the glass menagerie scenes 1-6

This was a very easy, comfortable read. I've always wanted to read this play and never had the chance to. It is a tale of a mother and her two children, Laura and Tom. Laura is disabled to the point where she has insecurities. Tom is the provider of the household because his father left the family a long time ago and writes insufficient postcards.

The mother, Amanda, is really stuck in her ways as a young woman. I believe she is trying to relive her youth through her daughter, but her daughter is so much unlike her that she feels disappointed in who she married. She does not want to take the blame for falling for such a man and continues to tell her son to not be like his father, except in one manner: " There is only one respect in which I would like you to emulate your father. The care he always took of his appearance. He never allowed himself to look untidy" (5.38.5-9). I loved the quote in the character list that summed her personality up in one sentence: "She is not paranoic, but her life is paranoia". I cannot wait to see what happens in the final scene as Laura's past love interest gets more speaking time.

Tom, on the other hand is a very frustrated individual. He doesn't like how his mother treats him as if he were a child. Every morning she wakes him by saying "Rise and shine" and in the play he says 'How lucky dead people are!" (3.23.25) to not have to hear her voice every morning. He wants to be a writer, but instead works at a warehouse. He goes to alot of movies and gets drunk because he needs to escape from his life. Hopefully, Jim in the last scene will be able to help him get a better job.

Laura has self-esteem issues that can be seen throughout scene two when her mother confronts her for dropping out of business school. She states that she is crippled all the time; although, the brace isn't so noticeable. She doesn't like her mother forcing her to do things, but she still wants to respect her.

I find this a story of neglect. Amanda wants to help her children so much, but she is only making their situations worse. She does not know her daughter dropped out of school, nor does she remember that Jim is the name of the love interest she had in high school. She is very nonchalant about everything and goes back to selling subscriptions in order to prove how "business-like" she is at the end of a few scenes. I can't wait to read the last scene!