"Oh, you know we just got to love each other an' stay together, all of us, just as close as we can, especially now that such a black thing has come and moved into this place without invitation" (117; act three). The family's trying
             to stay together under the circumstances, but she cannot even bring to name the things that are pulling them apart. In most of Tennessee William's plays, there are usually some unresolved issues which the characters of the play try to avoid at all costs. In Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, the characters refusal to
             acknowledge the unresolved issues of Big Daddy's terminal diagnosis and Brick's homosexual desires create unwanted tension throughout the family.
             Big Daddy and his entire family are in denial that he could have a terminal illness. The doctor lies to Big Daddy and Big Mamma by telling them that his cancer is only a spastic colon but tells the rest of the family the truth. Big Daddy realizes, "I let many chances slip by . . . It took the shadow of death to make me see it. Now that shadow's lifted, I'm going to cut loose and have, what is it they called it, have me a-ball" (70; act two), but in reality it is already to late for him. While this false diagnosis gives Big Daddy a new lust for life, his family knowing the truth, still avoids the issue of his ultimately unavoidable death. Brick's Wife Maggie tells Brick, "Hell, do they ever know it? Nobody says, 'You're dying.' You have to fool them. They have to fool themselves" (40; act one), when he asks about his fathers condition. Even after the family confronts Big Mamma with the truth, she cannot accept her husband's impending morality. "I'm his wife, not his widow, I'm still his wife!" (116; act three). Big Daddy's family goes to great lengths
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