Diversity

Laura is also living in the world of her Glass Menagerie. They are her only friends and source of solace, which is emphasised when Amanda is questioning her about not attending Business College and she reaches for one of her animals sub-consciously out of comfort. Personification is also used when Laura is discussing her glass animals. She refers to the unicorn as “he” and discusses with Jim how “he stays on a shelf with some horses that don’t have horns and all of them seem to get along nicely together”. This symbolises her reclusive nature by not being able to make real friends, and has to resort to her Glass Menagerie or victrola for entertainment. As a result of not having much contact with the outside world, Laura, over time, has begun to exaggerate her crippled state to a point where when she walks “it sounds like thunder”, heightening her discomfort and self-consciousness. Laura is a character of diversity due to the fact that she lets her life be ruled by her brace and relies on her Glass Menagerie to fill her world with satisfaction. Tom is the narrator of the play and the son of Amanda. He is also a character of the play and is shown to be the most reasonable of all the characters due to the fact he has a typical job and works towards his future like a conventional young man. Tom wishes for escape from his mediocre life and controlling mother. We see her domineering element as Amanda takes away Tom’s book, written by D.H. Lawrence who was an infamous writer known for his sexually explicit books. Amanda states she will not “have such filth brought into her house” and Tom replies “House, house! Who pays rent on it, who makes a slave of himself to-". Even though Tom is a grown man he is still being treated like a child by being told what to read and what to do. Tom is frequently going to the movies in search of adventure, which he does not receive from his job at the shoe warehouse. The image on screen in Scene Four page 39 shows an image of a Sailing Vessel with the Jolly Roger which is a pirate flag. This symbolises Tom’s need for adventure and to escape his lacklustre life. Although we can see Tom as a normal person he however admits to the audience that the character Jim “...is the most realistic character of the play, being an emissary from a world of reality that we are somehow set apart from”. Due to the fact that all the characters are living in a world of their fantasies, they set themselves apart and are diverse from all others in society.