Looking Behind the Cold-Blooded Masks, the Streetcar Named Desire, and FencesIn life, we all try to project some sort of personality to others. We wear a mask in different situations, but when times get tough, we eventually throw away our masks and become ourselves. We don't live behind our masks until the tragic end, like the characters in Truman Capote's In Cold Blood, Tennessee Williams' Streetcar Named Desire, and August Wilson's Fences. All three characters, Perry Smith, Blanche DuBois, and Troy Maxson, wore masks until their bitter end, always trying to fool everyone. When times were hard, they had to face each other and they couldn't stand the sight. The characters of Blanche DuBois (Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire), Troy Maxson (Wilson's Fences), and Perry Smith (Capote's In Cold Blood) all had an image they hoped to project. They wanted everyone to see them a certain way. Each character had their own illusions about who they were and what they wanted to project to others. The three hide behind masks in an attempt to be confident and flawless. For example, in the case of Blanche DuBois, we are introduced to a woman who presents herself as a southern belle, a woman who is supposed to be distinguished. It doesn't take long before audiences are able to recognize DuBois for who she really is. However, she never gives in and admits what the public can see in her. DuBois is drawn to a life of illusion. She tells people that she is a schoolteacher on leave, when she actually lost her job for becoming involved in an affair with a much younger man (Harris 444). Laurie Lanzen Harris states: She presents herself as an innocent, virginal young woman....... middle of paper ......84.Nance, William L. "The Worlds of Truman Capote." Contemporary Literary Criticism 13 (1970): 137-138. Shafer, Yvonne. “Breaking Barriers: August Wilson,” in Staging Difference: Cultural Pluralism in American Theater and Drama. Contemporary Literary Criticism 118 (1999): 405-406. Shannon, Sandra G. “The Good Christian Has Come and Gone: The Changing Role of Christianity in August WilsonPlays,” in MELUS. Contemporary Literary Criticism 118 (1999): 382-384. Vogel, Dan. "The Mask of Oedipus Tyranos", in The Three Masks of American Tragedy. Contemporary Literary Criticism 5 (1976): 504-505. Works consultedCapote, Truman. In cold blood. New York: The New American Library, 1940. Williams, Tennessee. A tram named Désir. New York: New Directories, 1947. Wilson, August. Fences. New York: Feather, 1985.