Keagan Koerber
12-15-12
5th Hour
Glass Castle Comparison Essay
Fathers can be many things: loving, overbearing, reliable, hypocritical, role
4
models, dead beats. Rex Walls from The Glass Castle and Guido Orefice from La Vita e
Bella can be sharp contrasts to each other at time, and yet still share the same redeeming
qualities.
A trait that both Guido and Rex share is that they both have a profound love for
their kids, even though they may express their love in different ways. Guido shows his
love for his son, Giosue, by keeping up the charade that the concentration camp was
actually a competition for a new tank; and when the time came, he even sacrificed his
own life to ensure that Giosue survived. Rex Walls, on the other hand, expresses the love
for his kids in a myriad of different scenarios, many of which come off as convoluted and
misguided. Some examples of such would be Rex stealing Jeannette and Lori’s New
York City money. He did this because he wanted to family to stay together—a family that
9
was falling apart at the seams.
Another quality that both Rex and Guido share is that they are both outsiders in
their societies. Guido’s life in pre-WWII Italy was rough considering his Jewish heritage;
even though Guido faced adversity daily, he still didn’t give up on his goals of owning a
bookshop and starting a family. Rex Walls however, was given the title outsider by his
family. As the book progressed, you could feel Rex slipping away from the family and
getting lost in his addiction, he was no longer the keystone that held the family together
13
and without him as leader, they fell apart.
One trait where Rex and Guido differ would be in the portrayal of them as father
figures. Guido was portrayed as an excellent father to Giosue, loving and caring, always
explaining the world to his inquisitive son, and sometimes fabricating information to
protect him from the harsh realities of life. Rex, on the other hand, was portrayed as an
angry, abusive, drunk who couldn’t get his act together, but would move mountains for
his family if needs be. In reality, he was a brilliant man who was just misunderstood at
2
times, critical of his family at others.
Another differing quality about Guido and Rex are the different stigma put on
them. The label applied to Guido was that he was inferior to the other races simply
because of his heritage. Guido however, casts his stigma aside and stays positive because
his family needs him. Rex is labeled as a father who his unable to provide for his family
and how that was considered taboo for the time period.
Though Rex and Guido both have faults, some more prominent than others, they
still love their families unconditionally and would do anything for them. It is these faults
that exemplify their character and truly bring them to life.