The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams is a character-driven play, which follows Tom's memories of his dysfunctional family. Throughout the story, Tom seeks freedom and his mother, Amanda, seeks stability for her daughter, but the daughter, Laura, herself is more concerned with maintaining peace in her family. Even though Laura does not want to fall into difficulties without the support of her brother and mother, she cannot seem to find the courage and confidence to step out of the imaginary world she has created to face life. Tom and Amanda are never really on the same page. Worse still, Amanda is a very powerful and strong-willed character, which seems to provoke Tom's desire to leave. In the background of this story is a character often mentioned but never available to respond to the assertions. The character mentioned but absent is Tom and Laura's father, who left their mother in an attempt to free himself from the bonds of marriage and the title of father. Tom is representative of his father in this story. Tom favors his father's passion for freedom over his mother's excessive and imposing will, but Tom also differs in that he cannot justify abandoning his sister without ensuring his sister's well-being . Amanda tricks Tom into leaving the house in the same way. like his father did; she even compares the two. Amanda says, “More and more, you remind me of your father! He was out every hour without explanation! – Then I left! Goodbye!" (Williams 1668). Amanda can see the similarities between Tom and his wayward father. She seems to realize that she has no chance of changing his mind; instead, she offers him a ultimatum which allows him to leave by helping him find a suitable middle of paper.........provide for his family in his absence Tom is certainly an imbecile but his consideration, which is born from love for. his sister, separates him from his father even if the conclusion takes him away from home Tom and his father are two men driven to the same conclusion by different modes It is easy to assume that Tom's character is just. 'a parallel to that of his father However, as the play develops, Tom reveals himself to be very different from his temperamental father. Although Tennessee Williams wants the reader to know why Amanda makes this comparison, he does not let her. not Tom being a simple copy of his father This makes the story more dynamic and helps develop the ending. Works Cited in Williams, Tennessee. “The Glass Menagerie”. Literature: an introduction to reading and writing. Ed. Edgar V. Roberts and Robert Zweig. 10th ed. Boston: Longman-Pearson, 2012. 1650-1697. Print.