Sunday, January 19, 2020
Free Things They Carried Essays: The Girl Next Door :: Things They Carried Essays
The Girl Next Door in The Things They Carried The Feminist Approach Method to critical analysis examines the feminism implied within the text. In Tim O'Brien's, The Things They Carried, the story, "Sweetheart of Song Tra Bong," is a story about the changes in a female when she is exposed to war. But, more importantly it is a story that illustrates how women are more than sex objects. "Sweetheart of Song Tra Bong," proves that female and male stereotypes do not always apply. "Sweetheart of Song Tra Bong," is a story being told by Rat Kiley to Mitchell Sanders, two soldiers of the Vietnam War. Mark Fossie's girlfriend, Mary Anne Bell, comes to stay with the soldiers in their perimeter. She arrives to Vietnam by a helicopter with the daily shipment of supplies for the soldiers. When the soldiers meet her she is identified as an innocent blond with "white culottes and this sexy pink sweater" (90). Even her name is a direct reference to the Virgin Mary, a sign of purity. The men in the perimeter are attracted to her, because they see her as a sex object. They view her as a daily source of survival. In the beginning of the story, Mark Fossie guides Mary Anne around by the arm, but after a while, Mary Anne begins to guide herself. Slowly, she becomes curious about the equipment and the war. She begins to adapt to life in Vietnam by eating with her hands, and using the phrases she hears from the soldiers. She becomes less concerned about her appearance and her cleanliness, and she begins to use weapons. Her voice becomes lower, her body becomes firmer, and her eyes become colder. She is becoming less of a sex object to the soldiers, because she is more masculine. One night Mary Anne does not come back to Fossie. He begins jumping to the conclusion that she is sleeping with other soldiers, when actually she is just hanging out with the guys. Mary Anne explains to Fossie that the war is like an appetite. On page 111, she states: "I can feel my blood moving, my skin and my fingernails, everything, it's like I'm full of electricity and I'm glowing in the dark-I'm on fire almost-I'm burning away into nothing- but it doesn't matter because I know exactly who I am." This statement is referring to the idea that Mary Anne has found a part of her that was always missing.
Saturday, January 11, 2020
Gwen Harwood ââ¬ÅFather and Childââ¬Â Essay
The poem ââ¬Å"Father and Childâ⬠by Gwen Harwood shows Harwoodââ¬â¢s father teaching her the concepts of life and death, from when she is a young child in ââ¬Å"Barn Owlâ⬠up to when she is around forty at the time of his death in ââ¬Å"Nightfallâ⬠, coming to accept the idea that life is not never-ending. In part one called ââ¬Å"Barn Owlâ⬠; she has learnt to accept death as a component of life. The persona of the poem experiences a loss of innocence with the discovery of the tragedy of death. Before shooting the owl, the child believes they are the ââ¬Å"master of life and death,â⬠with the noun, ââ¬Å"master,â⬠reflecting the power that the child feels and the ignorance that the child has about the nature of death. This description of the child is later contrasted in the fourth stanza, ââ¬Å"I watched, afraid by the fallen gun, a lonely child who believed death clean and final, not this obscene bundle of stuff.â⬠The emotive term, â⬠Å"afraid,â⬠represents the change in the personaââ¬â¢s attitude after being exposed to the harsh reality that is mortality. However, the rhyme and last line ââ¬Å"what sorrows in the end, no words, no tears can mendâ⬠releases an element of inexpressible sadness that she has towards the death of her father showing that although she accepts death, it still upsets her as it did in ââ¬Å"Barn Owlâ⬠. Father and Childâ⬠Nightfallâ⬠is more metaphorical and symbolic suggesting a more mature persona like an adult. The poem represents a humanââ¬â¢s journey over time of learning to mature and accept death. The poem ââ¬Å"Father and Childâ⬠explores the reversing roles of fathers and childrenââ¬â¢s roles as time goes on. Nightfallâ⬠is more metaphorical and symbolic suggesting a more mature persona like an adult, and is about a child grown to adult age spending time with her father before he dies. The symbolism of the imagery presented through the poem is of the passing of time, this is shown in words like ââ¬Å"temporalâ⬠, ââ¬Å"transienceâ⬠, ââ¬Å"lateâ⬠, ââ¬Å"night and dayâ⬠, ââ¬Å"grownâ⬠and ââ¬Å"ancientâ⬠, this represents the ageing of the father and child and emphasises how they have grown both physically and mentally. The use of the word ââ¬Å"angelâ⬠in ââ¬Å"Barn Owlâ⬠suggests the closeness of the father-daughter relationship. Also the line ââ¬Å"I leaned my head upon my fatherââ¬â¢s arm, and wept,â⬠shows the caring and comforting nature of the father. However, ââ¬Å"Nightfallâ⬠shows the childish nature towards her father starts to disappear and that she has developed great respect for her father. This is first implied through the phrase ââ¬Å"Father and child, we stand in timeââ¬â¢s long promised landâ⬠which shows they have a united front facing deathà together. This is further emphasised through the rhetorical question of ââ¬Å"Who can be what you were?â⬠showing the appreciation for her father, as she recalls her fatherââ¬â¢s ââ¬Å"marvellous journeyâ⬠. Also, the use of direct speech from the father asking, ââ¬Å"Be your tears wet?â⬠is an allusion to Shakespeareââ¬â¢s play ââ¬Å"King Learâ⬠, where King Lear asks this same question to his upset daughter Cordelia on his death bed, this is where King Lear discovers that Cordelia was the only child that truly cared for him, suggesting that the persona has been faithful in caring for her father up until his death. ââ¬Å"Old kingâ⬠is a similar allusion again implying that the persona appreciates her fatherââ¬â¢s life thinking it was great and it needs to be treasured. ââ¬Å"Nightfallâ⬠is suggesting that although loved ones pass, it is important to hold the memories shared close; so spiritually, they are never really gone even though physically they have passed.
Friday, January 3, 2020
Mary Joyce s Eveline The Classical Signs Of A Victim
Children do not have the option to come into this world. They come into this world because of either of their parentsââ¬â¢ choice or because of their mistake. However, once children are born, their parents have the opportunity to write whatever they wish to write on their clean slate ââ¬âââ¬Å"life.â⬠Indeed, some kids grow up in a safe environment and have loving parents, but some children are reared by the parents who themselves grew up in an abusive family and do not know how to raise kids. Abuse does not see race, gender, or stature, yet it happens every day in a close - knit relationship. Abuse can be so subtle that it slowly chips away a personââ¬â¢s identity, and the person does not even realize that they are in an abusive relationship. In James Joyceââ¬â¢s, ââ¬Å"Eveline,â⬠Eveline exhibits the classical signs of a victim to abuse. She lacks self-confidence due to her fatherââ¬â¢s verbal, emotional, and financial abuse. Eveline lacks confidence due her father s verbal abuse. Eveline is nineteen years old, yet she is afraid of her father. Although Eveline s dad does not abuse her physically, he threatens to beat her. Eveline believed he would do so because, since childhood, she witnessed ââ¬Å"her father used often to hunt them in out of the field with his blackthorn stickâ⬠(Joyce 597). When Eveline s dad finds out about her affair with Frank and forbids Eveline to meet him, Eveline lacks the courage to profess her love for Frank openly to her father. She starts meeting Frank secretly. Her father
Thursday, December 26, 2019
Impooving Employee Performance - 72019 Words
IMPROVING EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE THROUGH APPRAISAL AND COACHING Second Edition IMPROVING EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE THROUGH APPRAISAL AND COACHING Second Edition Donald L. Kirkpatrick Foreword by Dick Grote American Management Association New York â⬠¢ Atlanta â⬠¢ Brussels â⬠¢ Chicago â⬠¢ Mexico City â⬠¢ San Francisco Shanghai â⬠¢ Tokyo â⬠¢ Toronto â⬠¢ Washington, D.C. Special discounts on bulk quantities of AMACOM books are available to corporations, professional associations, and other organizations. For details, contact Special Sales Department, AMACOM, a division of American Management Association, 1601 Broadway, New York, NY 10019. Tel.: 212-903-8316. Fax: 212-903-8083. Web site: www.amacombooks.org Thisâ⬠¦show more contentâ⬠¦Today, nothingââ¬â¢s changed. Don Kirkpatrick remains one of the most inï ¬âuential and thought-provoking thinkers and writers in the ï ¬ eld of performance management and the development of human talent in organizations. Most human resource management professionals are familiar with Donââ¬â¢s contribution to the ï ¬ eld of training and development through his development of what now is commonly referred to as ââ¬Ëââ¬ËKirkpatrickââ¬â¢s Four Levels of Evaluation.ââ¬â¢Ã¢â¬â¢ Don observed that the evaluation of a training programââ¬â¢s effectiveness begins with Level Oneââ¬âReaction . How well did the participants like the program? But too many evaluation efforts donââ¬â¢t go any further than a smile sheet. More important than how people felt about the program, Don told us, was Level Twoââ¬âLearning. Did the participants learn the skills the program was designed to teach? Did they do better on the posttest than they did on the pretest? Regardvii viii F OR EW OR D less of how much they liked the program, did they actually acquire the skills the program intended to teach them? But thatââ¬â¢s still not enough. While users may have liked the program and scored high on the ï ¬ nal exam, the next levelââ¬âBehaviorââ¬âis much more important. Are the participants using what they learned back on the job? Have the trainees transferred their new skills and learnings to their everyday environment? Finallyââ¬âand here comes the bottom-line questionââ¬âhas all this effort made any difference? Yes,
Tuesday, December 17, 2019
Revenge in Edgar Allan Poes The Cask of Amontillad Essay
Revenge in Edgar Allan Poes The Cask of Amontillado In the story The Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allan Poe, he writes about a man named Montressor who for some reason (one that we do not know) vows revenge on a well respected and even feared guy named Fortunato, to better understand the story though you will want to know about the author Edgar Allen Poe. Edgar Allen Poe has been a huge influence to many writers in short stories. Most of his tales deal with detective, and gothic horror tales, and in most of his tales readers live the story through first person narrator like in The Cask of Amontillado who tells the tale. The factâ⬠¦show more contentâ⬠¦Like when he says thousand injuries of Fortunato I have borne as I best could, but when he ventured upon insult I vowed revenge. (Poe 1-2) This first line is a prime example of that abnormal behavior because even though this m ight seem rational its not. Why would someone go as far as to horrifically murder that person just because of an insult. Whats more is he doesnt really say what fortunate did to him. So this is another clear sign that Montressors act of revenge is a sign of being insane. As they progress into the catacombs Fortunato is bombarded by all these hints and clues about his coming doom but this is what truly is evil that montresor is truly insane enough and mad enough to make fortunato a fool. Some hints and clues is when fortunato is encumbered with a cough supposedly from the nitre and Montressor acts as though he is concerned and asks if they should go back in which in return Fortunato replies The cough is a mere nothing, it will not kill me. I shall not die of a cough (Poe paragraph 37). Which in reply Montresor says true true. Also Montressors coat of arms the he el stomping on the snake that is biting the heel. As they get deeper and deper into the catacombs another thing that goes on between Montressor and Fortunato that stands out is when they talk about the freemasons which is a secret guild of
Monday, December 9, 2019
Work Life Initiatives Organizational Change ââ¬Myassignmenthelp.Com
Question: Discuss About The Work Life Initiatives Organizational Change? Answer: Introducation Consideration of values is imperative for career management because our values are the subset of our ideas and beliefs. These are a crucial part of who we are. Hence, it is important to identify them before we select a career or decide whether to take an employment offer (Kossek, Lewis and Hammer, 2010). Hard skills required I plan to pursue a career in accounting. For this, I require the following 5 core skills: Proficiency in MS Office suite, particularly Excel 95% of the accounting work is done in Excel, and hence I need to be able to work on it. Familiarity with tax preparation software Accounting is no more manual and software are used for everything to make work easier. Knowing how to use this software is important to reduce my workload and perform effectively (Greenhaus, Callanan and Godshalk, 2009) Familiarity with regulations, standards and practices Every accounting transaction needs to be prepared to keep in mind the accounting standards. Knowledge of preparing and interpreting financial statements This is the most basic accounting function which I must know Knowledge of implementing accounting control Knowledge of accounting control is required to mitigate risk. Demonstrated capacity to communicate effectively My work experience as an intern at XYZ company implied that I cultivated and applied abilities in this area. I was regularly dealing with clients, suppliers and the staff both over the phone and in person. One of my main duties included field customer enquiries that used my communication skills. I had to coordinate with different parties like creditors, banks, clients, debtors and affiliate firms. Apart from performing regular accounting tasks, I also had to draft letters, prepare reports, send emails, and write interpretations for management evaluation and decisions. I clearly and precisely documented all the above information in the companys filing system. By using effective written and oral forms of communication, I ensured a healthy relationship with our clients and other stakeholder groups which provided them with efficient customer service. Resultantly, my supervisor appreciated my communication skills at the completion of my internship. Good organizational and administrative skills As a competent junior accountant intern, I demonstrated a proven ability to organize things effectively and solve problems. I am an extremely organized person with the potential to maintain precision and work to stringent deadlines. I have also successfully discharged several administrative responsibilities. In all such roles, I performed general admin duties like arranging meetings, sorting and sending emails, handling telephonic and client enquiries etc. Through my role as an intern, I have drawn on my administrative and organizational experience to recommend several improvements to augment office efficacy and add professionalism to the client base. These recommendations have been implemented. Proven ability to work as part of a team I have worked as part of a team in both my graduation and during my internship, and hence I understand the significance of good teamwork. As a member of a team, I am aware of my role plus the roles of my peers to ensure expected results. I have been engaged in teams which have a problem-solving method to tasks and have assisted in the formulation of action plans. I really enjoy the opportunity to collaborate and brainstorm opinions and ideas. In one such experience, I recommended an alternative method to solve an accounting problem, and other team members contributed toward other domains of that project. Great teamwork resulted in the project being highly successful. I collaborate effectively with all my teammates to facilitate a flexible communication environment by discussing issues we might have. I also coached others, junior members, when required. Well-developed customer service skills I have worked in the customer service domain in the finance industry during my internship. My job involved direct contact with customers and I was usually the first point of contact for our companys clients. I was proactive in my association with clients and was successful in building a loyal consumer base in my community. This involved frequent calling in talking about any needs the clients may have. I am committed to and passionate about offering exceptional customer service and am keen on taking further training in conflict resolution, customer feedback and customer relations. I have confidence in my ability to handle any situation which may arise. Proven ability to manage projects My project management abilities are demonstrated well enough through the completion of a significant research project that I undertook for my Honors Degree, plus working as a volunteer at Community Care where also I formed a grant submission. The latter experience encompassed creating a project plan outlining the crucial milestones of the project and producing a GANTT chart to set out the timelines for every milestone. I prepared two presentations to the team on my progress. My proposal was approved by the Fundraising Officer, and the institution received $5000 for new equipment for supporting community program. My Honors assignment included the proper management of the entire project phase, from getting ethics permission to conducting a literature review to undertaking interviews and evaluating and reporting the findings. Elevator pitch Hello, my name is XYZ. I stand here today to sell my resume. But I want to tell you personally what my resume does not include. My resume would tell you that I am an accounting major at ABC college. However, my resume will not tell you I am not typical student as I believe in practical learning. My resume shows that I have worked part-time and also as an intern where I proved my mettle as an accountant. I have shown immense passion toward my work as I did every task from a simple administrative job through to advanced financial statement reporting and interpretation. Further, when I aim to accomplish something then I work mornings, nights, holidays and weekends to accomplish it irrespective of hindrance factors. Everything I do has a purpose, and me being here is not an accident. I am deeply interested in the entry level accountant position at your firm. I believe your organization is the ideal place to hone my skills and then use those skills to contribute toward the achievement of business objectives. I know I am right for this position as I am dedicated and motivated to move my career past multiple part-time jobs and internships I have had before. Through these work experiences, I have learnt to be a team player and have demonstrated sound abilities to organize and manage work. If you require any further information, you can email me. Linked in as social media branding References Kossek, E., Lewis, S. and Hammer, L.B., 2010. Work-life initiatives and organizational change: Overcoming mixed messages to move from the margin to the mainstream.human relations,63(1), pp.3-19. Greenhaus, J.H., Callanan, G.A. and Godshalk, V.M., 2009.Career management. Sage.
Monday, December 2, 2019
The Glass Menagerie
Written by Tennessee Williams, The Glass Menagerie is a masterpiece and it passes as a memory play for it exposits Tom Wingfieldââ¬â¢s thoughts. A wishful poet, brother to Laura, and son to Amanda and ever absent Mr. Wingfield; Tom works hard in a shoe store to provide for his mother and sister. Amanda on the other side is a complicated mother who regales her children in this moment and scolds them in the next.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The Glass Menagerie specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Amanda plays important role in Lauraââ¬â¢s reticence and pathological shyness. While she cannot be blamed for making her shy in the first place, she is to blame for making Lauraââ¬â¢s continued shyness. Instead of supporting Laura emotionally, she goes out to look for quick fixes and material gains. First, she enrols her in a business school for her to earn some good fortune. After realizing Lauraââ¬â¢s weakne ss has kept her out of school, she does not care to investigate the problem and settle it amicably; on the contrary, she resorts into finding her a fiancà ©. These are uninformed decisions and she is to blame for Lauraââ¬â¢s continued shyness. If only Amanda were supportive, Laura would probably gain self-confidence and have high self-esteem. Amandaââ¬â¢s reminiscences on her youth in the South are not reliable. They are too overstated to be true. How can someone get seventeen callers in one afternoon? This is unrealistic; therefore, judged from this platform, Amandaââ¬â¢s reminiscences are treacherous. Throughout this play, there are different forms of music, movies, and legends. These elements create emotional impact in the play. The audience can connect with the main characters. For instance, the music and lightning used make the audience connect with Lauraââ¬â¢s shortcomings, Amandaââ¬â¢s indifference, and Tomââ¬â¢s struggles. This play suggests a repressed desire boiling under the surface. Tom holds this burning passion; he wants to get out there and explore the world. This burning desire explains why Tom visits a witchdoctor and finds a way of getting out of a coffin without the hustle of pulling any nail. He coffin here represents Wingfieldââ¬â¢s home. The object of Tomââ¬â¢s longing is to explore the world out there and this is why he plans to accompany Merchant Seamen to get out and explore the world. He says, ââ¬Å"I am tiredâ⬠¦movies tranquilize people, making them content to watch other peopleââ¬â¢s adventures without having any of their ownâ⬠¦plan to join the Merchant Seamenâ⬠(Tennessee 62). This trip would finally quench Tomââ¬â¢s desire to explore the world.Advertising Looking for essay on american literature? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Absence of Mr. Wingfield affects his children and wife greatly. Tom has to work for the family whilst Laura knows only a nagging mother. Perhaps she would gain self-confidence and self-esteem if she had her father around her. Amanda is ever worried because of her fatherless family. She is too concerned about her familyââ¬â¢s financial security that she would not let Tom leave without getting Laura a suitor who would provide for her. To counter her fears, Amanda enrols Laura in a business school hoping that she would be stable; provide for her self and probably for the family. This stems from the fact that she fears without a father; her family would be insecure. If only Mr. Wingfield were around, she would be financially secure. Jim Oââ¬â¢Connor is a ââ¬Å"nice, ordinary, young manâ⬠(Tennessee 5). These adjectives come out clearly in the context of the play. Due to his ââ¬Ëordinaryââ¬â¢ nature, he manages to win Lauraââ¬â¢s confidence, dances with her, and finally kisses her. His ââ¬Ënicenessââ¬â¢ drives away Lauraââ¬â¢s fears and low self-esteem and she opens up to him. As the play closes, Tom tells Laura, ââ¬Å"Blow out your candles, Lauraââ¬âand so good-byeâ⬠(Tennessee 97). Audience may respond to this statement by concurring to it. Laura has to blow out her candles and reach for the lighting that lights the world nowadays. Tom is the protagonist in this story. Tom is the most crucial to the playââ¬â¢s dramatic action because everything revolves around him. Without him, the Wingfields would not be, Jim would be unknown, and the central theme of illusions would not be realized. Works Cited Tennessee, Williams. ââ¬Å"The Glass Menagerie.â⬠Oxford; Heinemann Educational Publishers, 1968. This essay on The Glass Menagerie was written and submitted by user Dorothy Hart to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here. The Glass Menagerie Introduction The Glass Menagerie is a play that was written by Tennessee Williams and debuted in Chicago in 1944. It won a New York Drama Critics Award a year later. The Glass Menagerie propelled Williams to higher circles in the literary industry and established him as one of the most articulate playwrights in America.Advertising We will write a custom term paper sample on The Glass Menagerie specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Plot The Glass Menagerie has three major characters, Tom Wingfield, his mother, Amanda and his sister, Laura. Tom is an upcoming poet and works in a warehouse. His father abandoned them some years back and, apart from one postcard, has not communicated with the family since. Tomââ¬â¢s mother is from a genteel southern ancestry and frequently narrates the stories of her youth to her children and the number of suitors who wanted her. She is upset that her daughter, who is agonizingly shy, does not draw a si milar number of suitors. Amanda takes her daughter to college hoping that she will have her own family and an occupation. However, she discovers that Lauraââ¬â¢s extremely shy behavior has made her to drop out of college and spends her days roaming in the city all by herself. Lauraââ¬â¢s only comfort seems to come from her music records and a set of small animal statuettes. Tom hates his job and is dying to leave the family in order to have fun in the outside world, he frequently stays out late and claims to have been at the movies. In one of the disagreements with his mother, he unintentionally breaks Lauraââ¬â¢s animal statuettes. Amanda tells Tom to find suitors for Laura at the workplace and Tom chooses Jim Oââ¬â¢Connor, his friend, and asks him for dinner at their place. We learn that Jim went to the same school as Tom and Laura. Before Jimââ¬â¢s arrival, Laura makes Amanda to wear a new dress while she wears a beautiful gown to remind her of her youth. Jim arriv es and is let in by Laura, but she leaves, leaving the two men alone. Tom informs Jim that he used the electricity bill to join the merchant marine and intends to leave the family, Jim informs about his aspirations to become an executive. The lights go out as the characters are still having dinner and are forced to light candles. Amanda persuades Jim to entertain Laura as she and Tom clean up. Laura is initially too shy to converse with Jim, but his friendliness soon warms her up to him. She admits that she knew and developed a crush on Jim but was too shy to talk to him. They talk fondly about their schooldays for some time. Laura then decides to show Jim her favorite animal figurine, a unicorn, but he unintentionally knocks it and its horn breaks, making it resemble other horses. Shockingly, she forgives him and laughs off the occurrence. It is obvious she likes him. Eventually, Jim tells her,Advertising Looking for term paper on art and design? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More ââ¬Å"Somebody needs to build your confidence up and make you proud instead of shy and turning away andââ¬âblushingââ¬âSomebody ought toââ¬âought toââ¬âkiss you, Laura!â⬠(Williams, scene 7). He kisses her but swiftly withdraws, apologizes, and mentions that he has a fiancà ©e. Laura presents him with the broken animal as a memento. As soon as Jim leaves, Amanda reprimands Tom for bringing home an engaged man for a suitor. Tom had not known that Jim had a fiancà ©e. As they argue, Tom shouts: ââ¬Å"The more you shout about my selfishness to me the quicker Iââ¬â¢ll go, and I wonââ¬â¢t go to the movies!â⬠(Williams, scene 7). Tom becomes the narrator at this moment as he was at the opening of the play and explains how he left his family and ran away, just as his father did. He spent many years journeying overseas, but something still bothered him: he is unable to forget the guilt that Laura place d on him. Characterization Tom Wingfield Tom acts as the authorââ¬â¢s mouthpiece in some scenes. He provides a separate explanation and evaluation of what is taking place. He also acts in the play. This duality in role makes Tomââ¬â¢s position confusing to the audience, as we do not know whether to trust the role he plays as a character in the play or that of being a narrator. However, The Glass Menagerie is partially an autobiography and Tom is Tennessee Williamââ¬â¢s mouthpiece, therefore we can learn of Williamââ¬â¢s experience in his own youth through Tom (Heintzelman Howard, pp. 182). Tom is full contradictions, on one hand he reads books, writes poems, and wishes he could escape the family and have adventure, but on the other hand, he appears to be inextricably attached to the nasty, paltry world of the Wingfield apartment. We know that he studies D. H. Lawrenceââ¬â¢ works and tracks the politics of Europe, but we do not know his intellectual ability. Besides, we have no knowledge of the genre of his poetry. All we know is his thoughts on Laura, Amanda, and his job- exactly the things he wants to flee. Tomââ¬â¢s position on his mother and sister is clearly puzzling. While he evidently cares for them, he is often unconcerned and even mean to them. His closing speech shows how strongly he feels for Laura, yet he abandoned her (Bloom, pp. 57).Advertising We will write a custom term paper sample on The Glass Menagerie specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Amanda Wingfield Amanda has a hard time measuring up to her role as a single parent. She is frequently nagging Tom and refuses to recognize Lauraââ¬â¢s shy behavior. She also reveals a readiness to sacrifice herself for her children. Fro example, she engages in the embarrassing labor of subscription sales to increase Lauraââ¬â¢s chances of landing a suitor, she does it without ever complaining. Similar to Laura and Tom, she pulls out of reality and engages in fantasy: she frequently tells her children of the number of suitors that came after her, and wishes the same for Laura. However, she feels she is not doing enough and involves outsiders. Her numerous monologues with her children plainly reveal her moral and psychological failures, but they are also some of the most vivid and memorable statements in the play. Laura Wingfield The emotionally disabled Laura is the only character that never upsets anyone. Despite having a heavy burden, she demonstrates deep kindness and empathy: she sheds tears due to her brotherââ¬â¢s unhappiness despite the egotistic and resentful acts that typify the Wingfield household (Williams, scene 4). She has the least role in the play among the Wingfields, yet everything in the play revolves around her. The major symbols in the play- blue roses, the glass unicorn, the complete glass menagerie- all seem to characterize her (Bloom, pp. 74). Everyone in the play sees Laura as one who can assume whatever role they wish, similar to a transparent glass that takes on any color going through it. Her mother uses her to stress how glamorous she was during her youth days while Jim and Tom view her as an exotic being, very different from others. Themes The Impossibility of True Escape Tom amuses his sister with the story of a magic show in which the magician escapes from a nailed coffin. He pictures his life at home and at the workplace as a confinement. The desire to escape haunts him throughout the play and in the end, he opts to free himself by running away from his mother and sister. This escape haunts him wherever he goes and leads to questions of morality. How does an able-bodied young man leave his struggling mother and a sister behind for reasons only beneficial to himself? Leaving home is no true escape for him and no matter how far he wanders, memories of home still linger in his mind. Difficulty of Accepting Reality One feature of characters in The Glass Menag erie is their difficulty in accepting the truth, especially Amanda. Lauraââ¬â¢s keeps glass animal figurines- items that are fanciful and precariously fragile. Tom is a realist: he has a job and makes friends with other people, be eventually succumbs to fantasies written in books and the trance offered by alcohol, he runs away from home to seek adventure.Advertising Looking for term paper on art and design? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Amandaââ¬â¢s relationship with reality is the most distant if the three: she desires to achieve financial and social success and wishes the same for her daughter. She cannot come to terms with the realities of life, for example, she refuses to accept that Tom is not an upcoming businessman, that Laura is unique, and that she might be to blame for some of her childrenââ¬â¢s failures (Heintzelman Howard, pp. 257). Works Cited Bloom, Harold. Bloomââ¬â¢s Modern Critical Interpretations. New York: InfoBase Publishing, 2007. Heintzelman, Greta and Howard, Alycia Smith. Critical Companion to Tennesseeà Williams. New York: Facts on File, Inc., 2005. Williams, Tennessee. The Glass Menagerie. New York: Random House, 1945. This term paper on The Glass Menagerie was written and submitted by user Sofia Martinez to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.
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