In the other hand he also describes how badly she feels insecure about not having a man I her life therefore she pushes her daughter all the time to find a man because she is afraid that Laura might end up like her old with no man to support her. At the same time she pushed and uses her manly power of controlling people so much that is so annoying to her kids but she don't realize that.
The second character of the story is Tom, the son of the family. William has used symbolism again trying to describe Tom's characteristic to his audience. As Falk mentioned "Tom is a poet-dreamer who is something like his creator who struggled against routine and conformity". Tom is also one of the characters who live in a fantasy world just like the rest of the family. Tom is a young man who has not yet found happiness in his life and looking for the true happiness in his life. William has chosen different objects to describe Tom's personality and who he really is. Some of the objects that was used in the story was cigarette and alcohol tom uses them a lot to get closer to that happiness or as a method of escape form the house because he believes that happiness is somewhere out side that apartment and by going out for a smoke or drinking he will get that chance to escape from the house for a little while and be happy for that period of time. He also uses the fire escape a lot which is also way of escape from his misery at home and going to out side world to search for the happiness. Drinking and smoking a lot can also indicate that he is a depress person and by drinking and smoking he is trying to forget about his problems. The best method of escape for him was going to the movie and by doing that he could take his mind off of the world he belonged to.
Last but not least the third character of the story was Laura, the daughter of the family." The morbidly shy and overly delicate sister, is as fragile as the little glass ornaments" Laura herself was the symbol of dysfunctional family.