ipl-logo

Is Amanda Wingfield A Success Or A Failure

739 Words3 Pages

Tennessee Williams' play The Glass Menagerie is a story that follows three characters' lives while living in St. Louis. The characters Amanda Wingfield, Tom Wingfield, and Laura Wingfield, are overlooked and called failures due to their failed attempts at reaching the goals they have set out for themselves. The majority of people set intentional goals for themselves to reach, but setting goals and successfully achieving them is easier said than done. This essay intends to use a persuasive argument against the assumption that Amanda, Tom, and Laura are failures, by showing their personal growth despite the disadvantages caused by their situation.

The protagonist Tom Wingfield is constantly labelled as a failure because he is not able to escape his family situation. His mother Amanda and sister Laura interfere with his goal of joining the merchant marines because he is the main income source of their household, without Tom's salary, they would be left struggling. As the play's narrator, Tom expresses his aching for adventure and hatred for his job. But Tom regularly …show more content…

Amanda is known for her constant memory repeating and inability to accept reality. However, she only acts like this because of her love for her children and her desire to protect them from the world outside of her plans. Amanda's goal was to see her son Tom become a successful businessman and for her daughter Laura to attend school and find a partner. Amanda constantly escapes into self-delusion that she takes part in to avoid reality and her children's desires that disobey her. At the end of the play, Amanda blankly stares at her husband's photo and says no lines which leads the reader to believe that she will continue to avoid reality and be incapable of achieving her and her children's goals. Although Amanda's goal was achieved, her ability to single-handedly raise her children despite economic struggles showed her determination as a

Show More
Related
852 Words | 4 Pages

He pointed out Mr. Cathey consistent bombardments of challenges and how he handle each situation. Every good point in his life such as becoming a father was met with a bad point in which he couldn’t go to school because he became a father. The author allowed us to feel happy for the situations that seemed any reasonable person would feel good about and upset about the unforeseen variables that tend to find Mr. Cathey. The author makes sure you feel the joy and pain of a young man who could have made it to a higher level but came up short because of his bad decision

Read More
183 Words | 1 Pages

In the memoir, The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls, the author, was most influenced by her time in the desert, as indicated by how she describes the time live in different places and how it has shaped her into the woman she is today. Jeanette’s time in Welch changed the way she viewed the world. Jeanette was harshly bullied by many different girls at her new school in Welch. One time she was surrounded by six girls and one girl said, “You think you [are] better than us?” and Jeannette replied with “No... I think we’re all equal.”

Read More
750 Words | 3 Pages

In Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire, there is a constant struggle between individuals and their ability to shape their own identities. The play follows various characters that attempt to find the balance between dealing with hardships in life and their own personal desires. In contrast, “A Daily Joy to be Alive” by Jimmy Santiago Baca explores how individuals can strive to have control over their identities. External factors such as mental state, societal norms, and past behavior can limit an individual's ability to shape their own identity.

Read More
1404 Words | 6 Pages

Tom’s uncle Brendan is also very supportive to everyone in the family. Brendan helps Tom to recover emotionally, as he not only helps him becoming interested in training again, but treats him like a close friend. Because of Brendan’s help, Tom is able to become fit and see that his life is not over and that he has a future that includes playing rugby, romance and maybe even a holiday in Nepal. The story tries to show how if a Family can stick together if they are faced with tragedy or crisis, despite their different ways of dealing with the crisis, can work together to resolve the issues they

Read More
70 Words | 1 Pages

In literature and in life, misunderstandings create a divide in society. In “The Glass Castle” by Jeannette Walls, the Walls live a reckless lifestyle and frequently move around the country, as a result of their denial towards society. “Poetry” by Marianne Moore describes Moore’s complicated relationship poetry because it is often not true, raw emotion. “The Glass Castle” and “Poetry” are representative of the constant battle between self and society.

Read More
253 Words | 2 Pages

Jeannette Walls’, The Glass Castle, is a nonfiction story about a lower class family that is poor and short on food, solving all their problems by constantly moving around the united states. Written through her voice, Jeannette is able to put humor and objectivity in her memoir despite the very hard life she has lived. She is not judgmental about the constant moving her family did to avoid bill collectors and to find work for father. Jeannette believes that Rex’s fantasies can come true and that the family can overcome their adversity. It is clear that Jeannette is hard working and intelligent, knowing that she wants to be a journalist even when she’s young.

Read More
289 Words | 2 Pages

Amanda gave up her room to help Maniac feel at home. She

Read More
1143 Words | 5 Pages

The idea of success is viewed differently between the minds of individuals, but through all lenses reaching happiness is key. Defining the word success, Bob Dylan once wrote: “A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and gets to bed at night and in between does what he wants to do.” In Jeannette Walls’ memoir The Glass Castle, she examines the hardships and challenges brought to her family as she grows up living an impoverished life. She depicts both of her parents’ flaws as she ages and begins to understand life from a more mature point of view.

Read More
672 Words | 3 Pages

“The Glass Castle” Writing Assignment #7 Jeannette Walls was deeply impacted by both the inadequate living conditions and the rich intellectual world provided by her family in her childhood. Having a safe and healthy living situation as well as a cognitively stimulating environment are vital to a child’s development, and a balance of both would likely be the most beneficial. However, most children do not grow up with the luxury of a perfectly balanced childhood, raising the question, are stable living conditions or a rich intellectual environment more important to childhood development? I believe Jeannette Walls’ experiences in “The Glass Castle” perfectly exemplified the importance a bountiful intellectual world plays in the development of

Read More
90 Words | 1 Pages

“Let me embrace thee, sour adversity, for wise men say it is the wisest course.” William Shakespeare. Throughout the course of life every individual faces immense hardships, some of which shape the entirety of their lives. Attributed to these adversities are an infinite number of decisions, each with a staggering effect on one's self as a whole, and therefore their identity. This is demonstrated in the memoir “The Glass Castle” by Jeannette Walls in which she cites the tremendous adversity which has been brought upon by her two less-than-ordinary

Read More
1410 Words | 6 Pages

Jeanette Walls’ memoir, The Glass Castle (2005), reveals that where a person comes from does not have to be where they stay. Walls brings the reader through her life of struggle and how she reached the top. Walls purpose is to emphasize that everyone who is interesting has a past, in order to encourage her readers to keep fighting for where they want to be. Given the obliviousness of her parents and the reality of poverty, Walls is writing to an audience of young teens and adults who could be ashamed of where they came from, to tell them they shouldn't be. Walls grew up in a life full of poverty, alcohol, escaping and disappointment.

Read More
1121 Words | 5 Pages

2. Amanda wants the best for her daughter and feels that the only way to do so is by her and Tom figuring it out for her since she has done nothing for herself yet. C. Amanda wants to plan a future for her children so she knows that they will be well taken care of. 1. "You are the only young man I know of who ignores the fact that the future becomes present, the present past, and the past turns into everlasting regret if you don’t plan for it!"

Read More
498 Words | 2 Pages

In the memoir The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, she faces many rites of passages which turns her into an overachieving woman with many accomplishments. We cannot develop into the successful people that we are capable of being, without the help of

Read More
1273 Words | 6 Pages

Success: An Escape from Privation Inevitably, the conflicts people face at multiple points in their life is a determining factor in shaping individuals into the person they will eventually become. Namely, these conflicts direct people 's behavior over the course of time; contributing to a person’s ability to achieve success. In particular, Jeannette Walls’ The Glass Castle is an honest depiction of her life and the conflicts that arise throughout her state of impoverishment, as well as the success that stems from her hardships.

Read More
847 Words | 4 Pages

“A Streetcar Named Desire” is a very elegant film in which the Southern gothic culture is demonstrated profoundly. Tennessee Williams uses the characters in the play to bring about a sense of how corrupt society truly was in the 1940’s in the South. The 1940’s was marked by an immense amount of violence, alcoholism, and poverty. Women at the time were treated as objects rather than people. Throughout the play Tennessee Williams relates the aspects of Southern society to the characters in the play.

Read More

More about Is Amanda Wingfield A Success Or A Failure

Related Topics

Open Document