Symbolism in The Glass Menagerie Symbolism plays an integral role in Williams' work, The Glass Menagerie. Examples of the use of symbolism include the fire escape, as an escape from the family, the gramophone, as an escape from reality, the unicorn, as a symbol of Laura's uniqueness, and the photograph of her father, which represents something different for each character. Through the repetition of these symbols, a greater understanding of the theme of the work is achieved. Throughout the play, Tom Wingfield was torn by the responsibility he felt for his mother and sister and the need to be a man. He used the fire escape the most in the show. He went out to stand while smoking, to escape his mother's harassment, and to gain his final independence from his family. Tom didn't like being responsible for his mother and sister, working day after day. in a job he hated. He wanted to run away down those stairs and never return. In scene V Tom talks to the audience about what he observes from the fire escape, Paradise Dance Hall. The ballroom for him was what he wanted, everyone lived exciting lives "hot swing music and liquor, dance halls, bars and movies, and sex hanging in the dark..." Tom wanted to live a more exciting life. In the final scene Tom says: "I walked down the steps of this fire escape for the last time and from that moment on I followed in my father's footsteps, trying to find in motion what was lost in space." Tom wanted to be free and for him the fire escape was the exit to freedom. Movies were also a big part of Tom's life. He went to the movies when he and his mother argued or when he felt he needed a little excitement. In Scene IV Amanda asks "Why do you go to the movies so often, Tom?" and...... half of the sheet......nger; anger because he abandoned them and is doing what he wants. The symbols used in comedy are a means of escape. For Tom it is the movies and the fire escape, for Laura it is the Victrola and his glass and for the father it is his photo. He escaped the responsibility of raising and paying support for his family. Works Cited and Consulted Beattie, Elisabeth L. "The Glass Menagerie." Main plots, ed. Frank M. Magill. Second revised edition. vol. 5. Pasadena: Salem Press, 1996.Bigsby, CWE “Entering the Glass Menagerie.” The Cambridge Companion by Tennessee Williams, ed. Matthew C. Roudane. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997. Williams, Tennessee. Conversations with Tennessee Williams, ed. Albert Devlin. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 1986. Williams, Tennessee. The glass menagerie. New York: New Directions Publishing, 1995.