Both Native Son and the Glass Menagerie display a constant mood of suppression. In Native Son, Bigger and his family were suppressed their whole entire lives because of their race. Their skin color automatically disabled them from achieving what a "normal" white, American can acheive. Bigger was so suppressed his whole life by society that he generated this toxic need to disobey. For example, Bigger spent his mother's money on the movies and wanted to rob Blum's store. Then, when Bigger killed Mary he felt a strong sense of entitlement because he was given the feeling of breaking the boundary of suppression. The sad part about this situation is Bigger was never given a real chance to achieve because of his race and as a result of that he only felt power through rebellion. Tenessee Williams felt that same feeling of suppression living as a gay man, with a mentally ill sister, and a single mother in a world of social conformity. He demonstrates this feeling in his characters. Tom starts off the play getting his only joy from escaping to the movies and staring out into the fire escape with hope that one day he will walk down those steps and never return. Laura is unbearably shy and feels inferior because of her handicap. She hides herself in her world of glass animals because she feels the real world is not willing to take in her in. Amanda self-suppresses herself by living in the past. She fails to see anything as is, especially when it comes to her family. She forces the idea of gentlemen callers on Laura regardless of who Laura is as a person. She also uses Jim's arrival as a way for her to return to her southern belle past of beauty and charm. Meanwhile, Tom and Laura's father's picture hangs on the wall as a constant reminder that they will never achieve what an American family is supposed to achieve because they do not have a father like perfect society insists. At the end of the play, Tom leaves, he gives up on the life he was living. Like Bigger, Tom leaving was his way of rebelling from the life he was placed in. Both the Glass Menagerie and Native Son show that if you have differences that separate you from "normal" or "correct" idea of society, then the same idea of American Dream may not be attainable. Our society likes to give off the idea that anyone can work hard and achieve what they wish. The catch is that the term "anyone" is biased. Some people are so suppressed by their differences that they are never given a fighting chance in the same society that preaches the "equal" American Dream.

Liz Kleisner.