The Glass Menagerie: Tom's Frustrations

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The Glass Menagerie: Tom's Frustrations The character of Tom, his mentality, disposition and actions, is an integral part of The Glass Menagerie. Acting as a narrator, it is Tom who, with an introductory soliloquy , immediately breaks the fourth wall to explain the characters and setting of the play. This instantly distills empathy and trust from an audience that, without any alternative information, are left to believe his every word. He then goes on to describe the play as a “memory play”, his memory play, which further embeds his position as the protagonist of the piece, and encourages us to question his interpretation. Another important aspect is the similarities between Tom and the play's author Tennessee Williams; both have the same forename, both had pushy, nostalgic mothers and socially inept sisters, and both proceeded to leave their family, and responsibilities, to follow a career in playwriting. In order to fully comprehend Tom, and his psychology, it is necessary to analyse his motivations, which, in the majority of The Glass Menagerie, are negatively incited. These frustrations and resentments are densely spread over different aspects of his life; most evidently in his work, home and love. One of the most prominent of Tom's frustrations is his discontentment with his job as a poorly-paid worker in a shoemaking warehouse. This is primarily because he sees no future in it, and sees it as a necessity rather than an opportunity, complaining to Amanda “you think I'm crazy about the warehouse?...You think I want to spend fifty-five years down there in that – celotex interior! with – fluorescent – tubes! Look! I'd rather somebody picked up a crowbar and battered out my brains – than go back mornings!”, and to Jim “whenever I pick up a shoe, I shudder a little thinking how short life is and what I am doing!”. The passionate language of the former quote in
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