500 word essay symbolism in the short story the glass menagerie

500 word symbolism in the short story the glass menagerie - Essay Example One of the first symbols encountered by the reader is the fire escape. The fire escape represents both a literal and symbolic way to leave the house. It also represents a major them in the story – the need to escape. Williams describes the Wingfield house and makes note of the fire escape. He explains â€Å"huge buildings are always burning with the slow and implacable fires of human desperation† (scene i). Certainly this is true of the Wingfield family. Tom wishes to escape from his boring job and current lifestyle because â€Å"Man is by instinct a lover, a hunter, a fighter, and none of those instincts are given much play at the warehouse!† (scene ii). He does succeed, occasionally, in finding comfort in movies, drinking, and magic shows. The fire escape represents his ultimate path to his freedom. His regular trips onto the fire escape to smoke foreshadows the permanent abandonment of his family. In the final speech of the story, Tom states â€Å"I descended the steps of this fire escape for a last time and followed, from then on, in my father’s footsteps, attempting to find in motion what was lost in space† (scene vii). Laura wishes to escape too. However, she seeks refuge not in the real world but within the house and a reality all her own. The fire escape protects her from the outside world. She wishes to isolate herself from the world where her deformity is laughed at and her shy spirit is crushed. Even when she ventures out on to the fire escape she slips representing another failed attempt at entering the real world (scene iv). is a symbol of the affection that Laura seeks and the cruelty that world offers her. Blue roses are both unusual and mysterious which reflects Lauras personality. The nick name while seemingly affectionate was actually a play on the term â€Å"pleurosis† which Laura suffered from in her childhood. Additional, the use of the name Rose pays