Parallels in the lives of Tennessee Williams and the Glass MenagerieTennessee Williams is one of the major writers of the mid-20th century. His work includes the plays The Glass Menagerie and A Streetcar Named Desire. One of the themes of The Glass Menagerie is that hopeful aspirations are followed by inevitable disappointments. This theme is common to all of Williams' work as well as to his own life. This is manifested through the use of symbols and characters. "I have only one major theme for my work, which is the destructive impact of society on the sensitive, non-conformist individual (Williams Netscape)." The symbols help show the dreams and desires that the characters aspire to as well as the restrictions that prevent them from achieving those dreams. In The Glass Menagerie, the fire escape symbolizes Amanda Wingfield's means of bringing a man into the house to save her and her daughter. For Tom, the fire escape is a way to escape from the house that traps him: a path to the outside world (Susquehanna. "New Critical"). The rainbows in The Glass Menagerie symbolize hope and are associated with hopeful situations (Susquehanna." New review.) When Tom Wingfield receives a rainbow-colored scarf during the magic show, he is amazed at the fact that she transformed a bowl of goldfish into flying canaries. Just like the canaries, Tom hopes to fly away to escape his imprisonment (Susquehanna. "New Critical"). the “pieces of colored glass, like broken pieces of a rainbow” (Williams 137),” he remembers leaving his sister behind and prays that he can move on without her. Even though the rainbows seem like positive signs throughout the book, they all end...... middle of paper ... it's something they can relate to. His honesty through his writing brings hope to people who seek it. Works CitedHaley, Darryl "Some Moral Values: A Rhetoric of the Outcasts in the Plays of Tennessee Wililiams." 1997< http://www.angelfire.com/al/haley002/Proctectus.html >Susquehanna University. “New review.” Online publication.< http://www.susqu.edu/ac_depts/arts_sci/english/lharris/class/williams/new.htm >Susquehanna University. “Biographical review”. Online publication.< http://www.susqu.edu/ac_depts/arts_sci/english/lharris/class/williams/auto.htm >"Biography of Tennessee Williams: playwright, poet and screenwriter." American Decades CDROM 1.0. Detroit: Gale Research, 1998 Weales, Geralt. “Tennessee Williams.” Scribner Writer Series, Complete Edition. New York: Charles Scribner's sons, 1997.