Who has the most trouble understanding reality in The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams? The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams is a play about a poor family that has a hard time with comprehending the reality in which they are all in. Throughout the play, we are shown the complexity of each family member through their actions and interactions between each other and outside of the home. Understanding which character is most troubled with facing reality is key to truly understanding the magnitude of the hardships the family carries. In The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams, the daughter, Laura, has the most trouble with coming to terms with reality because she tends to isolate herself from others and escape to her own world. Whenever …show more content…
The instances that Laura shows she is challenged by reality all show ways in which Laura tends to escape reality. First, Laura pretended to go to college, but threw up during a speed test for typing and has been going to the zoo instead of school since, then she did not make any attempt at talking with others at the Young People's League her mother took her to, and now all she spends most of her time playing with her glass menagerie and listening to old records. Laura's repetition of not being able to function in the and opting out of interaction with the outside world shows that she is struggling greatly with facing reality because she cannot connect herself to what is really happening outside of her own …show more content…
However, this is wrong because Laura would not have trouble getting a gentleman caller if she was able to face reality and connect herself with the world and express herself. In another conversation between Tom and Amanda he shows why Laura has no gentleman callers as a result of her detachment from reality. For example, "Not quite all-in the eyes of others-strangers-she's terribly shy and lives in a world of her own and those things make her seem a little peculiar to people outside the house"(Pg. 48). Tom is saying that Laura has no gentleman callers as a result of her isolation to her own world. Laura's estrangement from reality is the reason that she does not have any gentlemen callers because it makes her seem shy and closed off to them, and if she had not been so separated from reality, her mother would not be so hooked on trying to help her get a gentleman caller because she would have
The Glass Castle is a memoir by Jeanette Walls in which she tells the story of her childhood and the way she became who she is. Her way to her balanced present was too difficult and full of hardships, yet she managed to become a successful and prosperous person whose life experience gave her a push to make her life happy. It stands to mention that the novel is full of symbols which contribute to reader 's understanding of Jeanette 's character and represent her most important traits and desires. Besides, all the symbols such as the fire, the Joshua tree, the geode and the glass castle are recurring and contribute to understanding the struggle of Jeanette 's childhood and her ability to overcome it and build a successful life. Fire is an
The Glass Castle written by Jeannette Walls is story that revolves around a family that faces the hardships of a low class life, constant frustration, and hopelessness. I believe this story is centralized by the title of the book. “The glass castle” throughout the book is a dream, it is dream to Jeanette and her whole family, it represents a better life in a better place. Jeannette Walls centralizes her writing based on diction, the writer specifically chose unique words to show her experiences and emotions, this helps readers interpret the story from the writer's point of view.
Imagine growing up on the streets, living in cars, in broken homes and then living in an apartment on Park Avenue in New York City. The Glass Castle, by Jeanette Walls, is a memoir about Jeanette and her siblings childhood, going through poverty and parents who were were irresponsible, neglectful and careless. The memoir talks about the many obstacles their family faced and how they overcame them. Jeanette moving to New York symbolizes a new chapter in her life and becoming independent from her family, and finally breaking the “skedaddle” streak. After high school, college is the next step in life.
“Women clapping their hands and screaming with glee while respectable mothers held up their babies to see the fun” (source D from the packet) Kristallnacht, also referred to as The Night of the Broken Glass, took place in November during the year 1938. The quotation displays how normalized the destruction of Jews was to typical working class German citizens. It acquired this title because Jewish shops and homes were destroyed, specifically, the windows of these shops were smashed to pieces in great acts of anger. The German citizens who were terrorizing the Jews had an audience, Germans crowded the streets to watch Jewish homes light up in flames. The killing of Jews was so normalized by Hitler and his public humiliation of this minority of
Matthew Seikel Mrs. Wood English III 07 February 2023 The Importance of The Metaphor The Glass Castle The goal of building The Glass Castle caused many ups and downs for the Walls family. In the book The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls the family is very poor and Rex who is the father wants to build a glass castle for the family. Jeannette who is the author and one of the main characters has positive outlooks and negative outlooks on her father wanting to build the glass castle. Rex tries his hardest throughout the book to bring happiness in trying to build the glass castle however, it seems he hurts the family rather than helping the family.
In The Glass Castle, Walls portrays the effects of poverty and neglect on mental health by showing us the ways depression lives in the lives of her and her family members. Rosemary Walls, Jeannette’s mother, is a character who experiences depression throughout the book. Her depression is shown in the lack of motivation to provide for her children, her tendency to isolate herself from her family, and her reliance
The Glass Castle is an extraordinary story of resilience and redemption, and a revelation about a family who was once deeply dysfunctional but uniquely vibrant. I believe that the story is highly suitable for people my age as it covers the issues about how the quality of parenting affects a child’s views, opinions and dreams as he grows up. It clearly shows how parents’ strengths and weaknesses, successes and failures influence how a child thinks and behaves. When sober, Jeannette's brilliant and charismatic father captured his children's imagination, teaching them physics, geology, and how to embrace life fearlessly. But when he drank, he was dishonest and destructive.
In The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, it tells about how the Walls family move to different desert towns, settling in for as long as their father, Rex, can hold a job. However, his perspective of the state and society, and his alcoholism led them to move frequently. The children - Lori, Jeannette, Brian, and little Maureen- experiences unusual childhood, where they travel like nomads to find new money source. This lead to the theme, sometimes you can be mature and responsible at a very young age. The theme is developed by how Jeannette learns how to take care of herself and her younger siblings, and the way her parent taught her.
She shows her low self-esteem referring to her leg when she tells Jim, “To me it sounded like-thunder!” (The Glass Menagerie 1.7.35-36). Not only does she have low self-esteem, but her self-esteem is so low that she could not handle finishing Business School as she drops out. Through Laura’s small lies to Amanda, her mother, Amanda finds out and explains while quoting Laura’s teacher, “ And she said, “….. The first time we gave a speed-test, she broke down completely- was sick at the stomach and almost had to be carried into the wash-room!...”.”
As a child, Jeannette Walls moves around constantly with her family. The Walls family would move to different desert towns and settle as long as Mr. Walls can hold a job. When sober, Mr. Walls represents a charismatic father who loves his children and teaches them important life skills. He encourages imagination inside of the Walls kids and often captures their dream and creativity. Together, the family had planned to build a glass castle that contains all of the family’s hope and inspiration.
“Life is a drama full of tragedy and comedy. You should learn to enjoy the comic episodes a little more.” The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls has very important life lessons that will teach you to laugh at your tragedies sometimes. The most important lessons are that struggle makes you unique, you either sink or swim, and sometimes crisis makes you realize your potential. In the memoir, you will learn these and accept them.
The Glass Menagerie focuses on the roles, the social norms and ideas of the 1940s. But Williams wrote the characters as living in their own fantasies and failing to realize the realities of their lives. By inverting the archetype of "Cinderella", Williams is demonstrating that in real life, people don’t always get what they want, and it doesn’t end up “happily ever after”. In The Glass Menagerie, we follow the lives of three characters: Tom, Amanda and Laura that live in small apartment complex set in St. Louis.