Streetcar V. 12 Monkeys(insanity)

2 Pages 577 Words

Sanity v. Society as a Majority
In an insane world, a sane person would be insane. I’m not sure if it makes sense to everybody else, but it makes perfect sense to me. In the next few paragraphs I will attempt to link two different stories and their protagonists to show the counterparts between any society and its views; made up by the majority of its constituents. A Streetcar Named Desire and its “insane” character show the side of society that doesn’t understand the outsider. The crucial aspect of this is to forget the traditional definition of sanity. The other plot is a science fiction story called Twelve Monkeys. In this story, James Cole (played by Bruce Willis) is an underground prisoner in the year 2035. He is sent back to the year 1996 to trace a virus that would eventually wipe out 99% of civilization. Cole, being outside his natural environment of 2035 and placed in the year 1996, although completely sane, appears quite insane. Much like James Cole, Blanche Dubois is removed from her natural environment of the wealthy Belle Reve mansion and is misunderstood by the rest of society.
Blanche Dubois left her hometown of Laurel, Mississippi were she was the heir to a wealthy family. After her family slowly died off and the estate was sold she left to find her sister in New Orleans. Upon her arrival she finds her sister living in a cramped two-room apartment and married to a man she finds to be quite barbaric. Her expensive clothes and tales of wealthy suitors set her apart from the rest of the crowd. Already looking like an outsider, her actions only furthered her distancing from “normal” society. Constant lies and a shady past make Stanley and Stella constantly doubt her. However, it was a final act of truth, and complete sanity, that causes Stella to commit Blanche to the asylum. Blanche tells Stella that Stanley raped her and Stella cannot or will not accept. Although devastated, Stella has Blan...