the glass menagerie

Rich Spadaccini Fifth Period March 31, 1996
The Glass Menagerie "The Glass Menagerie" by
Tennessee Williams shows the struggle of two people to fit into society,
Tom and Laura, and how society wouldn't accept them. They were the
dreamers that were unjustly kept out and you may even go as far as to
say persecuted into staying out and aloof like the other dreamers which
are forced to become outcasts and not contribute to the actions of all.
Tom and Laura, the two dreamers, were pushed by their mom,
Amanda, to her frame of mind and the thoughts of a hard working society.
They both stumbled on the fire escape which served as a gateway,
physically and mentally. Tom had the problem of fitting in at the
warehouse were he worked, because is the warehouse really a place for
someone like him and his mind rebelled. Lastly you can see how society
forced them to change and Laura to lose her status in order to fit in with
Jim and that's shown by the horn breaking. Tom then realizes that and
leaves which causes him to change too. Tennessee Williams artfully
depicted this.The fire escape. A downtrodden red thing off the sides of
buildings showing societies ineffectual escape from itself. In this case it
served as a passageway between the real world and the dream one that
Laura and Tom were living in at home. Both somehow stumbled both
physically and mentally. When Laura said "I'm all right. I slipped but I'm all
right"(47). She was trying to pass to the real world to do a real job and
couldn't because of societies "inability" to accept her and her ways. She
wasn't strong enough to make the trip by herself, but needed the moral
support of the other dreamer in the area, which was Tom who came
running out. Tom is the one who stumbles mentally in his inability to look
at the escape, which would be his way out of the place. He was always
losing his strength while out there smoking and looking out into the world.
Recognizing the sounds and trying to connect but unable to. He was
forced away and unable to bring up the strength inside himself to go out
and leave and to stay strong as a dreamer. Forced by society to use it as

a gateway instead of just keeping it the same and just a mode of
transportation to go down. Every night you hear Tom say, "I'm going to
the movies" (42). He uses that as an escape of the imagination which is
what made him a dreamer. As long as he went to the movies and stayed
away from seeing and experiencing he could still dream. He wants to see
them in person and adventure out but that would be what society wants
him to do. Tom is probably content or made to seem content with the
movies and sees his impending doom in being a dreamer so he becomes
obsessed with trying to escape it. With "Yes, Movies! Look I'm tired of
movies and I'm about to move"(79). Tom tells Jim of his plans to leave
and see what he needs to, but Jim cannot realize the scope of the
problem. In the warehouse, for Tom and the school for Laura were
the places in which dreamers do not fit in. Everyone is thinking of
advancing themselves and the "American Dream" in the same breath.
Tom was in the warehouse and it wasn't a place for him. He attempted to
rein in his wishes but was unable to do it. He still had to sneak off and
write poems to show his thoughts. "He knew of on poems"(68), Was
what Tom was saying towards Jim. Jim was one who didn't care of what
others did but just wanted to become one of the people who could fulfill
the "American dream". Laura, like tom snuck off to hiding places to dream
and remember what it was like. Instead of going to the business school
she snuck off to the menagerie and the museum, both places where
dreaming is recommended, the only sanctuary for them in society. She,
like Tom was living in a dream but was unable to be as focused as he
was so she "Went to the art museum the tropical flowers"(33), showing
she had to back up her strength by skipping a killer of dreamers for one
that strengthens her resolve but it is shown to be not enough and
changes. When Jim broke the horn on the unicorn showed the
change of Laura from being the unicorn to a normal horse who can fit in.
Since Tom was so close he felt the break and the fact that another

dreamer had been changed by the rules of society and could not stand
away any more. Jim had brought Laura over to his way of thinking and
that of the American society. In "Make him feel less freakish!, Now he
will feel more at home with the other horses, the ones that don't have
horns "(104). Laura was that horse and felt freakish in her actions and
wanted to fit in with the other horses. That's the meaning of that speech.
she was broken to the American dream and then Tom felt that his ground
was being invaded and got defensive. He soon left upon realizing that he
was changing to Amanda's way of thinking, so he left. upon his leaving he
lost his dreaming ability anyway. It was ironic how he no longer dreamed
because he felt he was seeing the dreams in real life, as society had
again forced him out. As you can see Tom and Laura were
dreamers which were unaccepted into society. Laura lost her dreaming
when the unicorn lost it's horn and tom then lost his upon doing the first
thing he had dreamed about because he stayed that way and didn't
dream about going any higher. Ultimately Tennessee Wiliiams message
was that society was rigid and it forced those which did not fit the mold to
change into a from which was acceptable. That we killed the dreamers
and are till doing it at an even younger age. We have to Accept them with
open arms if ever we are able to make it far into the future and survive.