Through the presence of the African-American maids and field-hands and through the discussion of slavery, we are reminded of the horrors upon which the Pollitt household and, indeed, upon which much of America was built. The Pollitt plantation and household, which have amassed wealth and fertile land based with the benefit of slavery, are relics of America's dark past. Nearly a century after the Civil War, the plantation and family alike are degenerating.
The vision of the Old South in Cat is one of a decaying world.
If Big Daddy embodies the Old South, Maggie embodies modernity.