Essay/Term paper: Glass menagerie

Essay, term paper, research paper:  High School Essays

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.