In the story The Glass Menagerie, the unicorn losing its horn is a symbol. The unicorn in its original state symbolizes something different. It is delicate, beautiful, and precious in its own unique way. This could symbolize Laura. She has natural beauty in an “unearthly way”, that is hidden by her shyness and limp. When the unicorn loses its horn it becomes like the rest of the horses, similiar in appearance. When Laura starts to talk to Jim she begins to have more confidence in herself and realizes that she too is not much different from everyone else in the world.
In this situation the horn symbolizes a difference, an obstacle, and one thing separating the unicorn, aperson, from all the other horses. One characteristic that can be overcome yet admired for its uniqueness. Mary Ross She appears to be lonely, frail and fragile like a piece of glass. Laura lives in her own little world inside the apartment. Her glass collection is the most important thing to her; it makes her feel accomplished. The collection “takes up a good deal of my time.
Glass is something you have to take good care of. ” she says in scene VII. She speaks of the collection of glass animals as if they’re alive. One in particular is the Unicorn. Laura relates to the unicorn because it’s different from all the other pieces, just as Laura feels she is different from all other people. In scene VII Jim doesn’t want to hold the unicorn and Laura says “Go on, I trust you with him.
There now- you’re holding him gently! Laura trusts Jim with her unicorn just as she trusts that he won’t hurt her. When the horn is broken off the unicorns head Laura isn’t as upset as you would expect her to be. She is relieved “Maybe it’s a blessing in disguiseI’ll just imagine he had an operation. The horn was removed to make him feel less freakish! ” Without the horn he looks like everyone else. Without the limp Laura looks like everyone else. She longs to be normal; she has let her handicap drive her away from society.
