Tom’s Monologue in Glass

Tom thought that he needed to leave right when his mother blamed him for not knowing that Jim O’Connor being engaged. He thought he had suffered enough under the constant scrutiny of his mother and he thought his life would be better off on his own. His monologue was his reflection after living on his own for quite some time, and how he still feels sorry for leaving his mother and sister on their own. It seems as if he has been gone a long time when he said,

“I didn’t go to the moon. I went much further-for time is the farthest distance between two places.”

This shows how believes how long his separation from his family is worse then how far away from his family he is. When he left he saw that it was necessary for him to leave but as he lived on his own longer and longer he began to maybe not regret his decision but regret the position the position he put his family in to when decided to go after his dreams. In his monologue, Tom doesn’t talk directly of how long he has been gone but instead tells how in the quote above that he has been gone longer then what he thinks is the distance to the moon but yet he still regrets his decision to leave his sister and mother when he said,

“I pass the lighted window of a shop where perfume is sold. The window is filled with pieces of colored glass, tiny transparent bottles in delicate colors, like bits of a shattered rainbow. Then all at once my sister touches my shoulder. I turn around and look into her eyes. Oh, Laura, Laura I tried to leave you behind me, but I am more faithful then I intended to be! I reach for a cigarette, I cross the street, I run into the movies or a bar, I buy a drink, I speak to the nearest stranger- anything that can blow your candles out!

[Laura bends over the candles]

For nowadays the world is lit by lightning!  Blow out your candles, Laura- and so goodbye”

This quote is Tom’s memories of Laura and his mother, and he how whenever he sees something, it always sparks his memories of them.  As Ms. Baz said, this is an autobiographical play for Tennessee Williams and how his own struggles with his own mother and family.  Even though he never left his family, this is what he thought would happen if he left his family.  He would never be able to forgive himself for leaving them alone without a way to support themselves.  When he says, ” For nowadays the world is lit with lightning” he is saying that he will have spurts of happiness and his life will mostly be filled with darkness.