The Glass Menagerie Essay On Conflict

Robinson, Cameron English 101 (00719) Comparison/Contrast Essay 7/25/08 The Glass Menagerie deals with the conflict of an individual’s “right to be happy” and the individual’s responsibility to others. This conflict is aggravating and real to most people in everyday life. In this essay I declare how I feel about this conflict. I explain which one I think should come first, the right to be happy or the responsibility to others and I also discuss the circumstances under which my opinion would change. Lastly, I explain my feelings toward Tom’s departure and why I feel the way I do about it. I think that a person’s right to pursue happiness should always come first. Happiness is the bases of a successful happy life. Being where you want to be and performing the activities and jobs you wish for will make you happy and set your responsibilities not only to your job, but to your family or the new people you will meet. These responsibilities will please you much more upon completion or even when performing them, providing you do them with happiness. In my opinion a person’s responsibilities should come first if a liability is absolute with no other way of having it done. For example, if Tom’s family had no other way of taking care of themselves or were completely unable it may have been wrong for him to leave. In this scenario, responsibility would have come first. Before he had a chance to make himself happy, Tom would have been forced to take care of his tasks, forming what makes him happy around those responsibilities. I think that Tom did make a good decision in leaving since his mother always nagged him about bad decisions and since his responsibilities were mostly unfair. His mother was able to work and could have done so. However, she chose not to, and instead gave Tom the

responsibility of attaining money for the family’s needs, such as food and clothing. Each character in the essay had his or her-own way of escaping reality. For example, Laura’s technique was collecting glass menageries. Upon pursuing what made her happy, Laura was able to escape the cold reality of her life. However, Tom lacked the ability to find a way to escape reality due to the pressure and responsibilities thrown upon him. Leaving was his only way to flee his hardships. Tom may not have found his happiness by leaving, but he certainly did what relieved him of his hardships. He loved his sister and in the end of the story, he showed a deep compassion for her in his farewell address. He didn’t exactly want to leave her, but he knew that she would be safe. By pursuing what made him happy, he was able to find new responsibilities and move on in life. His mother is indeed able to take care of herself and her daughter, and would surely be forced to do so when worst comes to worst. Tom was not truly needed in his home and was obviously taken advantage of. This story proves how an individual’s “right to be happy” should come before their responsibilities to others.