Main Character: "The Glass Menagerie" By Tennessee Williams

The Analysis of Tom

The Glass Menagerie written by Tennessee Williams, is a play about a conflicted man named Tom. Tom was heftily ridden with the responsibility to be the man in the house for his mom and sister. This huge responsibility resulted in his longing for freedom and adventure. As he gradually went on in the story, he had abandoned his family to pursue his dreams of a more eventful life.

Tom had a rocky relationship with his mother. They fought often about things that his mother was discontent with. She did not want Tom to go to the movies, and she did not want Tom to leave her just like her husband did. She would constantly nag at Tom and shove any financial or physical responsibility towards him to keep him from abandoning her. This especially angered Tom because he felt that he was being bombarded unnecessarily. His mother was uninterested in what Tom wanted to do with his life. “What do you think I’m at? Aren’t I supposed to have any patience to reach to the end of, mother? I know, I know. It seems unimportant to you, what I’m doing - what I want to do - having little difference between them!” (Williams 22). He didn’t like fighting with her. He found it tiring, as if it were a chore. “If you just say you’re sorry she’ll start speaking.” “Her not speaking - is that such a tragedy?” (Williams 28).

Tom had always known he wanted more with his life. He wanted to have to support himself and only himself. He wanted independence and change. Not routine and a dead end job with never ending work. The movies he went to see made him feel as if his life was monotone and he was in complete solitary. “I go to the movies because - I like adventure. Adventure is something I don’t have much of...” (Williams 33). He had nothing that was his own. He didn’t have a bedroom or any hobbies, he wasn’t allowed to be who he wanted. He was an object in a story his mother imperiously created. “I’ve got no thing, no single thing I can call my own!” (Williams 21).

Tom is angry that his mom and sister have to rely on him for everything. He thinks of his mom as an insolent person for dumping such a task on him. He knows very well what would happen if he were to cut them off and leave. They would never survive. His sister would never find the gallancy to marry, nor would his mom. They kept him from ever seeking happiness he longed for. They were holding him back, and he felt he was wasting his life doing absolutely nothing. “I’m starting to boil inside... whenever I pick up a shoe I shudder... thinking how short life is and what I am doing! Whatever that means, I know it doesn’t mean shoes- except as something to wear on a traveler’s feet!” (Williams 62).

For a long time, the movies were a place where Tom could feel he had some form of freedom. The longer he went to see them, the more he realized what he was really doing. He was putting off the thought of pursuing the idea of leaving his family. “I don’t want to wait till then. I’m tired of the movies and I’m about to move!” (Williams 61). He was discovering that the longer he stayed, the angrier he would be at himself. He was becoming receptive of the fact he was not the only one doing this to himself. “People go to the movies instead of [actually] moving!” (Williams 61).

At the end of the play, Tom does leave. At the time, he did not think that his mom and sister would die. He wasn’t honestly thinking about them at all. He had never thought of leaving as an option until he had realized he had enough. Tom knew what he wanted in life, but he never really went for it. “You’re gonna be out of a job if you don’t wake up.” “I am waking up...the signs are interior.” (Williams 60).

As I said, Tom was very conflicted. He had responsibilities weighing in on his freedom and he hated it. He loved his sister and his mother, and he never intended to hurt them. He didn’t want to leave his family alone and unprotected, he just wanted to escape.