Deception and Symbolism

Essay by dlb9258College, UndergraduateA+, November 2004

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Deception and Symbolism

In Tennessee Williams play, "The Glass Menagerie" there is many forms of deception and symbolism. In this play Williams tells about a young man named Tom, his sister Laura, his mother Amanda, and his father. Tom is a character in the play and also the narrator of the play. Tom is a young man ready to "escape from his mother's apartment and from his shoe factory job..." (Londre' 68). Laura is a girl that is shy and not very out going. "Laura is a physical and emotional cripple who can bear to do nothing more challenging than tend her collection of miniature glass animals" (Tynan 94). The glass menagerie that Laura has is all she cares about as though it seems. The third character in the play is Amanda, the mom. Amanda lives in a fairy tale world still caught up in her younger days when she used to entertain young men and talk about "things of importance going on in this world."

While Amanda tries to make the best for her children, she ends up destroying Tom from her obsessive fussing and focus on detail. One character in the play is not really there at all; he is the dad. Mr. Wingfield is the one that has escaped from the torturing of Amanda either by leaving the family or dying. His huge portrait is a constant reminder to Tom that it is possible to escape this dreadful life. The last character in the play is Jim. Jim is an example of the high school hero that never made much of himself after high school. Jim works at the warehouse with Tom, and was the "gentlemen caller" Tom brought home for Laura. Thierfelder states, "Amanda, Laura, and Tom live in every moment but the present,