Amanda is a loving mother, but her interference and harassment are difficult to live with for Tom, who is a grown man and who earns the salary necessary to support the whole family. So the fact that Tom is free shows that he has a desire to escape their relationship. Tom also hates his job, but “drinking and going to the movies” have given him some freedom (Clinton). The only escape comes from his frequent visits to the cinema, but his nocturnal disappearance angers and baffles Amanda. Since his only escape is in the form of entertainment, in this case the "thing" to escape from is "reality" (Smith-Howard and Heintzelman). Since Tom has difficulty doing his job and has problems in his relationship with Amanda, escaping from reality can bring "joy" and "freedom": perhaps this "freedom" could be in the form of following his father and venturing into the world and escaping . his troubles (Smith-Howard and Heintzelman). Tom seems to like hanging around the fire escape. The fire escape, perhaps, is a source of escape since he gets home late and it's moonlight when he gets home. Tom goes there to smoke and, as the narrator, talks while near the fire escape. During the Depression years Tom worked in the “International Shoe Company warehouse” (Williams). As said before, Tom hated his job because there was no enthusiasm and his mother got him that job (Williams). As a result, Tom felt chained and wanted to be freed.