The Glass Menagerie- 2

Amanda. "Overcome selfishness! Self, self, self is all that you think of!"

Tom struggles with an internal conflict when we here the story in retrospect. Tom tells us of his memory of his life with his mother and sister. Tom had to decide if he wanted to leave like his father, hurting his family, or sacrifice his freedom to support his ungrateful family. If Tom leaves, he will suffer from the guilt of leaving his helpless family. He will realize that he did exactly what his father did to him. However, Tom had to worry about his own sanity. If he stayed with his family, he would be doing the honorable thing. But, staying would mean Tom would be sacrificing his life to take care of his selfish mother. Either decision Tom made would be hard. He is facing a life of misery or a life of guilt.