Beginning of Essay
In , none of the characters are capable of living in the present. All of the characters retreat into their separate worlds to escape the brutalities of life. Laura, Amanda, Tom and Jim use various escape mechanisms to avoid reality. Laura retreats into a world of ....

Middle of Essay
.... to her handicap as "a little defect-- hardly noticeable" (Williams 45). Only for brief moments does she ever admit that her daughter is "crippled" and then she resorts back to denial. She doesn't perceive anything realistically. She believes that this gentleman caller, Jim, is going to be the man to rescue Laura and she hasn't even met him yet. She tells Laura when Laura is nervous about the gentleman caller, "You couldn't be satisfied with just sitting home," when, in fact, Laura had preferred that (Williams 85). Amanda cannot distinguish reality from illusion. When Jim arrives, Amanda is dressed in the same girlish frock she wore on the day that ....