Deception In The Glass Menagerie

Austin Gardner
Homer
English 112
April 27, 2015
A Deception Born Family
In The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams, the author writes about the experience of a small family living in St. Louis. The three main characters: Tom, Amanda, and Laura all have issues of their own, causing them to live in their own fantasies. Tom and Laura were abandoned by their father years before the setting of the play, having no form of contact with him. Deception, one of the most important themes in the play, will be analyzed. The play explains how people can put themselves in a fantasy when going through hard times, deceiving others, and even themselves. Tom’s deception can be very hard to understand, the reason being that he can seem caring toward his family,
Amanda tells Laura “This is the prettiest you will ever be! … Laura moves slowly to the long mirror and stares solemnly at herself.” (86) This shows that Amanda blinds herself from Laura’s issues, and also forgets to realize that when she says “You’re going to be surprised by your mother’s appearance!” (85) she is not what she used to be, and is therefore living in the past, trying to deceive herself again, by thinking that she’s still young and not grown up. Looking further into the quote, the mirror shows symbolism; her mother’s judgment of her. This is important because it lets the reader know Laura’s true thoughts, attempting to explain to the audience that she is very unhappy. Another quote from Levy’s book explains very well how Amanda is unknowingly hurting Laura, “Amanda slights Laura’s appearance even as she praises it. Laura is told that she has reached her peak at this moment: she will never again be as attractive. But Laura’s limitation only enhances Amanda’s excitement about her own ‘spectacular appearance!’ (87).” The explanation of the passage shows thoroughly how Amanda hurts Laura unintentionally, and also shows how Amanda continues to live in the past by saying that
He says “I left Saint Louis. I descended the steps of this fire-escape for a last time and followed, from then on, in my father’s footsteps, attempting to find in motion what was lost in space – I traveled around a great deal.” (60) He deceives both himself and his family, explained by another quote from McDonald’s analysis, “Tom tells his mother why he cannot be happy with his job or, by implication, with anything about his present life, which the job is seen to represent.” (McDonald 63) This closes the play, as Tom abandons his family and old life, in search of something new. Not only following his dreams to escape his old life, though, he had disregarded the fact that he supports the family, leaving them to support themselves. Therefore, he does not only deceive himself in the play, he abandons the family completely and does not