[The night is filled with inhuman voices like cries in a jungle. The shadows and lurid reflections move sinuously as flames along the wall spaces.]…
BLANCHE: Western Union? Yes! I – want to – Take down this message! "In desperate, desperate circumstances! Help me! Caught in a trap. Caught in – " Oh!
– Tennessee Williams
A Streetcar Named Desire, Scene 10. With Stanley in the bathroom Blanche desperately tries to call Western Union to send a telegram seeking help. But she has to break off the call when Stanley enters the room. Animal imagery is used to emphasize the bestial nature of Blanche’s aggressor Stanley. The light imagery, with things becoming darker and menacing, reflects Blanche’s fear of Stanley. Her auditory and visual hallucinations tell us that she is losing her sanity. Two similes compare the voices she hears to jungle cries and the shadows and reflections she imagines to flames.