The Glass Castle

The Glass Castle: A Memoir

Author	Jeannette Walls
Language	English
Genre	Memoir
Publisher	Scribner
Publication date	2005
Publication place	USA
Media type	Print
Pages	288
ISBN	0743247531
Preceded by	Dish: The Inside Story on the World of Gossip
Followed by	Half Broke Horses: A True-Life Novel

'The Glass Castle' is a 2005 memoir by Jeannette Walls. The book recounts her and her siblings' unconventional, poverty-stricken upbringing at the hands of their deeply dysfunctional parents.

The memoir stayed on The New York Times Best Seller list for 100 weeks and is now under development as a film by Paramount. By late 2007, The Glass Castle had sold over 2.5 million copies, had been translated into 22 languages, and received the Christopher Award, the American Library Association's Alex Award (2006) and the Books for Better Living Award.

Setting

The Walls family roams across the American Southwest during the first half of the book, living briefly in various trailer parks and obscure desert mining towns. They live for a time in Battle Mountain, NV before moving to Phoenix and eventually settling in Welch, WV. The second half of the book recounts the family's descent into a life of abject poverty in Appalachia. As soon as the Walls children are able, they flee to New York City where the final chapters take place. Lori leaves first, right after she graduates from high school, Jeannette leaves next and stays with Lori until she has enough money to get her own place. Then later on Brian moves out there too, eventually followed by Maureen a few years later. Many years after that, their parents move to New York, but since they don't have any money they decide to be homeless, stating that it is simply an adventure.

Characters

Major Characters

Jeannette Walls is the author and protagonist. She is the second-eldest daughter in a family of four children. Her self-absorbed and clown-like yet highly intelligent father and mother are arguably mentally ill in their refusal to live by any of society’s norms, a choice which renders them unable to adequately provide for Jeannette and their other three children. Jeannette is strongly characterized by her ability to love and forgive others while also learning from their mistakes, however during the first chapter of the book Jeannette chooses to ignore her homeless mother, prompting the flashback which reveals the complexity of their difficult relationship through-out Jeannette's childhood. Jeannette chooses to remain optimistic and maintains a positive view of her life and the people around her. Jeannette often felt less sympathy for her mother, preferring to view her father as an unusual sort of hero despite the countless times his selfish actions hurt their family. Jeannette forgives her father in the end and ultimately finds forgiveness for her mother as well.

Rex Walls is Jeannette's father and the founder of the idea "The Glass Castle". Rex intends to build a glass castle for his family of six with the money he is convinced that he would receive upon finding gold. He refuses to abide by even the most basic of society's rules and instead chooses to live selfishly, guided by his exaggerated and unrealistic dreams. Rex is portrayed as exhibiting many signs of mental illness and alcoholism. He is very intelligent but not in any tangible way, he is an "excitement addict", he is constantly shirking his responsibilities, he makes promises that he doesn't keep, he seems to have an over-inflated sense of self, he continually (consciously or subconsciously) sabotages many positive developments in his life or the life of his family, he has extreme difficulty in adequately providing for his family despite his professed desire to do so. The reader is given insight into a possible contributing factor of Rex's dysfunctional behavior when it is revealed that his mother Erma had tried to abuse Rex's son Brian by touching him inappropriately, indicating the potential extent of the cruelty his mother had shown toward Rex as a child. Despite all of his shortcomings, Rex manages to keep his children healthy, get them a quality education, and he brings his children great joy by "giving" them unrealistic presents, such as a star in the sky. He never abuses his children (although depriving his dependents of their basic needs is arguably abusive) and he always keeps their hope alive. He is portrayed by his daughter Jeannette as a very charismatic man who is deserving of her frustration but also of her sympathy as she attempts to understand him.

Rose Mary Walls is Jeannette's mother. She is portrayed by Jeannette as a self-absorbed, neglectful mother to her four children. Rose Mary considers herself an “artist” and often chooses to indulge in this hobby instead of taking care of her family. A self-described “excitement addict” like her husband Rex, she doesn't worry about the way their nomadic lifestyle affects their children. Although she is a certified teacher, she refuses to contribute to the family’s income in any meaningful way. She sometimes demonstrates tendencies indicative of mental illness (along the same lines as her husband); revealing a grandiose sense of entitlement, lack of remorse, and a self-centered need for excitement at the expense of the well-being of her children and family.

Minor Characters

Lori Walls, Jeannette's older sister.

Brian Walls, Jeannette's younger brother.

Maureen Walls, Jeannette's youngest sibling (sister).

Erma Walls, Rex's obese, alcoholic mother. While the family lived with her, she attempted to molest Brian. There are hints in the novel that she could have done the same to Rex as a child.

Themes

Living In Poverty

The effects of poverty shown in the memoir include the hate that fills people, that almost everyone in Welch uses food stamps, and that people steal from their neighbors in Phoenix. In Welch, Erma hates all of the town’s black residents just because they are black and a group she can blame for her circumstances. In Welch, the poorest town shown in the novel, all of the people fight. The conclusion reached by Jeannette is that they fight because they need some way to vent frustrations at what life has given them. Most of the people in Welch used food stamps as the town itself was so poor that few could afford their own food. When the Walls family lived in Phoenix, and Rex bought them new bikes, their neighbors stole the bikes for unknown reasons. However the book makes it seem that the neighbors are barely getting by and the bikes may have been stolen to sell at a later time.

Self-Reliance

What the Walls parents encourage most in their kids is self-reliance. While living in Welch, WV the children rarely receive food from their parents and have to go through trash cans to gather meals for themselves, except for Maureen who lives with other people. As a result, Maureen is the last child to leave her parents. The children have to learn how to rely on no one but themselves, and get by on their own work. Lori and Jeannette get small jobs and start saving up money, and later Brian does as well.

"The American Dream"

Rex Walls has these great dreams, of building the glass castle, finding a ton of gold and becoming rich, or living with lots of money and a perfect life. These are his dreams that he looks forward to accomplishing one day, and they will supposedly make his life perfect. Although he never accomplished his glass castle, or finding gold, he did essentially find a part of "The American Dream", although it was not materialistic, his children were happy once they moved to New York, and they were able to get good jobs and have great lives, and he was proud of them for that. He knew he had not been a good father to them in the past, and he was proud of what they were able to accomplish in spite of that.

References

Walls, Jeannette. The Glass Castle. New York: Scribner, 2005. Print.

External links

• "The Glass Castle" in-depth review
• Book Review and Discussion
• Conversations with Famous Writers: Jeannette Walls
• Q&A ABC Primetime with Jeannette Walls
• "Jeannette Walls". NotableBiographies.com.