The limp is a convention used to set Laura apart from "normal" girls (in high school) and other young women (as an adult). It also reinforces Amanda's refusal to acknowledge, at least to others, the reality of their situation: "I've told you to never, never, use that word", and instead of doing so, Amanda throws the condition back onto her daughter by declaring that, in Amanda's youth, girls minimized problems such as Laura's limp by focusing on their more desirable qualities.
The candles symbolize Tom's memories of Laura. While he often spars with Amanda, he does love and care about her in his own way; this is even more true of his sister. Yet, as the description of Tom's character in the play's "dramatis personae" indicates, Tom must act "remorselessly" in order to "escape from a trap." But he feels keenly the rift, foreshadowed by the power cut during the dinner with the gentleman caller, that has been forcibly created by his escape, and as the years pass, he is forced to admit to himself that he will be unable to forget his love for her. Finally Laura herself blows out the candles, hinting that she has been more successful than Tom at dealing with their split, or perhaps, even, that she has died.
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