The Glass Menagerie Research Paper

“The Glass Menagerie” by Tennessee Williams is a play with references to his own life concerning his sister and mother. During the play there are many reoccurring symbols, each symbol is crucial to the play in order to understand the idea of escape. Through the narrator's perspective, we are able to witness the mainstream family during a war depression era. We see a single mother, unable to accept change and retaining to the past; a sister, who has trouble dealing with reality and lives in a fictional world where she has become fragile and unable to function outside her house within society; and the narrator himself a young hardworking male figure within his house, whom the family depends upon. Tennessee Williams is able to create an eventful …show more content…
This description of escaping a nail coffin shows Tom's hopes to escape his family sometime in the future. However, when he leave he cannot remove a single nail, he must therefore find a man able to take care of his sister. Tom is driven by the idea of adventure, something he can't get much of at work, which is why Tom seeks escape to the movies every night. Tom uses the movies as an escape from his dull and bland life as an alternative rather than actual separation from his mother and sister. Although Tom's escape to the movies seems harmless to the reader, it helps push him away from his mother. Amanda is neglectful of his everyday routine escape to the movies that she has become doubtful that Tom even goes to the movies. Along with his escapes to the movies, Tom goes out onto the fire escape to smoke and drink. Unlike Laura who trips on the fire escape, Tom is able to make his way onto the fire escape with ease. Tom’s effortless ability to travel to and from the fire escape foreshadows Tom’s eventual escape, not into a different world but actual physical escape from his mother. Tom lets his idea of escape be known to Jim when on the fire escape telling Jim that, people watch movies, instead of moving. Tom comes to a point of escapism that his mother and sister cannot seem to reach. He reaches physical separation from his family in order to seek adventure outside his house. Although Tom physically escapes his household and his mother, he always treasures Laura and cannot seem to get her off his mind. He worries about her so much that he tries anything in order to get her out of his head talking to the nearest stranger and