Progress booster: Mitch and Stanley
It is important that you can write about the relationship between the men as well as between the women. Mitch matters to Stanley: Stanley needs his admiration and respect and is unwilling to relinquish his hold on him. This jealousy pays a part in Stanley’s determination to expose Blanche and so regain his domination of Mitch. That he is to be seen as Stanley’s shadow is shown in his tearing of the paper lantern, and in his half-hearted efforts to have sex with Blanche. Both these actions are repeated by his hero Stanley, who rapes Blanche later the same night.
There is a bond between the two men based on their being in the same regiment in the war, as well as their working at the same factory. Stanley actually refers to Mitch as his
‘best friend’
, though this may be partly in order to justify himself in telling Mitch about Blanche’s past.
