Scene she slips when forced to use it She cannot go out without fear The escape for her is a trap It shows she cannot leave her inner world easily The fire escape reminds us that her strength is fragile A Bridge Between Worlds The fire escape bridges the inside home memory and outside reality Tom stands between those two worlds He is torn between family duty and personal dreams The fire escape symbolizes that boundary In Scene Williams writes The apartment is entered by a fire escape a structure whose name is a touch of accidental poetic truth This line underscores that human lives are always burning with desires Thus The fire escape in The Glass Menagerie is a multi-layered symbol It is Tom s way out Laura s barrier and the line between illusion and reality In short the fire escape symbolizes escape freedom and the contrast between confinement and the outside life