I completed the book the Glass Menagerie and was somewhat disappointed by the ending. Again I will write my version of the seventh scene. After dinner Jim and Laura are alone in the parlor. They proceed to catch up with each other and Laura reminds Jim of the nicknames that he gave her in high school “Blue Roses”. At this moment Jim manages to make Laura more comfortable and then proceeds to dance with her culminating in kissing her. After this I thought that this story was too good to be true. Maybe everything would work out after all. Laura and Tom would fall in love and Tom could follow his dreams. But soon enough we find that Jim is already engaged, a fact that no one not even Tom, was aware of. During this scene of them dancing Jim bumps a table that Laura’s favorite glass figurine is sitting on. It falls and the horn of the unicorn falls. I thought that this possibly was an image that was important. A fantasy figure was turned into a common mortal horse. This possibly could be illustrating that Laura was moving past her ideal fantasy world into reality. Laura’s reaction on page 86 shows that now possibly she realizes that there are more important things in life. “Horn! It doesn’t matter. Maybe it’s a blessing in disguise.” I thought that this imagery was very powerful.

When Jim is about to leave Amanda makes the comment on page 94 “Goodbye, Mr. O’Connor. I wish you luck- and happiness-and success! All three of them, and so does Laura! Don’t you, Laura?” And Laure replies “Yes!”. Jim warns Laura to not forget his advice of believing in herself. I think that at this point Laura’s outlook on life has changed dramatically. After Jim leaves Amanda finally breaks and begins arguing with Tom. At this point Tom leaves to follow his dreams. But the end on page 97 we find that “Oh, Laura, Laura, I tried to leave you behind me, but I am more faithful than I intended to be!” I think that even though Tom is following his dreams he still thinks about Laura all the time. Tom ended up being like his father and running away when things were hard.
There were several words that I was unfamiliar with. To start with I didn’t really know what menagerie was. It is a place where animals are kept and trained especially for exhibition. Next on page 6 Amanda refers to mastication. This is when you grind and knead (rubber, for example) into a pulp. Additionally on page 4 in the setting up of scene 1 the word proscenium is used. This means the part of a modern stage in front of the curtain.