The Glass Menagerie Contradiction

What makes a human a human? Other than physical traits, humans tend to share common thoughts, desires, and dreams. Some may dream to leave behind older lives and start fresh, while others may take after those who have succeeded in pursuit of happiness and a better life. Nonetheless, pursuing one’s own desires is not always possible. Forces of contradiction can come from relatives, society, or the individual himself. Individuals push forward, often times through difficulties, to choose their own paths or ideas despite contradiction, warnings or contempt from others.
A character’s mental state can create a block in the way of pursuing his own path or ideas. If said character is struggling through his own mental battle, the contradiction may come
In The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams, this is demonstrated twice-- first with the father, then with Tom himself. Tom takes after his father, who “was a telephone man who fell in love with long distances; he gave up his job... and skipped the light fantastic out of town” (Williams 5), suggesting that in living how he wanted to, Tom’s father abandoned his family in the process. The apple does not fall far from the tree, either, as Tom proceeds to do almost the exact same thing at the end of the play. Tom’s discontent with his life result in him “[going] to the moon...much further” (Williams 96) in an attempt to ease his displeasure, though he is never fully satisfied. A character similar to Tom is Gilbert Grape, from the film What’s Eating Gilbert Grape?, who abandons his family, for which he works hard to keep well. Tom and Gilbert both attempt to follow their own decisions to leave behind family, contradiction coming from their own consciences. However, as demonstrated by Gilbert, abandonment is not always
Gilbert Grape’s departure from his shoddy house and inconsistent family life does not last long. Gilbert physically drives back to his town in order to reunite with his girlfriend Becky and be there for his brother Arnie’s eighteenth birthday party. Gilbert’s self-acknowledged responsibility comes through and results in his return to work, similarly to how the narrator of “Stopping by Woods on a Snowing Evening” by Robert Frost recognizes and accepts that he “[has] promises to keep,/And miles to go before [he] [sleeps]” (14-15), suggesting that he, like Gilbert, has an obligation and must fulfill it, despite his urge to stay behind and let life go on. This responsibility is ignored, however, by Tom in The Glass Menagerie, who does leave, but does not return like Gilbert does. The dissatisfaction of his “new life” and his own personal guilt about leaving comes over Tom in the form of a ghostlike presence of Laura, whom he “tried to leave... behind, but [he is] more faithful than [he] intended to be” (Williams 97), demonstrating how the choice to follow one’s own path over his own social responsibility comes with the cost of guilt about those left behind. In these cases, contradiction to follow one’s own path comes from the pressure of