Chris Winkler
HUMN 142 - Litureature
October 2, 2015

Tom Wingfield
Tom Wingfield is a man in his early thirties who is still living with his family. Tom has been working in a dead end job for a long time. He is the possibly creative person caught in a materialistic and conventional world. Tom Wingfield works at a disliked and dreaded job in a shoe warehouse (Williams, 1945). He knew that he never had a future with the warehouse and that he had to carry out himself without disappointment or else be ruined as a sensitive creature. This prompts him to labor harder in poetry that he sees and find more fulfilling than anything else. Thus, Tom had his independent world poised off the things he measures as important; his poetry, his freedom, his dreams, his illusions and his adventure (Annabell, 2009). Tom's conflict only exists between the realistic world and his world.
In general, the Tom Wingfield family is from a conspicuous Southern family, which has a traditional background, and has agonized a reversal of social and economic fortune at some point (Williams, 1945). “The Glass Menagerie” gives a look into a dysfunctional family. Previously, it looked as if their lives were normal. However Amanda’s “desire to reserve her single-parent family looks familiar. The Wingfield’s family is typically struggling to get by. The family’s problems stem from their incapability to communicate with one another. Instead of sorting out their differences, all of them resort to desperate behavior. The distraction that the Wingfields hold has made them make illusions in their minds to become deceptive. Tom, Laura, and Amanda are all caught up in a grid of desperation, deception, and denial, and it is this setup that stops them, from living emotional, productive, and fulfilling lives together (Annabell, 2009).
Tom has sought to escape from Amanda's irritating commands and inquisition by attending movies almost every night. This was Toms search for adventure not knowing he was watching adventure instead of living it. The drinking and movies were just momentary psychological escapes. Movies were a type of Tom’s adventure to pay off for his dull life. He wanted an escape from Amanda's bossy instructions. Tom resisted that a man is by instinct a lover, a fighter, and a hunter (Williams, 1945). For him, these qualities were decent as opposed by his mother. Tom realized that his sensitivity and creative abilities were being ruined by his surroundings. He realized that he would undergo unhappiness, regret, and a whole decline of his creative abilities.
Tom’s major motivation came during the time that he rejected his family. This act was not egocentric and selfish escape. He recognized that he needed to escape in to save himself. It was a way of self-preservation. He was going to be destroyed as a man if he stayed and as an artist. However, as man, artist, and as a thoughtful individual, he never forgets his life, especially the subtle loveliness and charm of his sister (Annabell, 2009).
Tom Wingfield resembles and differs from his modern equivalent based on his attitude toward Laura and Amanda puzzled critics. Although he cares for them, he is often indifferent and also cruel toward them. He had strong feelings for his sister Laura. Nevertheless, he heartlessly deserts her and her mother, Amanda, and he also behaved lovingly and kindly toward Laura. His confusing behavior shows an incestuous magnetism toward his sister and also his shame over the attraction.

Refferances

Annabell, S. (2009, May 23). English Composition 2, The Wingfield Way. Retrieved October 1, 2015
Williams, T. (1945). The Glass Menagerie.