In “Suddenly Last Summer”, Tennessee Williams portrays external and internal conflict through the complex emotional character, Catharine Holly. He must decide between telling the truth and lying, and between closure and reputation/family legacy. It's hard to imagine such a young girl having to deal with such a mentally stressful situation. The juxtaposition between these two compelling desires illuminates the meaning of the work as a whole, where truth and lies intertwine, blurring the line between sanctity and sanity. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Catharine Holly is torn throughout the novel and, despite her protests, is implored to refrain from revealing the truth about Sebastian's death. While all he wants is to tell the true story of his cousin's death, his mother and brother try to stop him. Early in the book, we see that Mrs. Venable had an extremely close bond with her poet son Sebastian, with whom she holidayed every year, but who died the previous summer while on a European holiday with Mrs. Venable's granddaughter, Catherine Holly . . Mrs. Venable's $1 million donation to Lion's View is apparently predicated on Dr. Cukrowicz institutionalizing and lobotomizing Catherine, who Mrs. Venable claims is mentally deranged. Catherine, meeting Dr. Cukrowicz, claims that she is not deranged but that something bothers her during last summer's vacation with Sebastian. Catherine does not remember the specific incident that causes her this pain. Under pressure from Mrs. Venable (also directed at Catherine's mother in the form of $100,000 to sign Catherine's commitment papers), Dr. Cukrowicz must decide whether to go ahead with the operation against Catherine's vehement denials of insanity, or wait to try to find out exactly what happened last summer between Catherine and Sebastian. Here we see the cause of the conflict: Catharine struggles to convince everyone of her truth and is paying the price, but the only reason she fights is because no one is looking for justice, just a story that meets their needs. Catharine Holly's many aborted attempts to tell Doctor Sugar the truth about what happened to Sebastian Venable along the port of an Italian town, Cabeza de Lobo, drove her mad. Sebastian was protected all his life by his mother and in the last years of his life had used her to procure partners for his sexual appetite. Catherine's brother and mother also pester Catharine to reveal the truth they want to hear, not the real one, all for the $50,000 inheritance and the desire to maintain the family's reputation. Because of the selfish desires that protrude from the already greedy human nature, Catherine's family persists and repeatedly tries to stop her from telling the truth. Catherine does not want to receive the lobotomy. The demonstration of greed illuminates the meaning of the work as a whole: the desire to lie is purely selfish. The Holly family would rather sacrifice Catherine's sanity than lose $50,000 and their reputation. Because Catherine's mother and brother are blinded by greed and insist on being selfish, they fail to see that telling the truth about Sebastian's traumatic death will give Catherine the closure she needs. Even under the influence of the truth serum given to her by Doctor Sugar, everyone around her refused to accept her truth. Please note: this is just a sample. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a custom essay.