Third draft

In the story, Tom Wingfield shows the elements of desires of escape, family struggle, guiltiness, and family love towards audience. We chose the last part of act 8 to show Tom's struggle with Amanda, his mother, and his desires to escape this family; and we chose the ending monologue to show that he feels guilty because of leaving Laura, who is crippled, and his family, which he used to be the only worker in the family, also shows the family love to Laura: even though he leaves his family, he always think about Laura. Tennessee Williams used tones of metaphors and similes to describe Tom's struggle with his family and the guilt he feels because of Laura. So by acting out Tom, it helps me to comprehend Tom's feeling after he leaves Amanda and Laura and his emotion when he finally makes the decision to leave his family. 

   In the act 8 when Amanda asked Tom why he did not know his best friend is engaged, Tom said: "The warehouse is the place where I work, not where I know things about people!"(Williams 67) It shows that Tom is getting furious because Amanda does not understand him. When Amanda keeps blaming him, Tom replied her in a short response:" I am going to the movies"(Williams 67). Just like the situation happened in previous scene, Tom went to the movies as a way to escape. In this situation, he is sick of Amanda's complaints, he used this short response to show that he was mad and did not want to talk with her. In Tom's ending monologue, he said: "I did not go to the moon, I went much farther."(Williams 68) At the end of Act 8, Amanda yelled to him that: "Go to the moon, you selfish dreamer!"(Williams 67), his word, I went much farther, implies that he thinks himself as a selfish person. In the ending monologue, Tom started his words by stating current situation after he left his family. He said: "The cities swept about me like dead leaves."(Williams 68) He felt helpless and homeless. Leaves supposed to hang on the tree, but since he left his family, the leaf dropped from the branches. Later on, he talked about Laura. "Oh, Laura, Laura, I tried to leave you behind me, but I am more faithful than I intended to be! I reach for a cigarette, I cross the street, I run into a movie or a bar... Anything that can blow your candles out!"(Williams 68) He said this sentence directly to Laura. Even though Laura was not there, Tom still saw her when he turned around. This implied that even though Tom left this family, he still thought about Laura. All the movement he said, like reach for a cigarette, run into a movie or a bar, was what he usually did after he got tired from the work in factory. He tried so hard to forget Laura, which means that he felt a lot more guilty because of leaving the house.

  In the performance, the first scene for me is the quarrel between me and Amanda. First, when I tried to portray that Tom thinks Laura and Jim will be engaged and he feels excellent because he brings Jim here, I walk from the stage left to stage center, make myself a drink, and look around to find Jim in order to let Amanda praise me. But when I heard Jim was engaged with another girl, I put down my cup, and staring at Amanda; and when I said: "Jim? Engaged?"(Williams 66), my voice became sharper, because I knew that Amanda would be mad and our dream was broken, nobody would take care of us. Then, Amanda said it seems very peculiar Tom did not know Jim was engaged, my voice starts to get low, and containing a bit of anger. As Tom, I did not want others to criticize me, and here was the place where the family struggles started. When Amanda said that what I am doing was all selfish pleasures, I stood up, shook my head, and slowly walked to the coat stand, to show that I endured enough of my mother's humiliation. And when Amanda asked me to leave, I said my words in a fast pace, so that feeling of anger can be shown to audience.

  The ending monologue starts with me walking on the bridge alone. Because in my comprehension, Tom was lonely. In order to show this, I walked slowly, then look around, tried to find something which I was familiar about it. Later in the scene, I said: "The cities swept about me like dead leaves, leaves that were brightly colored but torn away from the branches."(Williams 68) I portrayed this by using my voice; I emphasize the word "leaves" to show that even though the leaves are colorful, just like the talent that Tom got, it would not change anything, and when I said it was torn away from the branches, I lower my voice, and my voice sounds like I am desperate. Because Tom missed his family. He found out that after leaving the house, he could do nothing, which means that he lost his value and his goal. Just like when he said following his father's footsteps, Tom did not know what should he do. Later, when I said: "Perhaps, it was a familiar bit of music."(Williams 68) I stood there and listened to the music, in order to show that I was lost in my mind, thinking about my family, and Laura. Later on, I walked down the bridge, because I think on the bridge it limits my movements. After I walk down the bridge, I said Laura touches my shoulder. So I turned around, and pretend to look into her eyes because it was an illusion. I said:" Oh, Laura, Laura"(Williams 68), I said her name quietly. Because Tom thought it was his fault to let his family live in such a bad situation and he left his family, he did not have courage to call Laura's name loudly. Then, in order to show that I got shocked, I covered my mouth to try not to yell out. Next, I walked slowly, sit on a chair, and looked on the ground, because Tom at this point is feeling bad for his sister Laura. And he also felt a bit of regret so he will not be able to look straightly into Laura's eye if Laura is there. Following my words, I grabbed the cups on the table, and held it really hard, to show I am nervous. When I said: "Blow out your candles, Laura!"(Williams 68) I yelled it out, because Tom supposed to be nervous because he was talking to the person that he was scared to talk with. Then, I put down my cups, and said: " And so, good-bye!"(Williams 68) I said this as slow as I could, because this is a serious and solemn conversation with Laura. And in my opinion, this "good-bye" was not only talking to Laura, but also talking to himself, to the past Tom. Tom was going to have his new life, no matter good or bad.

 We as a group used a lot of props and lighting to show the characteristics that we want to emphasize. For example, we place a coat stand at stage right. When Tom was arguing with Amanda and wanted to leave, I stood out and take my coat which was on the stand, because it would tell the audience that I am going to leave. Talking about the lighting, the most important one was the lighting at the end of the play. When I said: "And so, good-bye"(Williams 68), the lights went off one by one. Because we think by using this type of ways, audience can get how desperate Tom feels more easily. 

    This book The Glass Menagerie contains a lot of descriptions about relationship between two people. When I first read this book, I did not like Tom, because I thought he was a selfish person, he did not think for his family. But later on, I found out that he was not a jerk, but the reality itself became a pressure to him and made him leave his family. Tennessee Williams used many techniques of writing to show Tom's characteristics. For example, he used a simile to portray Tom as dead leaves. He wanted to show that Tom was isolated, in another words, he isolated others. Acting as Tom helps me a lot to understand his feelings and what the words really mean. He wanted to be a poet in the future, but the reality showed that he could not. Because of his characteristics, he wont find someone to talk, instead, he wanted to take all of the burden by himself. Go to a movie or a bar was just a way for him to relieve stress. The Glass Menagerie not only helped me to improve my performance skills, it also promotes me to analyze the relationship between the characters, so it improved my ability to interpret the truly meaning underneath the sentence.

                                                            Citations:

William, Tennessee. The Glass Menagerie. Dramatists Play Service INC. 1975.