Ticking Time Bomb: an Analysis of Tennessee Williams’ the Glass Menagerie

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Ticking Time Bomb: An Analysis of Tennessee Williams’ The Glass Menagerie By Marcus Owenby Professor Stevens English 1020-301 January 6, 2014 Outline Thesis statement: In Tennessee Williams’ acclaimed drama The Glass Menagerie, Tom Wingfield is pushed to the limit by his overbearing mother; as a result, he makes a life-changing decision which affects the entire family. I. A strained relationship A. Constant criticism B. Callous action II. A temporary distraction A. Movies B. Dinner C. Escape Ticking Time Bomb: An Analysis of Tennessee Williams’ The Glass Menagerie No family is perfect. A difference of opinion or a clash of personality is bound to occur every now and then. In Bloom’s How To Write about Tennessee Williams, scholar Jennifer Banach gives the reader an insight into the Wingfield family when she notes, “…the characters are deeply complex, round characters. They are not only individuals with their own personalities and flaws, but they are also able to represent something greater” (89). In Tennessee Williams’ acclaimed drama The Glass Menagerie, Tom Wingfield is pushed to the limit by his overbearing mother; as a result, he makes a life-changing decision which affects the entire family. Tom serves as a round character. In Literature: An Introduction to Reading and Writing, authors Edgar V. Roberts and Robert Zweig note, “The round character profits from experiences and undergoes a development in awareness, insight, understanding, moral capacity, and the ability to make decisions” (1232). Tom’s job and home life cause him to make decisions which not only affect him, but the rest of his family as well. Tom also serves as a protagonist as he is “(the first or leading struggler or actor), usually the central character” Roberts and Zweig, 1231). Tom is the narrator of the play and it comes

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