Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

He thinks himself to be at fault that he never knew Skipper to be gay and feels he let down his best friend and was not there for him. Someone else has to tell Brick. Brick feels bitter about their past friendship. He drinks in order to escape any chance of having to face this past. He wants to forget about it. "We have tracked down the lie with which you"re disgusted and which you are drinking to kill your disgust with, Brick. You been passing the buck. This disgust with mendacity is disgust with yourself." Bid Daddy symbolically uses this term "passing the buck" to mean Brick's way of escaping his problems. Brick's disgust for liars depicts his current situation. He lies to himself, therefore contradicting himself. Brick refuses to accept the fact that Maggie intends to bring them closer, never meaning to push them apart. He withdraws from sleeping with Maggie to manifest his anger and to "pay her back" for the pain she causes him by revealing Skipper's secret. .
             Brick's bitterness proves a camouflage for his desire to recapture the past. His attempts on returning his life back to happy times when he played sports, only makes him more miserable. While jumping hurdles on the field late one night, drunk, Brick breaks his leg, symbolically representing his failure to cope with reality and his problems. What he used to be strong at now ironically weakens him. He becomes unable to deal with these obstacles and problems by himself but also pushes away anyone who tries to help. Maggie tries to help but repeatedly gets shut out by Brick. "I don't want to lean on your shoulder." Maggie's persistent attempts foreshadows her future attempt to help Brick face his problems. "Yes!- I left out a long distance call which I had from Skipper, in which he made a drunken confession to me and on which I hung up!- last time we spoke to each other in our lives- When Brick hangs up on Skipper, that "click" forever remains on Brick's mind.