Summer Reading assignment: Journal #2 A Streetcar Named Desire--Biniyam

In the previous scene we left off after Stanley strikes Stella for turning on the radio. In scene four, we begin with Stella defending her husband. “He is as good as a lamb,” exclaimed Stella to her sister regarding Stanley . Although he did strike her, she still stands by him. I guess she truly believe in till death do us part. I just don’t understand why she would stay wit him. Women these days accept abuse from men and say that it is because that person loves them. This is not true at all. A man who loves his woman will always respect and treat her with respect and care. If a man lands his hands on a woman with the intent to hurt her, he is more likely to do it again leading to the cycle of abuse. Women are abused more frequently than men because they are able to cope with violent situations. Stella should have had the guts and bravery to say that she is going to separate from Stanley since he is abusive but rather disappointing, she decides to stay with him.
When Stanley is not home, Blanche talks about him behind his back. “He acts like an animal, has an animal’s habits! Eats like one, moves like one, talks like one!” It just so happen that Stanley was getting back home and he overheard what Blanche had said about him. I am very glad for this statement for two reasons. One is that it is true. Stanley is an animal since he abuses his wife and disrespects Blanche. Regardless of how much he dislikes Blanche, he should still be respectful; if not then he is definitely an animal. The second reason is that it shows Stanley is not the only character that we can label as being big and bad. It is one thing to talk about Stanley while he is present but talking about him behind his back is unacceptable. It shows that Blanche is deceiving and tricky, thus can not be trusted.
I do not understand one thing very clearly. When the young man arrives at Stanley and Stella’s house, Blanche kisses him. This does not make sense to me. Why would a “teacher” kiss a young man who doesn’t appear to know what he is doing and what was the reason behind it all? Is Blanche so desperate for affection that she is willing to go as low as kissing a young man who is much younger than herself? Or is it that she feels Mitch is too high of a standard to be interested in her so she decided to fall back on this innocent man? I just hope that this doesn’t affect the relationship between Blanche and Mitch.
Mitch as mentioned earlier is a very nice person and whom I think is very different from Stanley . There is a saying that a man will treat his wife/girlfriend the way he treats his mother. We find out that Mitch’s mother is ill and he has been taking care of her. He has even canceled several poker games so that the guys wouldn’t disturb his sick mother. This shows a great deal about Mitch’s character. He is caring, compassionate and has a good heart. Stanley is a foil of Mitch in my opinion, who is ruthless, doesn’t care about anything but poker and alcohol. I am very pleased to see that a guy like Mitch actually is in a group with men like Stanley , so that he can actually be an example for the rest.