Marissa's Summer Reading

By the end of the book things still haven’t changed, Laura still fragile after being lied to by Jim. Money is still an issue, for example when Tom didn’t pay the electric bill and Amanda is still criticizing Tom after Jim left Laura and she claimed Tom knew Jimwas engaged. In the final scene the symbolism between Laura and her glass collection is blunt when Jim compares Laura to the broken unicorn. I was still uninterested throughout the book.

Scene 5 is focused around Amanda and Tom. The scene begins with Amanda yet again criticizing Tom but this time about his looks and how much he smokes. They move out onto the fire escape where they wish on the moon. Amanda confesses her wish is success and happiness for her children which shows even that she is a very critical person she is also very caring. Tom then brings up the gentleman caller that he has found for Laura even though she wants no part in it. I predict that Laura will be kind to Mr. O’Connor because so far she is not a rude person.

Scene 6: Amanda and Laura begin getting ready for Mr.O’Connors visit. When Amanda is getting ready we can tell she is trying to relive her childhood by wearing the dress she wore when her gentlemen callers came and bringing up many old memories. When Jim O’Connor arrives Laura wants no part of meeting him because she went to high school with him. When they try to sit down and eat dinner Laura still won’t come until her mother forces her to. I don’t think Laura will be very social during and after dinner considering she didn’t even want to answer the door when Jim came.

This scene isn’t very exciting but shows us more of Laura’s sensitivity. After reading this scene I think Tom is only staying because of Laura. First off he has to support her financially and he also does what she asks. For example, Laura asked Tom to apologize to Amanda, and he did. He also does things that will benefit her such as finding her a ” nice young man,that’s clean living and doesn’t drink”. Even though Laura hasn’t been scene much so far I think she is the most important character to the play.

In this scene it is obvious that Tom and Amanda don’t have a good relationship. I feel bad for Tom, being the oldest child and having to support his family with a job he doesn’t like. Next, looking at the hours he has to put in and the only way to relax is by going to the “movies”. I think Amanda expects to much out of Tom considering that the ways she works is selling magazines over the phone. And considering the conversation she had with her client she probably isn’t making much money. We also get to see how the glass menagerie symbolizes Laura. For example, when Tom breaks  glass she falls to the floor as if she has been hurt. So far this book there hasn’t been a lot of suspense so I haven’t been able to get into it.

In this scene I found that Amanda and Laura are complete opposites. Amanda is overly dramatic where as Laura is shy, nervous and self conscious because she is crippled. An example of Amanda’s personality is when she came in and dropped her hat and bag on the ground and started ripping up posters. An example Laura’s personality is when she dropped out of business school because she got nervous taking a speed test a threw up in front of everyone. At the end of this scene Amanda has set her goals to find Laura a gentlemen caller. If I was Laura I would feel a little awkward.

When i first read the introduction to this book I found it very bland. And after seeing the list of only four characters I thought it wouldn’t get  much better. But when I began to read Scene 1 I was not as bored as I expected to be. Although it was very short it gave a good background of how the Wingfield family lives and Amanda Wingfields past gentlemen callers. After reading about her gentlemen callers she had to choose from it is obvious to me she made the wrong choice considering her choice left her.