At the very beginning of the play, Tom (as the narrator) describes to the audience that it is a "memory play", hence it has: "...dimly lighted, it is sentimental, it is not realistic." These features prove to the audience and reader that dreams often have to do with illusions and the lack of reality, which is a central theme in "The Glass Menagerie". TOM: "I give you truth in the pleasant disguise of illusion." Also, …showed first 75 words of 1252 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1252 total…in illusion rather than real life. Even Jim, who represents the "world of reality," is banking his future on public speaking and the television and radio industries, all of which are means for the creation of illusions and the persuasion of others that these illusions are true. Therefore, dreams are merely a creation of reality, because it is a dream that is the seed to imagination, innovation and consequently making dreams the mother of reality.