Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory
Brick often stands in the doorway to the gallery, neither inside nor outside, but just chillin' in between the two. This behavior reinforces our idea that Brick is stuck in purgatory and indecision, not knowing whether to watch TV or listen to Wagner, to sip his drink or chug his Echo Spring, or whether to dump Maggie or maintain their marriage. Why is this whole idea of purgatory so familiar to us? Why do we care? When have we visited purgatory before? Aha! You can't fool us, silly; purgatory is in the epigraph! Remember all that raging, when the speaker of Dylan Thomas's poem wants his father to either curse or bless him before he dies? Well, Brick is also without curse or blessing. The doorways he likes to frequent accentuate the fact that the man is just plain stuck.