Motif

"She's terribly shy and lives in a world of her own and those things make her seem a little peculiar to people outside the house." - The Glass Menagerie, pg. 1261

The motif of complicated familial relations is most expressed by Tom's relationship to his mother and sister. He realizes more than his mother that his sister is not cut out to live in the real world, after growing up in her own creation. He constantly fights with Amanda about his life and her constant problems with it, but he is kind to his sister. I think he feels bad for his sister, because he has a chance to leave but she'll always be stuck at home with Amanda. His personality clashes with his mother's, but he often puts her crazy outbursts in the past and keeps living his life. He knows that he needs to protect his sister and calm down his mother, but he also is fighting the urge to pack up and leave them behind just like his father did.