According to Tom, Jim is the most realistic character in the play and represents a world of reality that the rest of the characters are separated from. He is described as the long-awaited and anticipated presence that gives meaning to their lives (Williams 5). The introduction of Jim by Tom as a narrator carries significance, highlighting the ambiguity surrounding Jim’s character. To the Wingfield family, he symbolizes both the American Dream and a means to overcome their own limitations. However, given the circumstances of the early 20th century and subsequent events during Jim’s visit, his ability to fulfill these expectations becomes questionable. Nevertheless, as the play progresses, Jim manages to leave an impact on each member of the Wingfield family, though varying in degrees and durations.
This essay will explore the history and characteristics of the American Dream, as well as provide an overview of the play’s historical context. It will evaluate how Jim’s faith in progress and optimism influences Amanda, Laura, and Tom in their understanding of the American Dream and their perspectives on progress and technology.
Ultimately, the downfall of every character, including Jim, becomes unavoidable and illustrates that the gentleman caller’s arrival served as nothing more than a memento from a bygone ideal: a small flicker incapable of rekindling their joy.
The American Dream, the notion of upward mobility, is often considered the quintessential American ideology. This concept has its roots in the earliest American settlers and the Puritans’ emphasis on competition and material success. As the Westward Expansion and waves of immigration took place, the belief in America as the “land of opportunity” became firmly established. The American Constitution, with its inclusion of the Pursuit of Happiness, enshrined the right for individuals to excel in various domains such as sports, arts, and particularly business. This ideology also champions technological advancements, as exemplified by figures like Thomas Edison and Henry Ford who are viewed as paragons of individual success. Gender roles were also defined within this framework, with men expected to be the providers fulfilling America’s Manifest Destiny, while women held subordinate positions and admired their male partners’ achievements.
The play’s focus on the social background reveals that the myth has come to a halt. During the 1930s, the Great Depression caused many individuals to lose their Dreams. The aftermath of Black Tuesday in October 1929 brought about high rates of unemployment and low wages, coupled with a lack of social support. As a result, the American “Dream” turned into an American “Trauma” (Baier 29). Williams places his Wingfield family within the lower middle-class, which was severely impacted by the Depression as they were part of the “fundamentally enslaved section of American society” (3). This portrayal highlights their despair. On a larger scale, times were equally bleak: Tom mentioning Guernica in the introduction implies that dreams and hopes had to give way to an imminent second world war.
A crucial aspect of the American Ideology is its individualistic nature, which must be remembered despite its seemingly universal appeal. This individualism is rooted in personal expectations and inner hopes. In relation to the play, these differences between individuals provide the opportunity to examine each main character’s Dream separately.
Jim embodies the American Dream, as described by Tom. He was always in the spotlight, excelling in sports during high school. However, Tom hints that Jim’s success has come to a standstill. Despite pursuing radio engineering and public speaking, Jim still gravitates towards sports in the newspaper. His past achievements are only preserved in old magazines, and he ultimately shares a similar job with Tom, the gentleman caller.
Jim, who has lost his former greatness, confesses to Laura that his current life is not what he had dreamed of, stating, “I hoped…that I would be further…than I am now” (Williams 76). Despite this, he remains optimistic and still holds onto the flame of the American Dream. Jim is enamored with progress and technology, as he enthusiastically discusses the future of television and recounts his visit to the Chicago World’s Fair. He is also impressed by the Wrigley Building as a symbol of success and commerce. The gentleman caller’s worldview is straightforward and he openly promotes it in his conversation with Laura, declaring, “Knowledge – Zzzzzp! Money – Zzzzzp! – Power! That’s the cycle democracy is built on!” (Williams 82).
Jim believes that studying at night school is a suitable method for preparing himself for future success, despite the fact that the world of the 1930s is on the verge of losing all evidence of such success. According to Roger B. Stein, Jim’s optimism remains unshaken, even in the face of disappointment during the depression years (38). Gerald Weales also suggests that Jim is mistaken (103), pointing to his naiveté when Jim euphemistically claims that America’s future will be even better than the present time (Williams 72). Despite Jim’s hopeful outlook, the reality of the 1930s was far from wonderful, leading some individuals, such as Amanda Wingfield, to create their own fictitious realities rooted in the past.
Jim is forward-looking, but Amanda is stuck in the past. She clings to the traditional American Dream of being a Southern Belle, yearning for marriage to a wealthy husband and a blissful life. Unfortunately, her pursuit of this dream has been fruitless. Tom and Laura’s father abandoned their family many years ago. Amanda reminisces about her youth in Blue Mountain, where she received seventeen suitors in a single day. Regrettably, she failed to wed either the subsequent vice president or a highly affluent stockbroker, thereby forfeiting her chance at success.
Amanda has neglected the shift in values, as indicated by Williams’ early descriptions of the characters in his play: “A little woman . . . clinging frantically to another time and place” (Williams xviii). Gradually, she becomes aware that the outside world compels her to take care of her children, prompting her to sell journals over the phone. As her aspirations crumble, she desperately attempts to impose her values on Tom and Laura, as seen in Amanda’s repeated phrase “Rise and shine!” (Williams 23), which resounds throughout the Wingfield apartment.
Jim’s presence reignites the desires Amanda once harbored. Introduced by Tom, she dares to hope that this caller could be the ambitious type (Williams 46). Laura, in turn, becomes a substitute for her mother’s missed opportunities during Jim’s visit. As the old-fashioned Southern Belle, Amanda yearns to control her children’s destiny. Laura’s passivity is evident in scene five when Amanda instructs her daughter to wish for “Happiness! Good fortune!” (Williams 49). Thus, Amanda sees the gentleman caller as a means to attain the financial aspect of her cherished dream, while Laura seeks true love.
Amanda and Laura both live in their own imaginary worlds, similar to each other. In Laura’s case, it is the world of the glass menagerie. The impact that Jim has on this world is significant but temporary. His initial comment about Tom’s sister is that meeting a shy girl is unusual nowadays. It is Laura’s obvious fragility and inferiority complex that piques Jim’s interest. She poses a challenge for him, allowing him to demonstrate and practice his social skills that he is studying at night school. He projects all of his hopes and views about the American Dream onto Laura, though somewhat thoughtlessly. Disregarding Laura’s emotions, he starts lecturing her about her lack of self-confidence, almost like a therapy session with a doctor. However, Jim is far from being a doctor. His confusion of “Pleurosis” with “Blue Roses” is significant because it reveals his lack of knowledge and his romanticized view of the world. In his optimistic world, the Dream can still come true, whereas in Laura’s isolated world of glass, shaped by her disability and feelings of inferiority, any Dreams have long been shattered.
However, Jim changes her world briefly by dancing with her and kissing her. The last scene shows the difference between Jim’s carefree attitude and Laura’s newfound hope: “While the incident may seem insignificant, it is the highlight of Laura’s secret life” (Williams 70). When Jim accidentally breaks the glass unicorn, Laura initially doesn’t seem to mind. She is too excited to realize that her imaginary world is also shattered. But when she learns that Jim is dating someone else, she immediately reverts back to her old ways: “. . . Laura’s expression changes, her eyes slowly shifting from him to the glass figure in her hand” (Williams 89). The gentleman caller’s attempt to bring the introverted girl into his optimistic Dream has failed, revealing his inability to be a true American hero.
Unfortunately, Tom is also not considered an American hero. The similarity between them is their dissatisfaction with their current lives as they both strive to achieve the American Dream, although Tom’s dream is different from Jim’s. Williams depicts Tom as someone who is not enthusiastic about progress and technology. Instead, his daydreams revolve around spirituality as he aspires to become a poet, much to the confusion of Jim who jokingly refers to him as “Shakespeare” (Williams 50). Overall, Jim’s focus on progress and money in his interpretation of the American Dream only widens the gap between him and Tom.
Jim remains optimistic, but Tom’s situation has become more serious: because he is responsible for his mother and sister, he cannot pursue his own dreams. He expresses his frustration by saying, “For sixty-five dollars a month I give up all that I dream of doing and being – ever!” (Williams 23). It is clear that he wants to escape from the constraints of his family. He spends entire nights at the movies, which Baier accurately describes as a form of substitute satisfaction (54). However, Tom gradually realizes that the movies are no longer enough for him. He desires to have his own adventures, similar to those of the movie characters, and longs to embark on his own personal Pursuit of Happiness. His frustration reaches its peak in scene six when he declares, “I’m tired of the movies and I am about to move!” (Williams 61). By rejecting the film projector, Tom consciously disconnects from another technological aspect of his life, just as he does when he chooses to neglect the light bill in order to pay his dues for the seamen union.
Despite Amanda instructing her son to go to the moon (Williams 96), he refuses to comply. The moon, which represents dreams and progress during the 1930s when it was still unexplored, does not serve as Tom’s destination. However, it is possible that Jim would have embraced the opportunity to go there.
In summary, I assert that Jim, who was initially seen as the savior, is unsuccessful in saving the Wingfield family. He is too deeply immersed in their flawed world and is unable to consistently impart his positive outlook to Amanda, Laura, or Tom. Although Amanda must come to terms with the fact that she is the faded belle, her daughter continues to be the one who has never blossomed (Boxill 71). Lastly, Tom has not achieved greatness as a poet and remains burdened by guilt for abandoning his sister Laura.
In summary, the characters in The Glass Menagerie serve as a representation of how society as a whole struggles to achieve their own American Dream. Considering the historical context of the Great Depression and the impending Second World War, genuine optimism was difficult to sustain. This raises the personal question of whether it is preferable to construct a delicate facade to maintain appearances or confront the harsh reality.
Works Cited
Baier, Jochen. The Long-Delayed but Always Expected Something: Der American Dream in den Dramen von Tennessee Williams. Trier: Wissenschaftlicher Verlag, 2001.
Boxill, Roger. Tennessee Williams. London: Macmillan, 1987.
Stein, Roger B. (1977). “The Glass Menagerie Revisited: Catastrophe without Violence.” In: Tennessee Williams: A Collection of Critical Essays, edited by Stephen S. Stanton. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, pp. 36-44.
Weales, Gerald. (1998). “The Outsider in The Glass Menagerie.” In: Readings on The Glass Menagerie, edited by Thomas Siebold. San Diego: Greenhaven, pp. 101-07.
Williams, Tennessee. (1999). The Glass Menagerie. Introduction by Robert Bray. New York: New Directions.
