Cooper Swenson's Response

My connection between Native Son (NS) and The Glass Menagerie (TGM) is that the characters are both victims of oppression. In NS, Bigger Thomas is consistently made to feel self conscious in his black skinned body. He is unable to rise through society because of the tense circumstances in which he was born. For example, when he first arrives at the Dalton's household, he doesn't even know what door to enter in. In TGM, Tom, a white middle class man, even feels the harshness of oppression during the 19th century. Even though he is a fully grown man, he is unable to be successful in the world, because in the book he is being held back by his family, but in actuality his sexual preference. During this time in history, events such as McCarthyism were well underway and caused anyone who was different to either hide it or regret it. With things like this going on around them, it is no surprise that people like T. Williams suffered from addictions of many substances, including alcohol.