In both ‘Cat on a Hot Tin Roof’ (Cat) by Tennessee Williams and ‘The Help’ by Kathryn Stockett, families are presented as complex units who, together, have the ability for chaos and negativity or freedom and harmony. In ‘Cat’ the Pollitt family unit is presented as dysfinctional, abusive, and entrenched with misogyny, through characters like, Maggie and Big Mama’s expectations, which mirror those of the American 1950s -where women were valued primarily as wives, mothers, and caretakers, expected to endure male dominance in silence. However, in ‘The Help’, families are presented differently, some being loving (despite societal expectations), and others being hateful. But, throughout the bildungsroman, Stocket, similarly to Williams, employs the struggles of people of colour, women, and queer people to demonstrate the flaws of these families. Both writers utilise the complexities of different oppressed people in the 1950s and 60s to demonstrate how families can create oppression, indifference, and negativity, through the writer’s use of female characters and the socially upheld opinions on childbirth. Firstly, in ‘Cat’ Maggie’s role as a wife of Brick is one of servitude and discontentment. Trapped in a loveless marriage, Maggie is forced to uphold the harsh expectations of childbearing and submission, that were so prominent, through the nuclear family stereotype that was popularised in the American 1950s. The pressure that Maggie feels under these expectations is demonstrated in her repetition of the “fact that [Brick] drinks and [Maggie’s] borne no children” when conversing in act 1. This repetition emphasises her desperation and growing malevolence for her situation because of her growing resentment for Mae’s perceived fertility- describing her children as “no-neck monsters”. John Kundert Gibbs, 1998, states that “The only thing that would validate Maggie’s position as a woman is the fulfilment of her maternal instinct, which provides the strongest evidence of the misogynistic attitude at the heart of the play.” Gibbs suggests that the characterisation of Maggie as a character desperate to fulfil her “material instinct”, is inherent a critique of the 50’s treatment of women, as reductive and restrictive. This interpreta tion is further justified as Maggie states that her and Brick “occupy the same cage.” The noun “cage”, highlights the oppressive nature of her life as woman who, socially, couldn't divorce, as the divorce rate in the 1950s was 0.26%, and unacceptable. Maggie’s yearning to fulfil her role as a southern belle in a nuclear family is mirrored in Kathryn Stockett's ‘The Help’ as women in both texts are forced into abuse in dysfunctional families. Similarly to Maggie, Minny is a character who falls victim to her husband’s abuse, and, although Maggie’s is not physical, they are still victims of abuse and the patriarchal structure of society. Nicole Racquel Carr states that: “Black women are triply oppressed/ they experience a unique form of oppression” highlighting the intersectional nature of oppression. Minny’s husband, despite also being a black man, upholds oppressive concepts, by domestically abusing her, and utilising his power as a man. The pseudo-hyperbolising proclamation of fear that: “usually [her] bruises don't show/ he gone kill [her] next time” highlights the discrimination that Minny, along with many other Black women experienced at the time. Additionally, the questions presented of whether Leroy, could kill her, demonstrates the constant state of fear that Minny endures. Furthermore, it could be argued that this family’s characterisation as an abusive, dysfunctional one risks becoming a problematic microcosm of all African American families being abusive- exemplified by Stockett's’ controversial use of AAVE, that reduced the African American characters to caricatures and dangerous stereotypes. Both authors employ women to highlight the complex, deeply rooted issues within families and, more widely society. Secondly, children and the idea of childbirth are prevalent ideas throughout both texts, as Maggie’s mendacity grants her opportunity within the family, while the fear of absence of children can tear people apart in other situations. Maggie as a “childless” character is burdened with the all-encompassing opinions and judgements of the family around her. Maggie’s constant critiques from Big Mama as “unable to please Brick” the institutionalised and internalised sexism present in, even, women in the 1950s. It is only until her final lie that “Brick and [her] are going to have a child.” When she is truly appreciated by the matriarch of the family, highlighting the importance of Maggie’s fulfilment of her role as mother. This fear is replicated in ‘The Help’ as Celia is forced to grapple with her many miscarriages as she believes that “kids is the only thing worth living for” her repressed anxiety of her lack of children forces her to become terrified of her husband, despite his loving nature: “I love that fool to death”. The subtle references to her dislike of the “hairy flowers” as they look like a “baby hairs“, which introduces the mimosa tree as a symbol for her repressed feelings about motherhood, demonstrates the anguish she is in as she can’t fulfil her role as a woman in the 50s. this symbol further presents the emptiness created when faced with child loss, Aibleen states that “a bitter seed [was] planted” inside her. Stockett’s use of metaphor suggests that the loss of a child creates a severe chasm relationships and power dynamics. In conclusion in both ‘cat’ and ‘the help’ dysfunction is presented heavily to demonstrate the societal faults in both the 50s and the 60s America. Both Stockett and Williams utilise complex stereotypes to provide microcosmic stories of different family dynamics and how they can fester negativity and anger through the application and reinforcement of negative stereotypes and oppressive system.