Laura and Jim

At the end of The Glass Menagerie, Tom brings his friend over to dinner at the families house. Amanda requests that he brings home a man from work for Laura so that he can finally leave the family. Jim, the man that Tom brought home from dinner, plays a significant role at the end of the story. Amanda truly believes that Jim could be the man for Laura. It is very obvious when she talks about how romantic he is. Amanda states, "Well that shows your romantic" (Williams, 1272) when Jim talks about how his favorite kind of light is candle light. At the end of the story, it talks about how Jim has truly broken Laura out of her social shell and allowed her to begin to talk to men again. Before, the only male in her life was her brother because he Dad walked out on her. Jim taught her that it is okay to associate with other men in her life. He also taught her that she can trust men and that not all of bad, even though he was engaged while this was happening. Their very short time together made a tremendous impact on Laura and her social status.