Glass Menagerie Essay, Research Paper
Glass Menagerie: Relationship Between Jim and
Laura
Essay submitted by Sarah
In high school, Jim was basically your all around nice guy. He was friendly to everyone,
and an example of this is that he called Laura «Blue Roses». He was being friendly when
he nicknamed her that, but otherwise they didn’t really talk to each other. That was
basically under the only circumstances that they actually talked. The only reason that
Jim asked Laura what was the matter in the first place, was because she was out of
school for a long time and he was just a little concerned like anyone that is your all
around nice and friendly type of person would do.
Jim was confident about himself all throughout high school. Laura was not. Evidence to
prove Jim’s confidentiality in himself is when Tom is telling us about Jim, «He seemed to
move in the continual spotlight…He was always running or bounding, never just
walking.»(pg.61)
Evidence from the text to prove Laura wasn’t very confident in herself, is when she
says, «Yes, it was so hard for me, getting upstairs. I had that brace on my leg – it
clumped so loud!…I had to go clumping all the way up the aisle with everyone
watching!»(pg.94)
Jim was always in the company of others. Evidence of this is, «He seemed to move in a
continual spotlight. He was a star in basketball, captain of the debating club, president
of the senior class and the glee club and he sang the male lead in the annual light
operas.»(pg.61) Laura was the exact opposite of him. She was a bit of a wallflower.
She did not like being around other people because she thought that they were
mocking her, so this is why she tried to just blend in with the crowd.
Jim had fond memories of his time in high school. As Tom would say, «He was a star in
basketball, captain of the debating club, president of the senior class and the glee club
and he sang the male lead in the annual light operas.»(pg.61) This is the memories that
Jim has from high school. Laura, on the other hand, has only one fond memory of high
school, and that memory is Jim. She remembers Jim as this perfect guy that everyone
liked. And she liked him too, just because he took the time to give her a pet name and
inquire about her health. Other than that, her memories of high school were all bad. As
she would say, «I had that brace on my leg – it clumped so loud!…I had to go clumping
all the way up the aisle with everyone watching!»(pg.94) Laura basically remembers
high school as a time where everyone was making fun of her because of her disability.
In reality though, hardly anyone, if anyone, even noticed! How this all ties in with their
relationship now, is that it is still basically the same, with a few slight changes. Laura is
still just as in confident about herself, but by then end of the text, Jim has helped her
to build up her confidence about herself a little bit. Evidence of this is when Jim
accidentally breaks the unicorn, and Laura ends up giving it to him. This symbolizes how
Laura is feeling more confident about herself, because before it was her most valued
piece of glass because it was different from all the others, and in this way reminded her
or herself, but Jim helped to get rid or her horn, so she is now like all the rest. Jim still
feels confident about himself, but he is less of a hero now. He thinks that he can go
places, but he doesn’t exactly have a cheering team over in the corner rooting for him,
like he did in high school.