The Glass Menagerie

     Throughout scenes four and five of The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams, there is a lot of discussion about the families deceased father. While telling Laura about a magic show Tom went to, he says, "But who ever got himself out of one [a coffin] without removing one nail? (As if in answer, the father's grinning photograph lights up. Scene dims out) (1249). This almost seems like a bit of eerie foreshadowing.  While it does not seem likely for their father to have actually gotten out of his own coffin, presumably after already being dead, it does make me think that maybe the father is not dead after all. The mother seems to talk poorly of his drinking problem quite often, which maybe shows she did not like him. Because of this, however unlikely it may be, I have begun wondering whether or not he actually died or he simply abandoned the family. Amanda later says to Tom while forcing him to let her comb his hair, "There is only one respect in which I would like you to emulate your father... The care he always took of his appearance (1255). Amanda says here she did not like his father and wants her son to be almost nothing like him. This makes me think she is holding a grudge against him for something other than his horrible drinking problem. While I may be looking way too far into this, it seems to me that the deceased father will be of more importance than we think.