impact of father

While the father was never present in Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie, he affects nearly everyone in the play.  In this blog, I will focus on his affect on Amanda and Tom.
Amanda is clearly terrified that Tom will end up like his father.  The fact that Tom so desperately wants to travel scares her, because her husband was also "in love with" long distances.  She not only fears that Tom will grow to emulate his father, but also that Laura will marry someone like him.  The fact that their father had been a drinker clearly made Amanda paranoid about alcohol.  "The last thing I want for my daughter's a boy who drinks" (Williams, 1258)!  Because of her husband's abandonment, Amanda is slightly self-conscious as well.  I think she is always boasting about her past popularity with men to try and reassure herself that her husband hadn't left because of something SHE lacked.
Tom seemed to have mixed feelings about his father.  Bitterness is obviously one of them.  His dad had not only abandoned his family, but also left Tom to have sole responsibility for providing for the family financially.  Tom in also envious of his father, because he had so easily been able to escape the life that Tom was now stuck in.