Tom seems to have a romantic disposition but is forced to live a grimly realistic life. In a tragic-comic passage, he lists the things he does in his "real night life." To what extent does Tom want to live that kind of life

Amanda does not believe Tom's claim that he spends his nights out at the movies, and she is angered by the drunken state in which he often returns home. She fears that his nights out jeopardize his day job, and that if he loses his job their security will be threatened. In regard to his night life, Tom makes a sarcastic speech that is one of the play's most famous and memorable moments. With bitter sarcasm, he warns her that by night he is a czar of the underworld (known and feared as "Killer Wingfield" and "El Diablo") and that his enemies plan to dynamite the Wingfield apartment.

Tom's anger at being questioned does not help to shed light on the matter: he would be angry if he was telling the truth about going to the movies, and he would be angry if he had something to hide.