There comes a time in someone's life where they feel trapped and alone. They feel like the walls in their lives are closing in on them and there is no escape. The result in this entrapment leads them to a breakdown of their mentality and the seek for help. Holden the main character in The Catcher in the Rye is filled with so much anger at society which leads him to a mental breakdown. On the other hand, Blanche the main character in A Streetcar Named Desire suffers from a breakdown due to her deceit and lies to others. Both of the main character feel trapped in their lives and as a result both suffer which sends them to a mental facility. Although the circumstances of their breakdowns differ, they both are trapped and share the same outcome. The characters of Blanche Dubois and Holden Caulfield are both lost in their own fantasy worlds where their personalities, dilemmas and the affect they have on others ultimately decides their fate.
             Blanche Dubois is a very interesting character in A Streetcar Named Desire, she mentions she is about 30 years old. In the beginning of the play she arrives in New Orleans, she appears to be the essence of purity by wearing a white dress. The illusion that is portrayed about her is that she is delicate like a white moth and cannot bear vulgar language. When she was 16, she married a young man who was homosexual. She found him in a compromising situation, and when she told him he disgusted her, he committed suicide, an act which would affect her for the rest of her life. To deal with the death, she began drinking. This is introduced in the beginning scenes when Blanche sneaks a drink before she meets her sister. She demands to be seen for what she wishes to be, rather than what she really is. This is the reason for the paper lanterns and the constant bathing. The paper lanterns mean that bright light threatens to undo Blanche's many deceptions like her age and her lies. In the literal se...