Tom as a reliable narrator

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In the Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams
The narrator in Tennessee Williams “The Glass Menagerie” is Tom Wingfield and he is also a character in the play. However, there is a distinction between the character of Tom as a narrator and Tom as an actor. Tom tells the audience from the start that he is the narrator and, therefore, he cannot be trusted with two roles in the play (Harris, 24). However, Howeverm,HHhe cannot refute the fact that the narrator is the reader’s guide explaining the actions taking place in the play. Due to this fact, he also permeates the play with its tone through the memories presented. However, the fact that Tom narrates the story in which he is an actor makes him an unreliable narrator, and we cannot take everything he says objectively, not to mention sometimes his emotions determine his point of view.
In the first scene, Tom informs the readers that the play is a memory play and intentionally exaggerates Amanda as a nagging character. We, as the readers, cannot rely on such a narrator to tell us only the truth. When the story is told by a character who is also in the story, it means there is the likelihood that it is altered and adjusted. It is imperative to consider that objectivity and possible accuracy have been removed from the story. From the beginning to the ending of the play, what Tom narrates to the audience is the truth in the camouflage of misconception (Williams, 04). When he uses the phrase “truth in the disguise of illusion” it becomes clear that he is not very sure of what about to show.

The audience only relies on the story as it is told from his perspective.
Characters in the first scene of the play such as Amanda, Laura and Tom himself are portrayed in quite a biased light. For instance, Amanda is depicted as a very nagging mother whose concern is everything, however little, that Tom seems to do wrong. The narrator concentrates too much on showing how insensitive Amanda was in his memories of the past. We also get the picture that Amanda did not care about the supposed discomfort of Laura, her daughter. It is evident that the narrator exaggerates Amanda’s characteristics and there are probabilities she loved and cared for her children (Harris, 79). The memory like nature of the play cannot make anything certain. The reader finds it hard to trust the thoughts and perspectives of a self-proclaimed magician.
The bottom line is, we cannot believe in his assessments of events or everything he tells us. By using Tom as a narrator and a character, the play may be missing out some vital parts if Tom decides to leave them out. If the roles were reversed and Amanda was made the narrator, we would not be surprised to see her focus on finding her daughter a gentleman caller. Comparing the narrating Tom and the acting Tom, the former is present even in scenes that he was not physically present. A good example is a conversation between Laura and Jim in the seventh scene. Moments such as this let his inner self as well as his imagination to emerge and come up with small embellishments to realistic series of events. Many argue that if the role of narrating was given to other characters who are not portrayed as heroes, they could still, in one way or the other, shed heroic light on themselves, and so does Tom.
In very many occasion, Tom demonstrates both real and juvenile emotions while taking part in the action of the play (Williams, 16). As a result, the reader’ understanding of him may be frustrated. In some instances, nevertheless, it is problematic to tell whether his judgments are indeed affected by his emotions, it is already proven that he cannot be reliable. The nature of recollection in this play is very problematic. Even though he projects himself as a magician, it is not easy for him to confront the past that had less virtuousness than the present. Therefore, there is a lot of tension between dramatic realities that are objectively presented and the distortion of truth through memories (Williams, 37). However, some writers say they cannot imagine of the play with Tom as the narrator. They claim that the entire story is seen through Tom as the Lens.
In summary, it is evident from this essay that Tom being a narrator and a character in the story makes him an unreliable narrator, and we cannot take everything he tells us objectively, not to mention sometimes his emotions determine his point of view. No one denies that Tom has a lot of influence on the play, but the point of view of a narrator who is also a character cannot be trusted (Harris, 110). As a character, he has little motivation, and we cannot commend his behaviors. In fact, he reveals at the end of the play that he could not shake off Laura’s memories. He had memories of his father and thinks that he is similar to him. Such emotions make him depict himself differently trying to justify his decision to leave Laura and him mother.
Works cited
Harris, Beau. An Actor’s Process in Performing the Role of Tom Wingfield in Tennessee Williams’ the Glass Menagerie. , 2015. Print.
Williams, Tennessee. The Glass Menagerie: A Play. New York: Random House, 1945. Print.