A Beautiful Life in a Glass Castle
A person is shaped by their character, their character by their traits, their traits by their morals,
and their morals by their beliefs. Every person has something unique that sets them apart from everyone
else; without these special qualities the world would be a bland place full of routine robots. The basic
building block of anyone’s character is their beliefs. Everyone views the world through different lenses;
therefore, their beliefs are based upon the way that they view the world. A belief can be something as
simple as what’s appropriate to wear to school, to as complicated as the way a person feels about a certain
political figure. People aren’t just born with the beliefs that build their character; it is something that has
to be developed as time goes on. Beliefs can come from what family, religion, or society has taught an
individual; however, many beliefs come from growing up and gaining the ability to develop personal
opinions. Only once a person has developed a sound foundation of beliefs can their true character be
discovered.
Beliefs can not only be developed through family and other institutions, but through media as
well. For many years people have turned to books, movies and television shows to teach, inspire, and
motivate them. Books and movies have a special way of connecting with an audience. When someone is
involved in a book or a movie for a longer period of time it is easier to develop a deeper connection with
the writer, making the audience feel as though they can trust what they are reading or watching. Authors
and directors use themes, or mini take home lessons, as a way to show the audience their beliefs, and in
turn try to get them to change or strengthen their own personal beliefs. The novel The Glass Castle by
Jeannette Walls and the movie La Vita è Bella are great examples of how writers can lead their audience
on a journey towards valuable life lessons. The texts explore many similar topics, but take the audience
on completely different journeys. It is possible to make comparisons between the two texts; it is also
possible to point out differences between the two.
Dreams – magical, breathtaking, full of fantasy – people use dreams as a way to escape. In both,
The Glass Castle and La Vita è Bella the main characters cling onto the philosophy that dreams really can
come true if hope remains. This theme can be seen in the novel The Glass Castle through the dreams of
Jeannette’s father, Rex Walls. “When dad wasn’t telling us about all the amazing things he had done, he
was telling us about the wondrous things he was going to do. Like build the Glass Castle.” Throughout
the book Rex constantly promises his young, naïve children that he will build him an elaborate castle
made entirely of glass. Growing up in an impoverished family the Glass Castle was a dream that everyone
felt was out of reach – everyone except Jeannette. Jeannette’s hope in her father’s dream never leaves
during her childhood. No matter what part of the country she moved to, or how long she went without
food, or how poor their living conditions, Jeannette always stood up for her father. The Glass Castle
represented more than just a nice place to live to her; it could bring her family up from the bottom and
help them start fresh. Throughout the book Jeannette never gives up on dreams of a better life. Even after
her father steals her and her sister’s New York fund, she remains hopeful that she will be able to leave the
troubles of her childhood and start fresh in New York. This dream finally came true when Jeannette
moved to New York with her sister after finishing her junior year of high school. After all those years of
hoping for a better life, the dream of her living in the Glass Castle finally came true.
The movie La Vita è Bella demonstrates this theme in a different way. After being sent to a
concentration camp the father, Guido Orefice, has one dream – to reunite his family. Even after being
separated from his wife and forced into hard labor, Guido never gives up; he knows that he has to remain
positive for his son, Joshua. If Joshua became scared, Guido risked the chance of his son being taken
away from him. Guido valued family, and the thought that he might lose that was a harsh reality. At one
point in the movie Guido sneaks into the guard shack and speaks to his wife over the loud speaker. In
doing this he is able to recharge her hope; knowing that her husband and son were okay she was able to
continue on and remain hopeful that she would one day be reunited with her family. Unfortunately,
Guido’s dream only came true for his wife and son. After trying to save his wife from being shipped out
of camp, Guido was caught by an officer who then led him away from the group of women and down an
alley. Guido’s dreams came to an end in that alley, along with the dreams of his wife and son. However,
after American soldiers liberated the camp they found young Joshua hiding in a box. While driving down
the road Joshua saw his mom walking alongside it. The solider was able to reunite Joshua and his mother,
keeping Guido’s dreams alive. Even when it got hard Guido never gave up hope that his family would
once again become one. Although he had to sacrifice his life it was worth it because his dream was able to
come true.
Reality is harsh, cruel, and unaware of feelings; it has no means and takes all as prisoners. For
many people the world of reality is one that they would rather not live in. In both texts, the belief that it is
easier to block out reality and remain living in a fantasy is prominent. This theme is shown in the novel
The Glass Castle when Jeannette, her father, Rex, and her mother, Rose Mary, believe that this should be
their family’s motto. At one point in the book Jeannette’s family had been without food for a few days
and Jeannette and her sister, Lori, found a stash of food in the house. When their mom discovered that
they had eaten her private stash of food she became extremely upset. “Mom gave me a startled look. I’d
broken one of our unspoken rules: We were always supposed to pretend our life was one long and
incredibly fun adventure.” Growing up, the Walls children were taught that avoiding the government,
harsh living conditions, and escaping hospitals was the way to have a great life. Rex Walls believed in the
fantasy that he was better than a doctor; therefore, there was no need for his child to stay in the hospital.
Jeannette believed in the fantasy that the Glass Castle could really be built; this kept her spirits high when
she began to feel helpless. Rose Mary believed in the fantasy that she didn’t have to go to work to help
support her family; while her husband was out getting drunk she could have helped to contribute to the
families’ already small income. After all the years of living in a fantasy, when reality hit for Rex and
Rose Mary it was too harsh for them to deal with.
In the movie La Vita è Bella the theme of living in a fantasy versus reality was also found.
Because of the horrific circumstances that Guido and his family were placed in, the only way to cope with
reality was to dream up an imaginary contest where the point system ruled all. One of Guido’s many
talents was the ability to think on his feet. As soon as he and his family were placed on the cars to be
brought to the train station Guido had already begun imagining up a vacation that he had been planning in
order to protect his son. He wanted to create this fantasy land where mean German guards loved suckers
and the first person to 1,000 points won a tank. If Joshua knew exactly what type of place he had been
brought to, the fear would have overtaken him. Guido wanted him to remain as innocent as possible in
hopes that he wouldn’t be scarred for life because of this experience. The only way for Joshua to remain
alive and innocent was to tell him about a make believe game where in order to get points he had to
remain hidden and not complain about being hungry or missing his mother. Guido goes to the ends of the
Earth to make sure that Joshua believes in this fantasy. From pretending to speak German to having him
“play” hide and seek with the German children, Guido made sure that Joshua believed in the fantasy. In
the case of Guido and his family, the only way for innocence and hope to remain was to make a fantasy
that could over power the strong reality they were undergoing.
Beauty is a very objective term; every person has their own unique idea of what beautiful means.
One theme specific to The Glass Castle is struggles help to shape beautiful people. This idea is found
prominently when the Walls family is living in the desert. “One time I saw a tiny Joshua tree sapling
growing not too far from the old tree. I wanted to dig it up and replant it near our house. I told mom that I
would protect it from the wind and water it every day so that it could grow nice and tall and straight.
Mom frowned at me. ‘You’d be destroying what makes it special,’ she said. ‘It’s the Joshua tree’s
struggle that gives it its beauty.’” This way of looking at beauty is thinking that everything that makes a
person unique and special is what makes them beautiful. Rose Mary believes that if a person does not
undergo struggle or hardship there is no way they can be a beautiful person. If you remove the curve from
the trunk or stop the wind from blowing it, the tree would not be the same. Struggles in life are what help
to shape people and make them unique. The Walls family undergoes struggle after struggle; Rose Mary
wanted to show to her children that even if your childhood is full of hardships you can still grow up to be
a beautiful person, just like the Joshua tree. The Walls children prove their mother’s theory to be true.
After the children grow up and move to New York they become successful and able to be part of a society
they so longed for when they were children. Although they had to struggle through childhood, their
struggles helped to shape them into the beautiful people they became.
Religious sacrifices have been happening for as long as humans have been around. They usually
occur in order to show dedication to a god or belief. Not all sacrifices have to be religious; some sacrifices
show loyalty and unconditional love. In the movie La Vita è Bella Guido shows a unique theme:
sacrificing yourself for your loved ones means more than anything else. Every sacrifice that Guido made
for his family involved a tremendous amount of risk. When he and Joshua arrived in the barracks of the
concentration camp, a German officer came in asking in anyone spoke German. In order to help Joshua
keep believing in the points game Guido steps forward and pretends that he knows German. When he
“translates” the German he twists the words and makes a joke out of what the officer is saying. This was
extremely risky because if any of the officers knew what he was doing, Guido definitely would have been
killed. Guido was willing to sacrifice his life in order to protect his son’s innocence. Another example of
Guido’s sacrifice is when he risks blowing Joshua’s cover at the German dinner. He snuck Joshua into a
meal with all the officers’ children, but just as the dinner was going well Joshua accidentally said thank
you in Italian. When the waiter runs off to grab an officer Guido quickly teaches all the German children
Italian as to cover Joshua’s slip. Guido risked Joshua’s cover and his own life just to get his son a decent
meal. Guido ultimately sacrifices his life when he goes to find his wife, Dora, when the camp is being
evacuated before liberation. As he is leaving the female part of the camp he is caught by a guard, brought
into an alley and killed. Although he was not able to leave the concentration camp, his tremendous
sacrifice helped to keep his family alive and eventually reunite them.
Themes are what help to draw audiences in. When a theme can connect with an audience on a
deeper level the message has been received. People turn to books and movies as a way to learn about new
ideas and to develop the ones that they already have. Although family does play a major role in shaping
our morals and beliefs, the media also lends a hand. In society today, people have certain morals and
values just because those are the values their friends have, or they are the values that they think that they
should have. If people would take the time to form genuine opinions more people would be set in their
ways and the world would be a better place. In order to become self actualized – knowing exactly who
you are as a person – people must first develop their self esteem and their belief backgrounds. If the world
was full of more self-actualized people it would be a far more cohesive place.