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Glass Menagerie
A Character in the Play that I Relate to
In the Glass Menagerie, I relate more to the character Tom. He has a double role where he recollects the documents in the Glass Menagerie and acts within them. Tom accentuates the distortion of truth and underscores the dramatic reality in the Play. He seeks a detached explanation from his audience, displaying realistic emotions. The duality expressed by Tom impedes, our understanding of the character as his feelings are bound to affect his judgment; thus, he is hard to trust. The nature of the recollection in this Play is problematic as Tom’s memories of his past confront a somewhat virtuous.
Tom relates more to the playwright, Williams (in his youth days at St. Louis was in the presence of an unsound sister and mother, and he was unfathered). Tom has a controversial relationship with Amanda. He longs for freedom as his father did, to license Laura and Amanda. He stays with them because of his accountability, but he is depressed because of his idiosyncrasy’s sister and irksome mother. He also detests his job, and he feels free when he frequently escapes to the movies, although Amanda is furious about his mysterious night desertions.
He is always fighting with Amanda, and he feels oppressed at home, and the situation gets out of hand. Tom wants to get away, but Amanda brains this, and she tries to negotiate his stay and stop him from leaving them. They set a deal to find a companion for Laura so that Tom can be free of their responsibility to them. Tom brings Jim O’ Connor, who is his outgoing colleague at the warehouse as a potential suitor for Laura. She used to have a severe crush on him at high school, and they talked long flirtatiously until they finally kissed. Jim finally confesses to having a fiancé, and hence they have to break up with Laura, which is quite devastating. Amanda is so angry about this, and she accuses Tom of duping them. This sprouts a significant fight between Tom and Amanda, and Tom leaves his family for good. Tom’s final monologue confesses to having reminiscences of his sister, and it is hard for him to get over it.
The symbolism that Accrues to Tom in the Play
Symbolism has significantly been implored in this Play. Tom recurrently stands on the apartment’s fire escape. This symbolizes his normal confines in his life and a literal, figurative release, which is temporal. He also smokes on the fire escape confiscating himself from the metaphorical domestic fires by lighting his flame. This symbolizes his desire to govern his destiny rather than be consumed by his past. His constant spurt to the fire escape presages his eventual withdrawal from his family.
Laura is inextricably bound to life, as shown when she stumbles when forced into the fire escape. Tom escapes to the movies always at night, indulging in action and adventure movies. He is stuck in his own story, but he sees himself as a hero in the films’ narratives. He feels accomplished after escaping, although it is only for a short time. He goes to the movies and lives a parallel life to his own. He uses the films as a euphemism for drinking and provides commentary on the nature of theater. Tom escapes his reality to watch a theatrical play just like the audience in the Play.
Tom is a somewhat controversial character who juggles between escaping from his family, being bound to the stinking, writing poetry, and being concerned about the Wingfield household. The play critics suggest that Tom’s intriguing behavior shows an incestuous attraction toward his sister and his shame over that attraction.
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