8/11/2019 The Effect of Tom being the narrator in The Glass Managerie

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The drama, The Glass Menagerie, consists of 3 main characters, Tom, Amanda and Laura. In this essay,

the relation between the dramatic structure and the the character Tom will be discussed.

Tennessee Williams , the writer of the Glass Menagerie, considered the play as a memory play!. Infact, Tom in the play was representing Williams who had similar family bac"ground. #y being a

memory play it means that the play can be presented with usual freedom of con$ention. Tom played a

double role in the play, being one of the characters and, at the same time, the narrator. %e sometimesaddressed the audience directly and he controlled the details of the play such as the bac"ground music.

In fact, such elements in the play are not realistic, but only appeared according to Tom&s memory!. In

the following analysis, I mainly di$ided the play into 3 parts' conflicts between Tom and Amanda,getting a gentleman caller for Laura and, finally, the ending as the last part.

The play started with Tom&s directly tal"ing to the audience. %e tal"ed about &magicians&, which were

also mentioned in later parts of the play. %e said that he re$ersed time and this may imply that he didso for some reasons. There were then conflicts between Tom ad Amanda twice, one about Amanda

teaching Tom how to eat, and the other about Tom going out e$ery night to mo$ies. (p to this, Tom had

showed mainly discontent and constrained in the apartment. When he was chatting with Laura, tal"ingabout the magic show where the magician got out of a coffin without remo$ing a single nail, he had )

implications * the damage to the family caused by his father&s lea$ing and he himself wanting to lea$e

but not hurting the family. +uring the second uarrel between Tom and Laura, there was a special stageeffect where Laura was gi$en spotlight e$en she was completely silent. -ince this play is a memory

play, such effects are not realistic and can reflect the thoughts of &today&s Tom&.

After the uarrel scenes, it comes to the second part of he play. Tom accepted Amanda&s reuest for

bringing a nice man from the warehouse Tom was wor"ing in. Though he was willing to help, Tom did

not show much eagerness or great hope of getting Laura a future husband. ompared to Amanda, Tom

was apathetic to the issue. Indeed, Tom&s promising to bring bac" home a gentleman caller played asignificant role in bringing up the further de$elopment of the drama. At first it seemed that the

preparation for the gentleman caller was going smooth. oincidentally, the man, /im, was the secret

crush of Laura when she was in high school and he danced with Laura and e$en "issed her. I would besensible for readers or audience to thin" that a lo$e story was going to happen. %owe$er, what struc"

Amanda and the audience as well was the fact that /im was actually engaged. This was the clima0 of

the whole play where Amanda was frustrated and angry so she blamed Tom for bringing /im bac".

In the last part of the play where Tom had his monologue after lea$ing his family, he showed regret

especially to Laura. This echoes with the spotlight on Laura during his uarrel with Amanda, showing

that Tom repented for lea$ing Laura and now when he recalled the arguing scene he thought of poorLaura, who he ne$er considered at the moment when he was so angry shouting in the apartment. The

times with Laura and Amanda could be one of the most precious period of Tom&s life and this can

account for Tom &re$ersing time& and presenting all his memories and guiltiness with a play.

While Tom&s role in the play is confusing and somehow contradictory, his personality and emotional

beha$iour was also uite comple0. %e li"ed ad$entures and mo$ies and at the same time he read poetryand literature. %e &sla$ed himself& 1as mentioned in Tom&s lines2 for the sa"e of the family. Throughout

the play, though he hardly showed his lo$e an care towards Amanda and Laura, yet his enduring and

still staying with the family reflected his lo$e to ,especially, Laura. ot until the $ery last scene, Tomre$ealed in his monologue uite directly how guilt he felt lea$ing Laura behind and not ta"ing case of

her as how his mother had urged him to.

8/11/2019 The Effect of Tom being the narrator in The Glass Managerie

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4ther than the spotlight on Laura during the uarrel scene, the giant photograph of his father in the

li$ing room was probably Tom&s creation or imagination as well. This symbolised how the departure of

Tom&s father influenced the family so profoundly. Throughout the play, Amanda "ept saying that she

was worried about Tom beha$ing similar to his father before he left. 5$entually, Tom did follow hisfather&s footsteps, lea$ing the family.

The play was started and finished by Tom. %e stood out and introduced the start of the play and endedit with his monologue. -ince the whole play was the recollection of Tom&s memories, he gad total

control on how the play would de$elop. %is emotional beha$iours e.g. getting angry with Amanda and

his decision of helping Amanda to get a gentleman caller for Laura helped to bring about the clima0,the disaster happened later. The last speech of Tom was a conseuence of the disaster. This speech also

e0plains the frustrating emotions of Tom throughout the play. If Tom was either the narrator or a

character, the effect of the drama to the audience will be less strong.