Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory
You might have noticed that Amanda has this issue with alcohol. She refuses to let Tom drink, she needs to ensure that Jim doesn’t, and she mentions briefly that her irresponsible husband used to. What’s cool about this, and why we decided to put it in this oh-so-exclusive section, is that when Amanda talks about alcohol, she isn’t just talking about alcohol. She sort of uses it to mean everything bad – like reading D.H. Lawrence and going to the movies and having dreams of adventure. Alcohol also ends up being a connection between Tom and his father: they both drink. Amanda doesn’t like Tom "taking after his ways," and we, the wise and perceptive audience, know this means that Tom will, like his father, eventually abandon the family as well.