Essay On The Fire Escape In The Glass Menagerie

At the onset of the book, Young Tom has just been released from prison and is interested in making up for lost time and enjoying himself. He is a strong family support during the journey but is among the first to begin reaching out to a larger family. At the end he has focused on the plight and abuse of all the homeless farmers and recognizes that they must

Tom fears that his own kind will be overrun by others, such as dreamers like Gatsby. Tom hides “behind his wealth” (Pidgeon 179) and “leave others to clean up [his] messes” (Pidgeon 180). Tom’s arrogance and racism help create his character and establish his place in the society. Tom’s personality depicts his cruel ways of protecting the old money’s ways of life from the new money people. He considers himself above of everyone else.

2. (a) Recall: Why does Tom go out on the ledge? (b) Connect: Is his decision surprising given his character? Explain.

Tom’s initial perspective of on his transition he and his family must undertake is on of despair and reluctance. This despair is emphasised through the emotive language that is used throughout the prologue such as ‘groan,’ ‘dump,’ and ‘shuffling.’ Tom’s despair also creates a sense of tension throughout the family as for the line, ‘no one spoke,’ the line reinforces the tension and their reluctance to face the new change in their life. The line ‘down, down we glided in silence,’ could be interpreted metaphorically.

As the novel begins, Tom has a completely independent outlook on life; concerned only with returning home from prison to indulge his own comforts and wants. It is only later after he has endured the hardships of the journey, in Jim Casy’s death, and his own exile, that he has time to think and realizes that it is united we stand, and divided we fall. He thus sacrifices his personal concerns and safety and leaves the family to go out into the larger community and help his people. He will go out and work to complete what Jim Casy had started. Whereas Jim Casy was too much of an idealist, Tom will try and put his plan into action: “Wherever they’s a fight so hungry people can eat, I’ll be there. Wherever they’s a cop beatin’ up a guy, I’ll be there.” (537)

Another means of Tom’s escape are his outings to the movie, which are aided by the fire escape. Tom goes to the movies for several reasons; to satisfy his need for alcohol, to escape his home life, and to experience some adventure. Walter is a black man in the 1950’s supporting himself, his wife, son, sister and mother in a small apartment in Chicago. He and Tom are both treated less than what a human is worth.

In The Glass Menagerie, Tennessee Williams uses the theme of escape to help drive the play forward. None of the characters are capable of living in the real world. Laura, Amanda, Tom and Jim use various methods to escape the brutalities of life. Laura retreats into a world of glass animals and old records. Amanda is obsessed with living in her past. Tom escapes into his world of poetry writing and movies. Jim also reverts to his past and remembers the days when he was a high school hero. Mr. Wingfield is referred to often throughout the play. He is the ultimate symbol of escape. This is because he has managed to remove himself from the desperate situation that the rest of the family is still

Because he has recently gotten out of prison, Tom has no idea what is hapening. Tom's four-year absence from his family has placed a barrier between him and his family. Throughout the entire novel, one can see Tom as an outsider to his family.

   Tennessee Williams' play, The Glass Menagerie, describes three separate characters, their dreams, and the harsh realities they face in a modern world.  The Glass Menagerie exposes the lost dreams of a southern family and their desperate struggle to escape reality. Williams' use of symbols adds depth to the play. The glass menagerie itself is a symbol Williams uses to represent the broken lives of Amanda, Laura and Tom Wingfield and their inability to live in the present.

An escape typically liberates a person from their suffering. However, in the Glass Menagerie, written by Tennessee Williams, escape is an ironical dream. Instead of being free, the characters are tied down to emotional and physical chains that hamper their desires. This impediment is depicted through details in which each character’s journey consists of trials and tribulation and the attempts to escape from the them.

Although Tom is the protagonist of the novel, our first impressions of him are rather misleading. He seemed to be a rather manipulative individual at first due to the fact that he was guilt tripping the truck driver in the beginning of the novel. He also acts as if he does not care about anything like when he casually mentions, “‘Homicide … That’s a big word--means I killed a guy’” (Steinbeck). First impression-wise, the protagonist seemed to be incapable of compassion. This is definitely not whom Tom ends up becoming. In fact, he becomes a crucial member of the family that allows them to make the trip to California without fail. Although he is unable to make sure that everyone arrives safely, he is only human and he is hurt every time someone leaves. Noah’s decision to leave the family and live on the river has affected Tom in that Tom is unable to keep the family all together, but at the same time he respects Noah’s decision. When Tom tried to convince Noah to stay by saying, “How bout the fam’ly? How ‘bout Ma?”, Tom appealed to the idea of family and how they should stay as one. This contrasts early behaviors of Tom as in the beginning, he did not particularly care if his parents mailed him or not in jail. He talks about how they care about him, but he never revealed his own feelings towards them. He seems to be a stranger to his own family. To furthermore complete this newfound idea of family in Tom, he makes the ultimate sacrifice to leave the family. He knows that by staying, he will endanger the family and as much as he would want to stay with the family, he puts the family’s safety before his own. Tom had shown continued growth as a human throughout the novel and yet despite all of the sacrifices he has had to make, Tom still continued to

Both characters have a false sense of security at first. In "Contents of a Dead Man's Pockets," Tom "could feel his balance firm and secure" (Finney 4-5), while the main character in "To Build a Fire" thinks that "those old-timers were rather womanish," for they say that no man should travel by himself after fifty below (London 8). However, the mood of these stories take a twist when both characters quickly realize the fact that they may die on the spot later on. They proceed to make several futile attempts in saving their lives. Tom shouts help, burns papers, and drops coins on the ledge so that people could notice him, and the main character in "To Build a Fire" continues to fail in building his fire. Throughout the process the readers could sense their panic and becomes increasingly anxious as the storyline

In Tennessee Williams’ play, The Glass Menagerie, all four members of the Wingfield family have chosen to hide from reality. Amanda tries to relive her past through Laura, and denies anything she does not want to accept. Laura is terrified of the real world, and choses to hide behind her limp, her glass menagerie and the victrola. Tom hides from his reality by going to the movies, writing poetry, and getting drunk. Mr Wingfield hides from his reality by leaving his family and not contacting them after he has done so. Each member of the Wingfield family has their own escape mechanism which they use to hide or escape from the real world.

This shows the reader that Tom still believes in his own violent system of justice. Instead of coming up with a peaceful way to leave, Tom immediately thinks of a violent way to stop the police even if it might lead to him going to jail. Tom until the near end of the novel is a very violent and careless person.

In The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams, the theme of abandonment is salient throughout the play. Tom contemplates whether he should stay with his family doing something he hates or leave them and follow his dream. His yen to be happy and fulfill his American dream controls his final decision. Through Tom's actions, thoughts, and the negative imagery of his father, Williams proves that abandonment is a viable solution in escaping challenges and reality, if it is tenable.