he faces only the dimness. Even during his reflections on the fire escape, he is not really separating himself because he is stuck in that metal frame, where he's still anchored to the apartment wall. Tom dreams of being a poet and escapes to fulfill his dream at the end. He later finds out that he cannot forget Laura, as he wanders around town aimlessly thinking of her. It comes to the end, where Tom is trapped by his past. Finally, our ordinary nice boy Jim character uses his glorified old memories saved by Laura to find some relief. Even Jim is still disappointed that his future hadn't turned out to be what he imagined in his glorious high school days, where he was that great man on the campus. Stuck also in the same warehouse job as Tom, he uses his past to project towards his future success in TV, believing he will better himself. While he takes classes in speaking, he hopes to recapture his good old high school days. Laura's admiration gives Jim feeling of need, and he fails to realize what he did to the fragile girl. Each time a character feels as if he or she is moving forward, they only move backward. Though the characters are constantly trying, nobody moves forward and nobody escapes. In the end, the play is like our own lives. A life filled with possible escapes but sometime there is no escaping. The character’s, just like so many of us, try to find their ways but succeed in tangling themselves in problems. These characters are victims of the time in which this play is written. During the Great Depression, many people were searching for that escape to a better life. Perhaps Tennessee Williams is trying to send a message that running away is not the way to solve life’s problems. In the 1930’s, the suicide rate climbed nearly 30 percent (810). In knowing this simple fact alone, it would be well understood that people were simply looking for a way out. Tennessee Williams uses the theme of e...
