The Glass Menagerie (Blog 3)
By: Tennessee Williams

All of the characters in this play are dealing with internal conflicts.  Amanda is trying to cope with an internal conflict centered around her son Tom.  Amanda's husband left her family years ago, and they have no idea where he even is.  I think that she fears that Tom will leave her family, too.  Tom is very frustrated with his life, especially with his job at the warehouse.  In Scene 4, she and Tom get into a very heated argument.  Amanda is upset by Tom's leaving every night to go to the movies, and she doesn't believe that he actually goes to the movies.  "'Why listen, if self is what I thought of, Mother, I'd be where he is-GONE!' (Pointing to father's picture)" (1247).  Tom denies that he would ever leave his family, but that does not comfort his stressed out mother.  I think that Amanda recognizes that Tom is the only source of real income for the family, and she has no idea what they would do if Tom left.  I was surprised at the end of the play when Tom shares that he left his family behind after he was fired.  I didn't think he would do this, especially when he kept trying to reassure his mother that he wasn't like his father in that sense.  I thought that he cared about his family enough that he wouldn't do this to them.