A Raisin in the Sun / The Glass Menagerie

In these two stories, the relationship between mothers and their sons are very vived and key to the play. These two relationships are similar and different at the same time. In both stories, the father figure is missing in the family. The mothers expect their male child to step up and take charge like a father figure. In The Glass Menagerie, Amanda, the mother, wants Tom to step up and take care of the family like her husband never did. She wants Tom to turn out like a man who is exact opposite of her husband who left her family to survive on their own. On the other hand, Mama in A Raisin in the Sun wants her son, Walter, to turn out to be the man her husband was. She cherished her husband and thought so much of him. Even when she received $10,000 for his death it was not enough. Mama believed that his life couldn't be measured by money. I am sure that Amanda would've given up her husband for $10,000 any day.

Both mothers and sons have a relationship full of arguments, but it is only because the mothers care about how they turn out. It is obvious that both sons do feel tied down because they have to work so much to support a family and cannot live out their own dreams. In the end, Tom fails his family, gives up on them, thinks of himself and leaves; like father, like son. Walter actually steps up to the plate at the end of the story and stands up to defend his family. Mama believes that it is his first step in becoming a true man.

A Raisin in the Sun

3. I feel that the protagonist is Mama because she is the conerstone of the family and is ultimately the one receiving the money. The antagonist would be Walter because of the pressure he puts on Mama about the check. Also, he argues with everyone in the household about something. I believe that Ruth and Bennie are foils in this story. Ruth is all about helping other people out and putting her family before herself. She is willing to kill her baby just so the family can live easier. This would destroy Ruth, but she wants what is best for the household in general. Bennie on the other hand is all about herself. She cares about her education, the activites she wants to do, and the men she dates.

Travis is a minor character who has a big impaact on the play. He is only a child and a minor charcter at that, but he plays a big part when one looks at the big picture. At the end of the play, Travis definitely had an impact on the decision made by the major character, Walter. Walter has to decide to stand up for his family and their rights or back down and leave the housing community. Mama makes Travis see this situation because I think she knew it would help Walter make the right decision as well as show Travis how real men act.

A Raisin in the Sun

4. This play is all about suspense in general. The play opens with all of the family members being in suspense about the arrival of the money and where the money would be invested. The family knows the day it will come, but they know not the hour. In this play, dramatic suspense is created by Ruth and her "sickness." The reader does not know for sure what is exactly happening to her, but they know that something is up. Then, Mama and Ruth reveal that Ruth is pregnant to the audience before Walter gets to know.

Then, once Mama receives the money, everyone is eager to know where it will go to. Once it goes into the hands of Walter the suspense is created by whether or not his liquor store will succeed. When it fails all suspense is lost. I believe that there is a lot of suspense incorporated into this story because of all the fard decisions that have to be made by family members when they know it will affect the rest of the family.

The Unicorn =]

Laura's little glass unicorn is one of the biggest symbols in the story. Williams makes it quote clear that the unicorn represents Laura. She is the odd one that stands among all of the other normal people, horses, and sticks out. Laura is different from everyone else, but I don't think that Williams doesn't want the reader to see this as a bad thing because he makes her equal a unicorn. A unicorn is majestic and not able to be comprehended. If he wanted to giver her a bad connotation, he might have made her a donkey or something.

At first, I really did start to see signs that Jim and Laura were connecting and I did catch a glimpse of hope for a future between the two. Jim was the one who brought Laura out of her shyness, removed her "horn," and made her a horse like everyone around her. This glimpse of hope was totally destroyed when Jim brought up Betty and at first I was extremely angry. I hate guys who lead on girls and I thought it was just going to be another one of those unhappy endings. Some people may see it like that, but I think Jim actually helped Laura more than he hurt her. I know that he had to hurt her because she has had a love for him since high school, but he helped her to step out of her bubble and face her fears. He also gave her some great advice. Even though we know that Tom leaves, I believe that Amanda and Laura will be much better off than they would've been if they had never met Jim.

Glass Menagerie

6. The physical effects of this drama are what makes this play possible and understood. First of all, the lighting and music help convey that this play is non realistic because it is a memory. Music just starts playing in scenes when important things occur. This is non realistic because in real like, music doesn't just start playing during impacting moments. Also, when Tom makes a reference to his father, a light directly shines on his photograph hung on the wall. This doesn't occur in real life either. There are some realistic parts to this drama also though because it did happen at one time. By the descriptions, I believe that the costumes, make-up, etc. help out with showing the realistic side. The playwright, Tennessee Williams, indicates these physical effects through stage directions. He is very specific and writes down exactly how everything should occur on the stage. I like how he is very detailed in doing this. It helps me understand more of what is going on since it is a play and is meant to be viewed.

Glass Menagerie

3. I believe that the protagonist in the play would actually be Tom. Since there are only four characters and they all play a big part, identifying the protagonist is harder, but I believe it is Tom because he is the breadwinner of the family and he is the narrator and in the play at the same time. The family depends on him to survive. I believe that even though there is a short character list, there are foil characters. Even though Tom and Laura are siblings and siblings are usually alike, I consider them opposites. Tom likes to leave the house and get out into the real world. He yearns for adventure and wants to escape the house. Laura wants the exact opposite. She is quite content with staying in her house and admiring her glass menagerie. She like to just sit and be content. She is shy and begins to feel ill when she even thinks of speaking to someone else besides her family. I do not believe that there are any minor characters in this story because each of the four characters plays a big part in the story. Each character does urge one another to advance the plot though. Especially Tom because he serves as the narrator and a main character. This whole story comes from his memory.