Stanley and Blanche, as individual representatives of these two worlds, show even more contrasts in their personalities. The use of color differs remarkably. Stanley needs vividness to prove his physical manhood. He is presented "as coarse and direct and powerful as the primary colors." His green and scarlet bowling shirt is an example. Blanche shuns loud shades and selects pastels or white. The directness of bright colors repulses her; she prefers muted, muffled tones.
Another contrast arises in the comparison of their zodiac signs. Stanley was born in December under Capricorn the Goat. This brings to mind many obvious associations in connection with Stanley's personality. Blanche's sign is Virgo, the virgin. True, she is a very degenerate "virgin," but in body only. She tries to keep the mentality of a virgin. She believes she is a virgin because the men she has slept with have meant nothing to her; they have not actually taken from her. She has not given of her real self to them. But to represent herself in such a manner seems a direct lie to the Kowalski world. There can be no such subtle difference in the Kowalski world. This leads to one of the central conflicts of the play, Blanche's honesty versus her seeming dishonesty.
A Kowalski, as seen in Stanley, is "simple, straightforward, and honest." He tolerates nothing but the bare, unembellished truth. Blanche, so to speak, "puts a gaily-colored paper lantern" on the harshness of truth. This isn't lying to her. A lie, for Blanche, would be a betrayal of herself, of everything she believes in. Therefore, it would not only be a verbal lie but also a lie in act. Stanley abhors the paper lantern. He accepts it for nothing other than a lie and detests Blanche for deceiving others with it. This conflict is irresolvable because it originates in the essence of their personalities. To concede to the other's view entails self-destruction.
