There is no such thing as a perfect family, or a perfect person for that matter. Each family is dis-functional and has their own issues to deal with. However, it’s unfortunate that one person has the power to make everyone around them miserable and frustrated. In The Glass Menagerie, by Tennessee Williams there is a family of three who live in a small, cluttered home and have more problems than most, and is seems as though the problems begin to build up and it makes the air harder to breathe.
The mother, Amanda, is loud and obnoxious about everything. She wakes her son in the morning for work and says, “Rise and shine! Rise and shine!” in the most irritating tone. It’s like nails on a chalk board. Amanda is like any other mother and wants the best for her children. She sends her daughter, Laura to the Business College, and later discovers that she drops out. Her son, Tom, is the man of the house. He works and pays the bills, but he is the most unhappy and most miserable soul. The personalities of these three characters can be compared to one person and that’s Blanche Dubuois from A Streetcar Named Desire. Blanche has many personalities, and acts a certain way around different people. Laura is very timid, and gentle, especially around the gentleman caller, Jim O’Connor. She has a hard time letting her guard down and letting people in because she is so insecure with herself, which is a lot like Blanche. When Blanche is around Mitch, (her love interest) she doesn’t tell him everything about her at once, and she looks for a complement where-ever she can get one.
Tom, Laura’s brother has his own issues as well. Most of the time he’s off on his own trying to figure out what’s going on in his head, but when he’s angry he doesn’t hold back.
Tom: Listen! You think I’m crazy about the warehouse? You think I’m in love with the Continental Shoemakers? You think I want to spend fifty-five years down there in that- celotex interior! with- fluorescent- tubes! Look! I’d rather somebody picked up a crowbar and battered out my brains- than go back mornings! I go! Every-time you come in yelling that God damn “Rise and shine!” “Rise and shine!” I say to myself, “How lucky dead people are!” But I get up. I go! For sixty five dollars a month I give up all that I dream of doing and being ever! And you say self- self’s all I ever think of. Why, listen, if self is what I thought of, Mother, I’d be where he is- GONE! [He points to his father's picture.] As far as the system of transportation reaches! [ He starts past her. She grabs his arm.] Don’t grab at me, Mother!
Blanche still lets it all out, but not quite at violently as Tom. When Blanche talks about her past with her husband, she explains that the majority of the reason why she is who she is, is because of what happened to her in the past. Her husband who was homosexual had killed himself, and she hasn’t fully recovered.
“Don’t go any closer! Come back! You don’t want to see!” See? See what! Then I heard voices say -Allan! Allan! The Grey boy! He’d stuck the revolver into his mouth, and fired- so that the back of his head had been-blown away!
However, Amanda and Blanche are the most similar. They are both in their older years and are beginning to notice they are not as “vibrant” as they once were. They are always talking down about themselves so that others will politely disagree.
Blanche: It isn’t enough to be soft. You’ve got to be soft and attractive. And I- I’m fading now! I don’t know how much longer I can turn the trick.
Amanda: Something I’ve resurrected from that old trunk! Now, just look at your mother! This is the dress in which I led in the cotillion.
Both women are also terribly uncomfortable around the light. They always like it dim and dark so no one can see their true age. Blanche is by far more uncomfortable with her image than Amanda. Blanche always feels as though she has someone to impress, as if someone is always watching her because she was never good enough for someone to stick around or to satisfy someone else. However, Amanda knows she’s not young anymore, Blanche knows it too, she just refuses to see it.
It’s unfortunate that someone could be so diverse in so many negative ways. It’s unfortunate because now everyone else has to deal with the next mood swing, or a mental breakdown. The people surrounding that person end up getting annoyed and frustrated and end up getting rid of the problem, or taking themselves out of the picture. In A Streetcar Named DesireBlanche is sent away to a mental hospital, which was probably the best solution. However, InThe Glass Menagerie, Tom is the one who leaves. He’s tired of dealing with the stress of a hard day and getting nothing in return except the irritating voice of his mother in his ear. It’s sad to say, but there are real families that are as dis-functional, if not more, than these two, and you never know who might give up and walk out.
