The Coffin

In The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams, Tom talks about the magic show, specifically about a  coffin. He compares his life to a coffin. He talks about how he is trapped in his home now because he cannot leave until he finds a man for his sister. I think that he compares his home to a coffin because no matter what he tries right now in his life he cannot escape from his house. He talks about how the man at the magic show was nailed into a coffin. "We nailed him to a coffin and he got out of the coffin without removing one nail" (Williams, 1249).  The man in the magic show that was trapped in the coffin is very similar to Tom's situation right now. The idea of escaping the coffin without removing a nail symbolizes Tom leaving the family without breaking the family. Since Tom is crucial to his delicate family, he is trying to find a way to leave his family without breaking them and destroying what they have together. Tom struggles with this throughout the novel and the reader never truly learns  how Tom deals with this struggle of escaping the family without breaking it. 

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.

Imagery

Scene 4 of The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams uses a great deal of imagery. In this scene, Tom says that he is going to the movies, but returns extremely late at night. When returning home late, he is questioned by Amanda about why he was returning home so late. Tom begins talking about how he attended the magic show that night. During this scene, a great deal of imagery is used to describe the magic show. Tom states, "He performed wonderful tricks, many of them, such as pouring water back and forth between pitchers" (William, 1249). He allows for the reader to really picture the magic show by describing some of the magic tricks that were performed. Some of the tricks that he goes in detail to talk about are turning water into wine and then turned it into beer, then finally turning it into whisky. By going into detail about the magic show, the reader also is able to come to the realization that certain parts of the magic show could apply to his real life. The reader can also begin to pay attention to what the symbolism could be regarding the tricks used in the magic show.

Symbolism

Symbolism is used in scene seven of The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams. At the end of the scene when Jim and Laura kiss there are many uses of symbolism. The first use of symbolism is when he knocks over her glass menagerie. "its lost its- horn it doesn't matter" (Williams 1282) The horn on the unicorn getting knocked off and it looking like a horse symbolizes Laura breaking away from her unusual ways and becoming more "normal". The unicorn is a very odd and mystical creature which symbolizes her unusual ways and lifestyles. The horse is a more normal character that society recognizes as acceptable. The unicorn changing into the horse symbolizes her becoming more acceptable to society. Another use of symbolism at that scene has to do with the fact that she isn't even upset about the fact that he broke her glass menagerie. The fact that she isn't upset symbolizes that she is okay with embracing this new lifestyle of being open to society. She is also accepting the fact that change is not always a bad thing in today's society.

"Those Winter Sundays"- Imagery

In the poem "Those Winter Sundays" by Robert Hayden, imagery is used throughout the poem. Throughout the course of the poem, different kinds of imagery are used. In the beginning of the poem, imagery is used to describe a dark and cold moment. "My father got up early and put his clothes on the blueblack cold, then cracked hands that ached from labor" (Hayden, 781). The use of imagery in the first stanza of the poem allows for the reader to really see the tone of the situation. The tone was dark and painful misery. Another form of imagery is seen in the poem, but this time it is to display the admiration and respect that he has for his father. "When the rooms were warm, he'd call, and slowly I would rise and dress" (Hayden, 78). The imagery creates a picture for the reader of a father who is working hard to provide for his family. He spends his time working to create not only actual warmth, but a sense of warmth in the household. Imagery is used throughout the course of the poem to display both cold and dark imagery and compassion and respectful imagery.

Acceptance and even friendship- My Papa's Waltz

Acceptance is a theme throughout the course of the poem "My Papa's Waltz" by Theodore Roethke. Throughout the course of the poem, the narrator learns to accept things that he does not particularly like about his father. In the first stanza, the narrator states, "The whisky on your great could make a small boy dizzy; but I hung on like death: such waltzing was not easy" (Roethke, line 1-4). Even though the narrator does not like the fact that his father is an alcoholic, he accepts him. When he states that he hung on like death, he states that he is going to stay by his father's side until the day he dies. The narrator states that  even though it is hard to tolerate a father who is "waltzing with alcohol", he learns to accept him for the man that he is. Not only does he accept him, but friendship is shown between them throughout the poem. The title talks about waltzing, which could symbolize friendship between the narrator and his father. The waltz is a dance between between two people who show compassion for each other. By talking about the Waltz in the title, it shows their journey of friendship, companionship, and acceptance of each other.

The Drunkard- Irony

In the short story The Drunkard by Frank O'Conner, there is a great deal of irony. The irony occurs concerning the son's drinking. The mother thinks that the son is a guardian angel for drinking the alcohol.  The mother states, "My brave little man... You were his guardian angel" (O'Conner, 351). She thinks that the son drank the alcohol in order to keep it away from his alcoholic father. But as a reader, we know that the son only drank the alcohol because of his curiosity. He was not even considering saving his father from he alcohol. All that he cared about was himself. Another use of irony is used when the Mom applauds her child for underage drinking. One would think that a mother would be upset at her kid for underage drinking, but instead, she approved of it. She even goes on to talk about how he is angelic like for breaking the law and underage drinking.