Gonzalez 1 Jonathan Gonzalez Kelly Cochran English 112 A Fiery Escape Tennessee Williams' play The Glass Menagerie shows all readers a view into the lives of an upsetting, confused, and wounded family. Upsetting, due to the fact that the daughter Laura is the primary reason for its issues. With her shyness and neglect of the real world, she brings stress and pressure to her family for taking care of her when she cannot take care of herself. The family is confused, with not knowing what next step they should take. With all the issues going on, they cannot seem to focus on reality, and what results will come from their actions. But greatly, wounded, due to the fact that the father left them they have no guide for direction. Tom is left as the only man in the house, and things always come back to him, with Laura’s male caller, work, and his mom always battling with him.Receiving the blames and responsibilities, Tom tears down, and the more he tears down, so does the whole family. In the beginning of the play, things seem normal and like a typical family, but as the play goes on, one just notices and sees all the troubles and issues they have. Each character has their own differences and thoughts. Each character at one point has issues with another, like Tom and his mother. Unlike regular folks, they hide their issues, always trying to pretend that things are okay and that all of their problems will go away. Amanda, Tom, and Laura are all in denial, they are too busy thinking things are okay, when they are not. With all the issues going on, they all have one thing related, their escape. This is where the fire escape comes into hand. In the play “The Glass Menagerie” by Tennessee Williams, each character shows very different emotions and moods. Each character
Gonzalez 2 shows a very different view on everything.No matter what the situation in the play, characters are pointed back to a certain place, the fire escape. In the Glass Menagerie there are multiple types of symbol. The fire escape is one of the main ones. It shows an escape the characters from their issues. Whenever any of the characters have difficulty, or face a hard situation, they refer back to the fire escape outside their door. Each character has very different situations. Amanda is wanting to find her daughter a man, Laura is too afraid to face the real world, and Tom just wants to escape the life at home from her family and begin his own. The fire escape symbolizes an escape from their apartment, from the issues that happen inside of it and that continue on. It gives a break from problems, a chance to breathe. Outside of the fire escape is a dance hall, showing signs of the real world, an outside world from the apartment. The fire escape also in a way shows each characters personality, not just providing an escape for each character.
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