Example Of Literature Review On Detailed Description Of Tom In The Glass Menagerie

The memory play, Glass Menagerie, is based on the narrator’s memories, Tom Wingfield. The play was set in 1937 in St. Louis and Tom is the protagonist. Tom Wingfield was an aspiring poet and toiled and moiled so that he could support his Mother and Sister. Tom Wingfield is an aspiring poet and he works as a shoemaker in a warehouse. He is the one who narrates the story in the play, Glass Menagerie, and all the events are determined by the memories in his mind. Despite that he loved his Mum and sister; he feels that he cannot continue living with them. Tom feels that his family is much dependent on him and he decides to have his own life. During the night, he escapes with an excuse that he is going to the movies.
Tom is the narrator and he tells the audience about the story. In all his encounters, he concentrates in a way that he waxes poetic. This helps in developing his character within the play as he expresses his aspiration to get the hell out of town. When he was living at home and in the warehouse, he was experiencing a very disgusting life. Despite such disappointments, he urged for adventure, lovely experiences, excitement and visiting new places.
Tom Wingfield was a poet, a writer and a most prolific reader. The current situation of Tom looked more of an imprisonment. He always wished for a fire escape and this was not a coincidence despite it matching with Laura similarity to the glass collection. The memory play, Glass Menagerie, concentrates more on painting a vivid picture of Tom and brings out clear the his present life as well as the lie that he wished to live. This makes people asks themselves if he will really escape from his miserable life.
Tom knew that he shared some comparisons with his missing Dad and in most instances; he commented that he was stay forever without going back as his dad had done. When Tom shares this with Jim, he tries to convince that the behavior was inborn and this was just a scapegoat in giving the excuse. There is no any sane individual will agree with Tom excuse and in most instances he will be criticized of leaving his family. His behavior is unacceptable and their look so barbaric since one is expected to respect his family and take care of it.
In his role in the play, Tom underlines the tension that exists between the dramatic truth of events in his life and the distortion of the truth in his memory. He is unique in his own way compared to other characters since there comes times when he directly addresses the audience. He addresses the audience directly so that he could offer a more advanced detached explanation of the events that were taking place on the stage. Concurrently, Tom reveals his real feelings and emotions as he participates in the play. This confuses the audience as they cannot determine whether the emotions of Tom are genuine and this may affect the trust that people can hold him with. Tom’s role in nature of recollection showed how this was a big problem. The role conflicts with his memories as he is seen less virtuous compared to his current state.
Tom is perceived as a very complicated ad controversial individual. He dwells into two worlds; the world of imagination where he wishes to have a very exciting and enjoyable life, and the real world full of problems in Wingfield household. The play makes us learn that Tom thought of his family especially her mother and sister. This made him escape from what he claimed to be a miserable and stressful life where he could not enjoy.
Many critics are puzzled by the attitude that Tom has towards Amanda and Laura. This is because Tom appears to be very caring for them as well as cruel towards their existence. The speech that he reads at the end of the play depicts how he was so emotionally attached to Laura. This does not make him a little considerate but he still leaves his family in a cruel manner. The confusing behavior of Tom can be said to be an incestuous attraction that he might have towards Laura. Critics argue that Tom wanted to keep her sister and he was jealous of any man who wanted to marry her.
At the end of the play, Tom Wingfield reveal that it was not possible fir him to shake off Laura memories. He was always guilty of leaving his sister behind but he never commented about her mother. Tom had memories of Laura though he never understood the nature of secrets associated with her. Despite this situation, Tom still knew that Laura had a secret that she could begin with. Tom really cares for her sister though he was very guilty of abandoning him. This is evident when he becomes angry and breaks her glass using his coat.