Glass Menagerie

This play is complex, it features a broken family almost like Purple Hibiscus. The son, Tom; he is one of the most important character. He is left with the biggest role after his father left, he is now to support his family on his own because without him; there would be no family. He must work day in and day out at a warehouse/factory to make enough to support his mother and sister. Tom lives in a constant state of frustration because he wants to be able to provide for his family but the burden is heightened because now that his father isn't there anymore, he feels obligated to be the support. But his mother always believed that he was selfish because he wish he could of followed his dream to become a poet. Now he is stuck at a job that he hates with all his being because in that day and age gender roles were very prominent. The women would be the caretakers of the house and the men would be the ones who got their hands dirty and brought home the money. Tom and his mother never see eye to eye which inevitably leads him to arguments almost all the time and it causes him to fall deeper into the pit of being stressed and frustration. He picks up a few bad habits along the way when he starts staying out later and drinking more. If you were Tom, would you also feel obligated to provide for your family if one of your parents left?