"AMANDA: That light bill I gave you several days ago. The one I told you we got the notices about?
TOM: Oh--Yeah.
AMANDA: You didn't neglect to pay it by chance?
TOM: Why, I--
AMANDA: Didn't! I might have known it!" pg. 1272
Dramatic irony does not play a large role in this play until the very end, in the last scene. While everyone is at dinner, the lights suddenly flicker and go out. Amanda is quick to blame Tom, and it is, in fact, his fault. He did not pay the light bill and so the light had been shut off. But more importantly and what Amanda does not know about the situation is why Tom did not pay the light bill. The reader does know, however, for earlier in the play, in the last scene, the audience saw and heard Tom and Jim's conversation about Tom not paying the bill in order to pay his dues for the Union of Merchant Seamen. Tom is tired of living a boring life and letting all of the movie characters and stars soak up all the adventure while he just sits back and watches. He says he is like his father and he needs adventure. So, he is leaving his mother and Laura. But his mother has no clue. Amanda believes that Tom didn't pay the light bill because he made a stupid mistake and forgot, but in reality, he did it with full intention. He did it to plan his getaway from his mother and life as a warehouse worker. In the end, when Tom finally does leave, this dramatically ironic situation becomes very important. Had Amanda not jumped to conclusions and actually asked Tom about the bill, the ending could have been very different.
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