Although they do reach an understanding, Willy feels the only way to make his family happy, and to take care of his mounting debts, is to take his own life, which he does.
Cat On A Hot Tin Roof takes place entirely in a large bedroom, currently occupied by the Pollitt's son, Brick, and his wife, Maggie. The plantation is in "the heart of the Mississippi Delta," "twenty-eight thousand acres of th" richest land this side of the valley Nile." It is Big Daddy's 65th birthday. He has just returned from a hospital and "although he and Big Mama have been told that he is suffering from a minor stomach ailment, his children know [h]e is dying of cancer and probably will not live out the year." Big Daddy dislikes his older son, Gooper, and his large family, preferring his younger son, Brick, and his childless wife. This causes contention between Gooper and Brick, which spills over into an insinuation about who will inherit the plantation after Big Daddy's death. In the revised ending, Big Daddy confronts the family and tells them he will decide what happens to his estate before demanding his lawyer and storming out. A short while later, the end of the play is signaled by a "long drawn cry of agony" from Big Daddy in another part of the house.
Before one can compare and contrast the marriages of the Lomans to the Pollitts, we have to be able to understand the characters, to get inside their minds. This may sound strange, since these characters are fictional, yet to the writers these characters not only are as real as you and I, but they possess feelings, thoughts, and emotions, which is how we connect and understand with them on the stage. .
Willy and Big Daddy have a lot in common. They both are in their sixties and suffering from maladies that will kill them. Both men treat one of their sons indifferently and the other son as something special, despite the fact both favorite sons have serious problems.
