estate and millions solely to them.

We resent them because they seem almost gleeful when telling Big Mama the news of Big Daddy's cancer. They are willing to perfawm in any way that might please the patriarch and matriarch (including shaking it like burlesque dancers). They are happy to remind Maggie that she is the childless outsider, and they love professing Brick to be the big, fat loser. However, we do feel a little sad for Gooper when his parents blatantly favor Brick over him. That's tough...but not tough enough to push him out of the antagonist ring.