On A Streetcar Named Success Rhetorical Analysis

Tennessee Williams' essay, “On A Streetcar Named Success”, he reflects on how his success brought life-altering consequences. He demonstrates his ill-regard towards his success through a critical tone while also maintaining a didactic tone, intended to teach one that sometimes, hardships are necessary for an individual to have meaning in his life. Williams’ expresses a critical tone towards his success when reflecting on his time of tragic luxury. The use of harsh words, like snatched and thrust, to describe his sudden plummet into a life of ease is supporting evidence towards his critical tone. Williams’ didactic tone is thoroughly supported by the context in which the essay was written as well as Williams’ life, prior to his success. His

Ironically, the security Williams finally felt was later described as a “kind of death” as one falls prey to an effete way of life which destroys an artist’s creativity and an individual's purpose in life. This use of irony further supports Tennessee Williams’ didactic tone, used to convey the importance of difficulties in one's life in order to have meaning and creativity. The repetition of sentences beginning with “I”, at the bottom of page two, demonstrates Williams’ critical tone towards what he became. The tremendous focus on a first person point of view, displayed how success dragged him into a life of cynicism, causing him to see his friends as pests. The final sentence in this string of repetition supports a didactic tone because it discussed how Williams felt dead inside in an attempt to teach us about the consequences of a convenient life. Ultimately, William’s use of a didactic and critical tone aided in providing the meaning behind his essay for it’s luxury and convenience, not privation and destitution, that kills the human spirit and only are we given meaning through our

The popular students constantly teased him because of his worn out hand-me-downs and somewhat ratty hair. Unfortunately for John, his family was less fortunate than most. Fortunately, he was raised without a silver spoon in his mouth unlike the rest of my classmates. John was kind, respectable, and honest, primarily because he had morals, unlike most of my classmates who would stab you in the back without hesitating. I believed John’s deprivation of common day items caused him to develop morals and enjoy the little things in life. I’ll always remember the moment he trembled with excitement after finding a five dollar bill which previous passersby in snazzy suits briefly glanced at before continuing on their way. Remarkably, I was further astonished when the boy, who I’ve never seen in clothes absent of a tear or patch, immediately offered to buy me a slushy with his newly found treasure. One day, John never showed up for school which was unusual for him unless he needed to stay home and take care of his little sister while his parents worked. When John returned a few days later he looked nearly unrecognizable. Sporting new brand name clothes, a neat hairstyle, and a grin stretching from ear to ear, he practically ran towards our table, barely getting the chance to sit before he asked, “guess what?”. Responding with a practically mandatory “what”, I learned that John’s absence was