lities are treated made her think that everyone notices the limp and it become a huge stumbling block to normal living. Her inability to overcome this defect causes her to withdraw into her world of illusion. Tom Wingfield, Amandas son is another character in the play that was tormented by Amanda and others. His coworkers at the shoe warehouse pester Tom because he is different from them. They ridicule him because he is a sensitive and poetic person not the manly, hard working blue collar worker they want him to be. In addition, Amanda constantly tells Tom how to eat, how to comb his hair, how to act, and what he should be. As a result of this, Tom rebels and instinct sets her off. She believes the word to belong to animals and not Christian adults. tries to explain to his mother that man by instinct are a fighter, a hunter, and a lover. When Amanda hears this she nearly explodes. As a result of the nagging from his mother and coworkers Tom became a more creative person. The people that poke fun at Tom do not change him in anyway. In fact, it encourages him to rebel even further and he decides not to change a bit, only be himself. Tom begins to go to the movies every night and to drink alcohol to escape reality. Tom realizes that these are only temporary psychological escapes and he must begin to live an adventurous life instead of watch adventure. Tom begins to write poetry more often and reads many books. When Amanda began to confiscate the books which he had brought home, his life became almost intolerable. Some say that Amanda and the people that bullied him caused Tom to change for the worse and made him more selfish. He left his mother and sister to care for themselves at home and left the house in pursuit of adventure. In reality, Toms rejection of his family was not a selfish escape. Instead, Tom recognized that he must escape in order to save himself. It was a means of self-preservation. He knew that if he...
