The Glass Menagerie Symbol

Jim is a symbol for reality. As Tom puts it in his opening monologue, the gentleman caller (Jim) is an "emissary from the world of reality that we were somehow apart from" (p. 23). Jim is a stark contrast to Amanda, Laura, and Tom, who all looked to escape in some form. Amanda lives in the past and reminisces her glory days when she had seventeen gentleman callers; Laura avoids confrontation and reality by polishing her glass menagerie and playing the Victrola; Tom escapes reality by going to the movies every night. Jim serves as a wake-up call, since his visit triggered Tom leaving and escaping the monotonous cycle in which he was trapped. Jim was the catalyst that made Tom truly realize that there was a whole world out there that he was missing. Although it is less concrete, Jim's visit may have also given Laura more confidence and caused her to take action in her life, and Jim breaking her unicorn could have represented Laura's fantasy world being broken, exposing her to reality.

Jim is slightly more complicated than just symbolizing reality, however. Jim, as a character, hopes for the future, and even has some slightly unrealistic expectations. Jim longs to achieve the "American Dream," which is extremely unlikely and improbable during the Great Depression. Even though he is more present in reality than the Wingfield family, Jim still lives in the future and thinks too highly of himself to be entirely planted in reality. Therefore, Jim does represent reality for the Wingfields, while remaining a slightly unrealistic character himself.