Glass

Tom’s double role in The Glass Menagerie—as a character whose recollections the play documents and as a character who acts within those recollections—underlines the play’s tension between objectively presented dramatic truth and memory’s distortion of truth. Unlike the other characters, Tom sometimes addresses the audience directly, seeking to provide a more detached explanation and assessment of what has been happening onstage. But at the same time, he demonstrates real and sometimes juvenile emotions as he takes part in the play’s action.

This duality can frustrate our understanding of Tom, as it is hard to decide whether he is a character whose assessments should be trusted or one who allows his emotions to affect his judgment. It also shows how the nature of recollection is itself problematic: memory often involves confronting a past in which one was less virtuous than one is now. Because The Glass Menagerie is partly autobiographical, and because Tom is a stand-in for the playwright himself (Williams’s given name was Thomas, and he, like Tom, spent part of his youth in St.

Louis with an unstable mother and sister, his father absent much of the time), we can apply this comment on the nature of memory to Williams’s memories of his own youth. Even taken as a single character, Tom is full of contradiction. On the one hand, he reads literature, writes poetry, and dreams of escape, adventure, and higher things. On the other hand, he seems inextricably bound to the squalid, petty world of the Wingfield household. We know that he reads D. H. Lawrence and follows political developments in Europe, but the content of his intellectual life is otherwise hard to discern.

We have no idea of Tom’s opinion on Lawrence, nor do we have any indication of what Tom’s poetry is about. All we learn is what he thinks about his mother, his sister, and his warehouse job—precisely the things from which he claims he wants to escape. Tom’s attitude toward Amanda and Laura has puzzled critics. Even though he clearly cares for them, he is frequently indifferent and even cruel toward them. His speech at the close of the play demonstrates his strong feelings for Laura.

But he cruelly deserts her and Amanda, and not once in the course of the play does he behave kindly or lovingly toward Laura—not even when he nocks down her glass menagerie. Critics have suggested that Tom’s confusing behavior indicates an incestuous attraction toward his sister and his shame over that attraction. This theory casts an interesting light on certain moments of the play—for example, when Amanda and Tom discuss Laura at the end of Scene Five. Tom’s insistence that Laura is hopelessly peculiar and cannot survive in the outside world, while Amanda (and later Jim) claims that Laura’s oddness is a positive thing, could have as much to do with his jealous desire to keep his sister to himself as with Laura’s own quirks. Amanda Wingfield

If there is a signature character type that marks Tennessee Williams’s dramatic work, it is undeniably that of the faded Southern belle. Amanda is a clear representative of this type. In general, a Tennessee Williams faded belle is from a prominent Southern family, has received a traditional upbringing, and has suffered a reversal of economic and social fortune at some point in her life. Like Amanda, these women all have a hard time coming to terms with their new status in society—and indeed, with modern society in general, which disregards the social distinctions that they were taught to value.

Their relationships with men and their families are turbulent, and they staunchly defend the values of their past. As with Amanda, their maintenance of genteel manners in very ungenteel surroundings can appear tragic, comic, or downright grotesque. Amanda is the play’s most extroverted and theatrical character, and one of modern American drama’s most coveted female roles (the acclaimed stage actress Laurette Taylor came out of semi-retirement to play the role in the original production, and a number of legendary actresses, including Jessica Tandy, have since taken on the role).

Amanda’s constant nagging of Tom and her refusal to see Laura for who she really is are certainly reprehensible, but Amanda also reveals a willingness to sacrifice for her loved ones that is in many ways unparalleled in the play. She subjects herself to the humiliating drudgery of subscription sales in order to enhance Laura’s marriage prospects, without ever uttering so much as a word of complaint. The safest conclusion to draw is that Amanda is not evil but is deeply flawed.

In fact, her flaws are centrally responsible for the tragedy, comedy, and theatrical flair of her character. Like her children, Amanda withdraws from reality into fantasy. Unlike them, she is convinced that she is not doing so and, consequently, is constantly making efforts to engage with people and the world outside her family. Amanda’s monologues to her children, on the phone, and to Jim all reflect quite clearly her moral and psychological failings, but they are also some of the most colorful and unforgettable words in the play.

Laura Wingfield The physically and emotionally crippled Laura is the only character in the play who never does anything to hurt anyone else. Despite the weight of her own problems, she displays a pure compassion—as with the tears she sheds over Tom’s unhappiness, described by Amanda in Scene Four—that stands in stark contrast to the selfishness and grudging sacrifices that characterize the Wingfield household. Laura also has the fewest lines in the play, which contributes to her aura of selflessness.

Yet she is the axis around which the plot turns, and the most prominent symbols—blue roses, the glass unicorn, the entire glass menagerie—all in some sense represent her. Laura is as rare and peculiar as a blue rose or a unicorn, and she is as delicate as a glass figurine. Other characters seem to assume that, like a piece of transparent glass, which is colorless until light shines upon it, Laura can take on whatever color they wish. Thus, Amanda both uses the contrast between herself and Laura to emphasize the glamour of her own youth and to fuel her hope of re-creating that youth through Laura.

Tom and Jim both see Laura as an exotic creature, completely and rather quaintly foreign to the rest of the world. Yet Laura’s crush on the high school hero, Jim, is a rather ordinary schoolgirl sentiment, and a girl as supposedly fragile as Laura could hardly handle the days she spends walking the streets in the cold to avoid going to typing class. Through actions like these, Laura repeatedly displays a will of her own that defies others’ perceptions of her, and this will repeatedly goes unacknowledged.

The glass manufacturing industry in Ferozabad, Uttar Pradesh, produces bangles, utensils, bulbs, decorative articles etc. The glass industry has been classified as hazardous and the employment of child labour (children below age 14 years) in it is prohibited. However, available research and literature indicated that child labour was concentrated mainly in the production of glass bangles. At the time of the present study over 50,000 children were generally believed to be engaged in the hazardous glass bangle industry of Ferozabad.

The process of manufacture of glass bangles is broken down into six separate stages and each stage is done by a separate specialized enterprise. At the first stage, the spring bangles are produced at a glass factory and it involves work at the furnace and handling, coloring, and shaping the molten glass into a spring form or rings. The subsequent processes like straightening, linking up the edges of the glass spirals, joining the edges, hardening them, cutting designs into them and coloring the bangles are done in separate stages by small informal sector enterprises using different tools like kerosene lamps, abrasive wheel, mud oven, and chemical colors for each of the processes.

Unlike glass factories, these small informal sector enterprises are not registered and difficult to observe as they are often located inside households and in small alleys. Moreover, the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act of 1986 does not cover the informal sector.

OBJECTIVES AND METHODOLOGY

The study aimed to document the extent of child labour, types of activities
in which children are engaged, employment conditions , and the cost implications of eliminating child labour. Data collection involved an enterprise survey. As the production process for glass bangles involves a number of different and distinct stages, enterprises were chosen from individual stages of production to ensure a representative selection. In all 268 enterprises with 4100 workers and approximately 1000 child labourers were covered.

Anticipating that the information furnished by the employers on child labour and the number of children employed may be misleading or grossly understated, field investigators were trained to distinguish children from adults through observation. As this was still difficult to do for children in the 12-16 age group, investigators were allowed to record their observation in either of the three categories ‘definitely adult’, ‘definitely child’, or ‘probably child’. The category of ‘probably child’ was used when an investigator could not decide if a worker was a child.

KEY FINDINGS

The total number of child labourers employed in the glass bangle industry was estimated on the basis of the number of children employed in different stages of production. Of the approximately 60,000 workers in the glass bangle industry, 9,40011,000 are children constituting about 16 to 19 percent of the workforce in this industry. Employment of children was confined mostly to unskilled jobs like carrying and sorting in the glass factories. Within the stages of production where several different activities are performed, children do the least skilled of these activities (see table). In other words, children do not have unique or irreplaceable skills and are therefore not necessary for the glass bangles industry.

The daily productivity per worker is between 12 to 32 tora (312 or 13 double dozen) bangles per day for different production stages. Children are commonly said by employers to work slower and take longer hours to achieve the same output as their adult counterparts. Each enterprise is paid on a piece rate basis. The wage payment system has a very strict control of the output.

Teams of workers must achieve a prescribed minimum level of output in order to be given the agreed daily payment, and it often takes more than eight hours to achieve this minimum acceptable output. Since children are said to work slower than adults, they generally need to work longer hours than Working conditions & Health hazards adults in order to achieve the same output and therefore As ‘carriers’: the same daily income. carrying molten glass from the furnace to the Working spaces are small and cramped. Burns and respiratory problems are common occupational health hazards (see box). Several young males and adults were observed without the thumb or forefinger. Tuberculosis is a very common health problem in Ferozabad.

Payments to child labourers are estimated to account for only about 15 percent of the total labour cost and so about 4 to 7 percent of the cost of producing a glass bangle. shaper or loom maker, constant exposure to the heat, sound and pollution. Straightening: work in closed rooms, no cross ventilation and are continuously exposed to smoke emitted from dozens of kerosene lamps. Joining and cutting: long hours of sitting in one posture, risk of cramps; continuous exposure to smoke from the kerosene lamps.

Colouring: high toxic effect of chemical-based colours, handled with bare hands; colours stick to the fingers and palms and are difficult to remove. The increase in the cost of production of one dozen bangles (as most consumers buy bangles by the Hardening: dozen) as a result of elimination of child labour was working around a small furnace and hot trays; calculated in three different ways based on three burns are common. different assumptions.

If a sufficient number of adult workers from the large labour reserve in India are available and willing to work at the present, market determined wage rate , there would be no cost effect, as adults would replace children at the same piece rate payment. Assumptions 2 and 3 presuppose that adult workers would need to be paid a higher wage (10 and 20 percent, respectively) in order to attract the additional adult workers required to replace the child workers. In that case, production costs go up by only about 2-3 paise a dozen for plain bangles and 6-12 paise for coloured and detailed cut bangles.

In percentage terms, this would mean only a 0, 2 and 4 percent increase in the cost of glass bangles in all three scenarios. Even at the retail level (which we assume has a 200 percent mark-up compared to wholesale), the cost of a dozen glass bangles would go up by only 10-20 paise for plain bangles and 12-27 paise for coloured and detailed cut bangles. There is no economic justification to employ child labour in the glass bangle industry, as children do not occupy a necessary role in the glass bangle production, nor do they have the skills that could not replaced by adults, and elimination of child labour would increase the cost of production only marginally.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Improve production technology and work environment of the glass bangle industry. In the shortrun, the health of those children who continue to work would improve. In the long run, the demand for child labour should decrease as the increased capital investments made would create a need for more skilled and responsible adult workers. The number of adult labourers interested in doing this work should increase along with improvement in working conditions and increased wages resulting from the need for greater skills and responsibility. Thus it will have a favourable impact on the goal of eliminating child labour.

Introduction

This study aims to assess the impacts of glass cockpits on pilot performance as perceived by respondents drawn from pilots currently flying these aircraft. The objective of this study include the identification of:

1. pilot’s perceptions regarding the effect of glass cockpits on their performance;
2. the safety aspects derived from these perceptions;
3. the effect of pilot performance on aircraft safety;
4. the human factors affected by glass cockpits;
5. the migration by airlines and manufacturers to glass cockpits;
6. the human performance perspective of the advantages and disadvantages of the use of glass cockpits.

Chapters one and two introduced existing literature and previous research undertaken in relation to the impact of glass cockpits on pilot performance with a particular focus on the aforementioned objectives. This methodology chapter explains each stage of the research, data collection and analysis undertaken in conducting the research.

Qualitative Research

When undertaking research, there are two main research possibilities – quantitative and qualitative. Louis (1981) describes them as both excellent ways of tackling research effectively. He distinguishes between the two by naming quantitative as “inquiry from the outside” and qualitative as “inquiry from the inside”. By this, Louis is referring to the researcher’s involvement and immersion within the data collection – the “inside” approach involves the researcher more, often leaving a potential hazard of bias. Whereas the “outside” approach enables the researcher to isolate the phenomenon of bias because of the lack of feedback associated with quantitative research.

Qualitative research is often used as “a form of systematic empirical inquiry into meaning” – it is useful for those wishing to complete research in a methodical, ordered and planned way. Authors all describe qualitative research as a valued method of collecting a bettered, in-depth range of data. However, with the advantage of enriched data comes the disadvantage of researcher bias. As qualitative research was chosen, the researcher had to identify and accept that certain areas of the data collection would be open to bias, either value or objective.

Referring to Johnson (1994), “the selection of the research method is a crucial element in the planning of an investigation”. Johnson also suggests that using a variety of research methods is beneficial to gaining an adequate understanding of the objective results – as suggested in my research proposal. However, it became evident that my access to the great number of “glass-cockpit-flying pilots” needed to complete questionnaires successfully was limited. It was therefore decided that the best course of action was to select a qualitative approach, and to interview the pilots that met the selection criteria highlighted in the “Research Approach” section of this methodology.

Semi-structured Interviews

Kumar (2011) defines an interview as “any person-to-person interaction, either face to face or otherwise, between two or more individuals with a specific purpose in mind”. Reasons for employing an interview to collect data a numerous. Depending on the topic discussed, it is possible to obtain in-depth information by probing; an interviewer can often add to data collected not only by verbal means, but also by non-verbal reactions displayed by the interviewee; and, because the interviewer can alter the order / wordings of the questions, it is less likely that the interviewee can misunderstand the question.

The author chose to utilise a semi-structured type interview as a hybrid of the two extremes – unstructured and structured – as this would give the ‘best of both worlds’. Although a structured interview would

1. establish a good base for the interviewee to explain exactly what the author felt was needed,
2. provide uniform information, in the form of the comparability of the data collected
3. enable the interviewer to collect the data without having the necessary interview skills for an unstructured interview, this method was discarded as it was nearly impossible for the interviewer to probe new ideas formulated by the answers of the interviewee.

For many of these reasons, also, the unstructured interview was, too, rejected. Referring to point 3, this existed as the main reason to not chose the unstructured type interview as this was the author’s first attempt at an academic interview. Thus a semi-structured, or hybrid data collection model was developed: an element of flexibility was permitted to enable interviewees to include relevant information pertinent to the topic in discussion.

In this respect, the researcher would include an interview guide – as found in a structured interview. However, this was, as said, a guide: the interviewer and the interviewee were able to establish and discuss any points that came up in conversation, some of which were new to the interviewer or perhaps the interviewee.

A predominately qualitative research approach was used throughout this study. In this respect, interviews were used as the data collection tool through which the current pilot perceptions of glass cockpits were identified. This method was selected because:

• It allowed flexibility to follow unexpected ideas during research and explore processes effectively;
• It gave sensitivity to contextual factors;

Also, the ability to study symbolic dimensions and social meaning; increased opportunities:

• to develop empirically supported new ideas and theories;
• for in-depth and longitudinal explorations of leadership phenomena; and
• for more relevance and interest for practitioners.

Although it is arguable that a questionnaire would have suited this type of study, there were certain concerns with finding the multiple pilots needed to complete the surveys – particularly given the high security status post September 11th.

4 Research Sample

Consideration into finding the most applicable people for inclusion in this study was needed to ensure that the author chooses the candidates with the required information to achieve the objectives set for the study (Kumar, 2011). This strategy is useful to assess the pilot perceptions of glass-cockpits as, although much researcher has been conducted into glass cockpits, very little has been done into the perceptions of pilots regarding them.

The population of this study consisted of 5 interviewees. Purposive sampling was used to identify the particular pilots needed for interview, the selection criteria included:

• Have flown a glass cockpit within the previous 6 months
• Have flown an analogue cockpits previously
• Willing to participate in the interview

Rationale for selection criteria

Firstly, by defining “previous 6 months” as recent, then we are able to understand that the interviewee must have recent experience in order to acknowledge the disadvantages and advantages of glass cockpits as experienced by them – the longer it has been since the stimuli, the less effects the subject will retain in memory. The rationale for selecting the second criterion was simple: although this study is an exploritive study into glass cockpits, the interviewees must have experience with the older fashioned analogue type cockpits in order to have a valuable opinion regarding their own perceptions. The final criteria suggests that every pilot’s participation is critical to this study – since the research involved potentially lengthy interviews, every interviewee would need to be willing to take the time to discuss the topic at hand (Chaffee, 1995).

Advantages of performing interviews with an acquaintance are well documented by authors. Roger (1988) implies that ‘social norms’ constrain strangers from interacting in a natural way and Coates (1996) adds that the presence of recording equipment, and people’s perceptions to it, is less obvious when dealing with a friend or group of friends – ultimately, by interviewing pilots whom were personally known the the researcher, it is possible to allow the interviewee to become more relaxed and less inclined to shy away from sensitive questions.

After designing an interview, but before putting it into practice, there was a chance to try out my interview on a potential subject. This pilot study was a opportunity to develop the interview so that, in future interviews, any problems would be ironed out and questions could be arranged in an order that would suit a naturally flowing conversation. Hundley (2001) suggests that performing multiple pilot studies is advantageous to the researcher, however, due to time constraints only one pilot interview could be undertaken before it was necessary to move onto the actual interviews. That pilot study changed the order of questions within the interview, as well as a few question wordings to make it more logical and easier for the interviewees to understand.

Administration of the Research

When beginning the interview stage of the project, a way of recording the conversations was necessary – this came in the form of a Dictaphone. This made the process of analysing results much simpler than having to take notes and understand them later. Of course, the participants were given full authority on whether or not they wanted the interview recorded – obviously it was competently explained to them that the interview was completely confidential via an interview confidentiality letter. Where possible, the interviewees were given the questions via email. The author decided to do this in the hopes that the interviewees would provide more concise and clearer answers.

Arranging meetings with pilots was, at first thought, something of a given. However, the pilots whom the author thought were once suitable for interview declared that they had no prior, or very limited, experience with glass cockpits. It was up to me to find suitable alternatives.

Luckily, the pilots who had no experience were able to refer me to their friends and colleagues who did have experience with glass cockpits – the author was able to arrange contact with them via email and telephone. Bennett (1994) discusses the options to improve the chances of the potential interviewees responding to my emails and calls. He states that, by explaining the following points, the interviewee will be more inclined to respond accordingly:

• Imparting the conviction that the investigation is a worthwhile piece of work and the investigator a competent person to carry it out;
• Explaining why the investigation seeks the co-operation of the persons or institutions being approached;
• Indicating the use to be made of the eventual research material.

Research Setting

Interviews were planned to take place face to face, at a place convenient to both the interviewer and the interviewee. A suitable quiet environment was to be used, in most cases this was arranged in advance – but some were very short notice so the choice of location was somewhat improvised. This is for the interviews that had taken place in person, but as discussed earlier email interviews had been arranged. Due to the nature of email, there was no way of enforcing the setting – so it was left up to the interviewee to chose a suitable place to respond.

Each face to face interview lasted between 10 and 20 minutes and were conducted between February and March 2011. The email interviews were between 1000 and 1500 word long and were sent out during the beginning days of March for a expectant reply by the end of March. Other than the emails, no names were used during the interviews – this left the researcher an option to code the names for the data analysis: Email interview 1, Interview 1 etc…

It was essential for the researcher to transcribe the interviews as soon as practicably possible as too not forget any non-verbal communications made, as discussed earlier. It is also for this reason that the researcher did not complete any more than one interview per day, or per transcribe. i.e. the researcher would only move onto another interview when the previous one was transcribed completely.To avoid recall error as defined by Kumar (2011): “error that can be introduced in a response because of a respondent’s inability to recall correctly its various aspects when replying” when possible, and if time permitted, interviewees were given the opportunity to examine the interview transcripts for conformation and approval.

Research Analysis

Kumar’s(2011) four step research analysis was adopted to efficiently summarise and analyse the data collected. The steps were identification of the main themes; assignment of codes for the main themes; responses to the main themes and; integration of themes and responses into the text.

The first step involved carefully reading through the interviews collected by each interviewee, understanding the meaning that they communicate (the use of language to express themselves) and categorising the discovered ‘broad’ themes. The second step uses coding to identify the amount of times, or how frequently, a certain phrase or wording has occurred and pursuing the more specific themes from these.

Blaxter et al (2006) suggested that most research could be affected by opinions, beliefs and motivations of those involved – it was essential for the undergoing researcher to remember this throughout this study because it had the possibility to bias results by means of altering the questions asked to accommodate preconceptions known by the researcher.

Concluding Points

To summarise, this chapter has covered the beneficial aspects and disadvantages of qualitative research, semi-structured interviews and data analysis; how purposive sampling was engaged as a way of implementing assurance that interviewee’s could offer their perceptions of glass cockpits; and the various limitations imposed onto the researcher, interviewees and ultimately, the study itself.

The function that Laura played in The Glass Menagerie can non be overlooked as it contributed to the development of the overall subject of the book. The drama is based on the battles that worlds face in accepting world as this is the major subject of the book and Laura Wingfield is one character in the drama that had jobs accepting the challenges that life presented her with.

Laura was described as a physically handicapped miss and she had troubles in accepting the world of her status ( Williams ) . Laura wanted a life that was better and would hold loved it, if she was non in the sort of state of affairs she found herself in. Though, it could be argued that, Laura did non truly play a outstanding function in the drama, but the fact remains that, the secret plan and the subjects of the drama are centered on her. Some of the symbols that lend acceptance to the importance of Laura to the overall subject of the drama are the glass unicorn, bluish roses, fire flight and the rubric of the narrative as these symbols represents the character of Laura.

Laura could non come to footings with world and this is the ground that she was described as populating a slightly illusional life style in The Glass Menagerie. Due to the challenges and jobs she was faced with, Laura preferred to remain in her comfort zone and she lived in an illusional universe. Laura ‘s life was full of semblances as she lived in what could be described as a universe of glass animate beings. It is this trouble of accepting world that really bonds the Wingfield household together, as each one of them, Tom, Amanda and Laura at one point in clip, had jobs get bying with the worlds of life and its many challenges ( Williams 16-25 ) .

Laura could be described as a unit of ammunition nog that suits a unit of ammunition hole as the illusional universe of glass animate beings that she lived is merely a clear representation of the existent universe that was described in the drama. This could be seen in the fact that, the people in the drama tend to deduce more satisfaction in phantasies instead than existent events. Laura created an semblance that is a representation of her inability to accept world as she fantasized about a glass ball ( of glass animate beings ) and a group of people waltzing in the Paradise Dance Hall ( Williams ) . The Glass Menagerie clearly showed that, semblances and worlds inability to accept world has become the norm in our society and Laura absolutely fits into this type of illusional universe. Harmonizing to Williams Laura ‘s fond regard to the glass universe she created is seen when “ there is a ting of shattering glass. Laura cries out as if wounded. ” ( qtd in Bloom 38 )

The troubles that Laura faced in accepting world could be traced to her glass menagerie, which was a aggregation of wild animate beings and this is really the chief symbol in The Glass Menagerie. This menagerie represents the illusional universe of Laura in its entirety. It is a universe that is notional and anachronic, but based on the phantasies of Laura. Laura devotes more of her clip to this illusional creative activity of hers and she is merely an illustration of people that, instead than confront the worlds of life, they prefer populating a life of phantasies that does non truly be in the existent universe. The aggregation of animate beings that Laura created was borne out of the defeat and her trouble in accepting the world that, she did non finish high school, she was crippled, and that she could non acquire the love that she desired. It could so be argued that, Laura created her ain universe of glass animate beings to get away from a universe that she felt did non in any manner favour her. As a consequence of the crippling of one leg that made it shorter than the other, Williams explains that, “ Steming from this, Laura ‘s separation additions till she is like a piece of her ain glass aggregation excessively finely delicate to travel from the shelf. ” ( qtd. In Bloom 11 ) .

A symbol that appears in the inventive universe of Laura is the glass unicorn and the fact that she used the unicorn merely shows the inexistent universe that Laura lives in. Unicorns are nonextant animals and the visual aspect of a unicorn in Laura ‘s glass menagerie shows that, merely like the unicorn that is nonextant and different from other Equus caballuss, Laura lived an unusual life and was different from other people. Williams says of Laura that, “ the lovely breakability of glass which is her image. ” ( qtd. in Bloom 26 ) . Due to the fact that, Laura saw herself different from other people, she lived a alone life and it could besides be said that, she forced herself into being unable to accommodate to the universe and people around her. In position of this fact, it could so be argued that, Laura ‘s trouble in accepting world made her to populate like an castaway.

The blue rose is another symbol in the drama that shows Laura ‘s unusual and unrealistic nature. Blue Roses was the name given to Laura by Jim and it symbolizes Laura ‘s unusual but attractive quality. It is pertinent to observe that, bluish roses do non be in the existent universe and the fact that, Jim relates Laura with Blue Roses lets readers know that, Jim besides realized the unrealistic nature of Laura. Another incident that is worthy of note in the book was when Laura slipped on the fire flight in the 4th scene and this shows that, Laura was unable to get away from the hard state of affairs in her life.

The drama lacked pragmatism in its entirety as this fact was established by the narrator-character, Tom. The fact that Laura was non realistic in her ideas underlines the importance of her character to the subject of the drama. The abstractionism in the drama could be seen in the assorted sorts of symbols that were used in the drama and Laura was one character that lived a life of semblances