The Difference between Reality and Illusion - Book Report/Review Example

The Glass Menagerie The first production of this play was done in 1944 and immediately saw the rise to fame of the author Tennessee Williams. The center of the play involves a young man trying to take care of his family that had been abandoned by his father. Also featured in is a sister character crippled by nature who has developed a hobby of glass animals collection that has drawn her away from reality. Built upon the foundation of depression, the family’s main struggle is the past, the future and how to survive one another. The character finds himself mixed up with dreams to be awriter, working at a shoewarehouse and try to come to terms with the fact that the dad left, life is not interesting (Shmoop University par. 1). Worse more is the obligation at hand bestowed upon him to take care of the family who are destine to suffer if the does not step in. This play is full of symbols which the righter uses to pass on a specific message. The symbolism is majorly used to represent a form of escape and at times to show the difference between reality and illusion. The title glass menagerie of the play is probably the most prominent symbol (Sparknotes par 6). It is used by the author to represent three major things about Laura; fragility, magical beauty and otherworldliness. All these put together brings out Laura’s unreal world which offers her a heaven from the society. The timeless nature of menagerie that is childlikein a way and timeless also shows Tom’s description of Laura as something that does not exist within our time and space. Furthermore it represents the fragility of memory and worlds of dreams where just one wrong step and the whole glittering universe falls apart. Generally, the menagerie idea is used to symbolize anything that has the ability to become too fragile and too beautiful to stand a chance in the harsh reality. Glass menagerie can be found in scenes such as scene 3, 4, and 7. The symbols that are probably the most influential are the characters themselves; these are the pieces through which the writer puts across his themes. They are the ultimate symbols of the play as each is a stereotypical representation of humanity (Sparknotes par 6). Amanda Wingfield represents avery wily and annoying mother with two children Laura and Tom; from who she wants what every mother would want for her children, which is security. Being from a different part of the country and a different time, she is not fit to offer that security hence becoming a burden as she is fighty, out of touch with reality and an embarrassment to the children. She is a wishful thinker and unable to move on from the past. The other characters are trapped in their fantasies of the future but Amanda displays fantasies that are counterproductive. Laura is a perfect representation of a shy young woman who has a lot of characters similar to those of a girl that comes about because of her poor social skills. She possesses a desire to fit in the society, yet she finds herself in a position she can not untangle from. This occurs because she is crippled and shy to socialize. Tom is a symbol of someone who has dreams to chase but is haltered by his life situations. He stands for someone who wants to get away from his family and is aware that he can, but he is still obligated to stay and watch over those he should not be responsiblefor. He represents the slave in the family who has to work to keep taking care of others who sit back, including his mother who thinks she should be responsible but is not. He also stands for dreamers as he is a poet. Every character in the play is not rounded; each plays a role that shows a symbolism that is essential to the story at every point. The story has a fine line that separates illusions from dreams yet each character still brings out hope, dreams and fantasy in a unique way that static symbols cannot bring (Loveboat par. 6). The fire escape has been used by the author both literally and symbolically to show Toms detour from his normal daily life. Tom is seen frequenting the fire escape of the apartment. He smokes on the fire escape, a sign of withdrawal from the symbolic domestic fire as he puts on his own flame. This depicts his thirst to have control over his own life as opposed to being held captive by his own family and history. His eventual escape away from the apartment is foreshadowed by his often visits the fire escape. On the contrary, Laura’s one time visit to the fire escape ends up into a stumble showing how she is permanently bonded with life in in her family world.The fire escape also symbolizes the bridge between the Wingfields real and illusory worlds (Novel Guides par. 6). Nothing symbolizes Tom’s view of Laura as a beautiful but magically and unique as the glass unicorn that appears in scene 7 (Novel Guides par. 8). The glass unicorn turns into a normal horse when Jim breaks it, no more a magical creature that it was. The breaking of the glass unicorn occurs when Jim almost kisses Laura, a sign thatLaura and Jim cannot be together: her existence in Jim’s world is impossible without her breaking. Laura gives the broken unicorn to Jim to be kept by Jim as a souvenir. The image works out as a memory of Laura especially the one Jim brings when he departs from her as he goes back to his life. The normal woman that Lauraought to become is also depicted by this broken glass unicorn. In the play Jim calls Laura blue roses, what should be pleurisies the disease that turned Laura into a cripple when she was a child. This name blue roses as given by Jim has a transformational effect on Laura where by her abnormal and otherworldly qualities change into assets. Her defect is considered tobe something special rather than a disgrace. The character Laura is closely affiliated to Williams’s sister named rose who went through lobotomy during the period when William was writing the play. The nickname blue roses is most presumably used as a tribute to her. The key moments as directed by William Tennessee in most cases in need of music to accompany the major moments in scenes. The theme glass menagerie keeps appearing in the play throughout (Novel Guides par. 2). Mr. Wingfield is associate with music by both Amanda and Laura, because he left his Victrola the family. The Victrola offers Laura two things; an auditory escape from reality, and a contrast from the typewriters clickety- clack sound that keeps reminding her of her unsuccessful attempt to join Business College. Laura also uses music as she associates it with Jim; the two met at the school choir, and as it is in the play, Jim’s voice is beautiful. These can be traced in scenes 1, 6 and 7. Tom’s hatred for his life leads him to other activities such as movies. He mostly goes to the movies when things at home become unbearable such as when the mother yells at him. Every night the sneaks to the movies and gets himself indulged into the action-adventure movies. In these movies he sees himself as the heroes yet he cannot see himself as a hero in the life he has. These movies can only offer an imaginary solution in a temporary and false escape, he has an alternative life at the cinemas but at the end he always has to go back to the real life. Movies areused as a code in the play like in instances where Tom uses going to the movies as an excuses for other things such as drinking (which is his other way of escape). Movies also act as on the nature of the play as Tom escapes to the movies to run away from his own play. As shown in scene one and two, the typewriter is a symbolic representation of business world that Laura escapes through walking in the pack and getting herself indulged into her glass menagerie. To Amanda it has two significances; first it signifies Laura’s inability to complete her business course, and Tom’s failure to be committed to his job at the shoe warehouse. Tom usesit as a tool and an excuse to escape from the limits of his world as he uses it tomake his manuscripts (Litchats par. 8). Even though alcoholism is not explicit in the play, it still ends up to be a symbol for other activities especially when Amanda pick to use it as an umbrella under which all other activities Tom takes part in such as writing, reading and going to the movies fall. She inquires about Laura’s gentle caller being a drunk, yet all she is asking is if the man is the kind that gets rowdy and goes out at night but give no attention to his future. She associates alcoholism with her husband because he drunk, this she tags along with irresponsibility and abandonment. Alcohol is also used by Tom as a way of escaping from reality (Shmoop University par. 5). Alcohol is also seen as a link between Tom and his father; they both take alcohol something that Amanda does not want Tom to pick from his father. What Amanda simply means is that Tom like his father will abandon his family (Shmoop University par. 5). Besides this, dance is also used as an escape by Tom. Amanda uses jonquils in reference to her past, when she was still young and pretty and surrounded by a number of gentlemen callers. She also uses these flowers to show what she wants for her daughter Laura. Amanda uses flashbacks and recollections to escape from the reality of the life before her. Two of her worse realities that she never wants to face closely are the fact that her husband abandoned her and her daughter’s disability to get out of the house and find a husband (Jordan par. 10). She constantly reminds herself of her past living in a rich peaceful society. In those days her entire life was before her as she would have never foretold the chaos that awaited her in her family life. She is constantly reminded of her wrong choices by the potential suitors that she had, if she had not chosen Mr. Wingfield her life could have turned out differently. Life was so wonderful in the past. Amanda’s future is crippled as she is constantly stuck in the past (Jordan par. 10). There are numerous symbols used by William Tennessee to represent ideas, concepts and to bring out specific points, just a few have been highlighted here. the author has used symbols such as glass menageries, glass unicorn, alcohol, movies, fire escape, blue roses, jonquils mostly to bring out illusions, dreams and hopes that each have. With the inanimate symbols the author has also used characters to represent stereotypes in the society at large. A merge of these two is what put sense to glass menageries as unique as it is. Work cited Jordan K. What are the themes and symbols of the glass menagerie. 2014. Web. http://www.wisegeek.com/contest/what-are-the-themes-and-symbols-of-the-glass- menagerie.htm LitCharts. Symbols, glass menagerie. 2014. Web. http://www.litcharts.com/lit/the-glass-menagerie/symbols Loveboat H. P. Symbolism in "The Glass Menagerie". 2014. Web. http://www.shmoop.com/glass-menagerie/alcohol-symbol.html Novel Guides.com. Symbolism in The Glass Menagerie. 2014. Web. http://www.novelguide.com/reportessay/literature/novels/symbolism-glass-menagerie Shmoop University. Alcoholism, Symbolism, Imagery and Allegory. 2014. Web. http://www.shmoop.com/glass-menagerie/alcohol-symbol.html Shmoop university. The glass menagerie theme of alcohol and drugs. 2014. Web. http://www.shmoop.com/glass-menagerie/drugs-alcohol-theme.html Shmoop University. The glass menagerie, in a nutshell. 2014. Web. http://www.shmoop.com/glass-menagerie/summary.html Sparknotes. The glass menageries, Themes, motif, symbols. 2014. Web. http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/menagerie/themes.html Read More