The first symbol of escape, presented in the first scene, is the fire escape in itself. The fire escape represents the passage between the world of illusory and the world of reality. However, each character is going through the passage in a different direction. For Tom, the fire escape allows him an opportunity to get out of the apartment and away from his irritating mother. It is an escape out of Amanda and Laura’s …showed first 75 words of 340 total…

…showed last 75 words of 340 total…far from paradise as it could possibly be, hence the total anomaly in the name. Laura appears to find comfort in playing the same records repetitively. The music floating up to the apartment from the dance hall could represent her escape. As Tom does by going to the movies, as Laura does through her music, and as Amanda does through her memories, escaping was a very real aspect in the lives of the Wingfield family.