The Glass Castle
Meredith Sight: Characters
Elizabeth Gianino: Setting
Jillian Nelson: Point of View
Kathryn Thompson: Theme
Visual Representation- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lW0XVno-0gM
Reflection:
Kathryn - Seeing this video clip can help us realize the reality of this story. Seeing Jeannette
being interviewed and answering all these questions helps us to say “this was a real story of a
real person’s real childhood”. Also, seeing images of Jeannette and her mom, listening to the
way they speak, and watching their body language, alters the images in our head of the Walls
family.
Meredith - It is amazing that Jeannette has such a positive attitude and outlook about life,
despite everything that she has struggled with through the years. After seeing the video, one
truly understands that Jeannette is the person and writer she is today due to her battle. The
video is first hand proof that getting her story story out to the world, and no longer having
secrets, helped her tremendously.
Elizabeth - Analyzing this video clip depicted the true image of Jeannette Walls and her
mother. We did not have to make the assumption of physical and personal characteristics; the
clip featured that for us. In addition, Jeannette discusses certain attributes described in the
book. Her tone and descriptions she uses gave us a better understanding of the Walls’ life.
Jillian - Watching this video gives readers a better sense of understanding towards Jeanette’s
relationship with her mother by showing how they interact with each other in person rather than
in Jeanette’s viewpoint in her book. Seeing this clip and hearing Walls actually speak of her
experiences helps bring the whole book together and make it a reality for readers.
Summary- The Glass Castle is childhood memoir composed of Jeannette Walls’ life growing
up with parents constantly making their family “skedaddle” when in financial debt. The setting
is more spontaneous than permanent. The children are challenged but determined to create
a better life for themselves than what their parents have provided for them. Jeannette’s point
of view specifically describes the harsh reality she and her family are exposed to. The Glass
Castle is the story of the Walls family’s struggles full of pain, neglect, poverty, and trauma. But
through all of their challenging times, their love for each other shines through. Jeanette learns
not to be ashamed of her family and past, but to embrace them because they have made her
who she is.
Characters by: Meredith Sight
Rex Walls- father, alcoholic, loving yet abusive, intelligent, seductive- “ He was telling us about
the wondrous things he was going to do. Like build the Glass Castle. All of Dad’s engineering
skills and mathematical genius were coming together in one special project: a great big house
he was going to build for us in the desert” (Walls, 25).
Rose Mary Walls- mother, painter, free-spirited, self-absorbed, detached. For example, in the
memoir, the reader finds out the Rose Mary let her family struggle in deep poverty, when she
had a multitude of land worth a lot of money.
Jeannette Walls- author, optimistic, resourceful, courageous, reflective
Lori Walls- sister, passive, smart, dependent on Jeannette, first to escape the family, eventually
independent
Brian Walls- brother, resilient, humorous, protective of his sisters, reluctant to be involved in
conflicts- In Welch, Brian was molested and he tried to avoid all conflict with it and did not share
it with anyone until Jeannette found out.
Maureen Walls- sister, most neglected of three children, confused and lost, damaged, selfdestructive- Maureen ends up completely secluding herself from the family and moves to
California.
Walls Family QuoteIn the hallway, Lori and Dad got into a loud argument over who was responsible
for pushing Maureen over the edge. Lori blamed Dad for creating a sick
environment, while Dad maintained that Maureen had faulty wiring. Mom chimed
in that all the junk food Maureen ate had led to a chemical imbalance, and Brian
started yelling at them all to shut the hell up or he’d arrest them. I just stood there
looking from one distorted face to another, listening to the babble of enraged
squabbling as the Walls family gave vent to all their years of hurt and anger, each
unloading his or her own accumulated grievances and blaming the others for
allowing the most fragile one of us to break into pieces. (275-276)
This is a great quote because gives an outline of each family members characteristics.
1. The protagonist is Jeannette, and the antagonists are her father and mother and the chaotic
situations they create for their children, especially Jeannette. Jeannette spends all her energy
trying to make their life more stable which her parents make nearly impossible for her.
2. The opposing forces are stability versus chaos, care versus neglect, and reality versus
fantasy.
The children find themselves in a struggle where they are being pulled by the negative
influences (chaos, neglect, fantasy) but striving to achieve the positive ones (stability, care,
reality).
3. Walls tends to give the reader more detailed description of settings than she does of the
family’s physical characteristics over the course o .
4. Rex Walls would never talk about his upbringing in West Virginia because he escaped the
poverty and abuse that he experienced there. Rosemary Walls would never acknowledge the
wealth that her family had, and her family never approved of her becoming an artist.
5. a. Rex Walls is a loving but irresponsible father who lets his alcoholism get in the way of
providing for his children.
b. Rosemary Walls, in following her free spirit and becoming an artist, never takes the role of
being a mother seriously. Not only is she detached from her children; she does not have a
strong grasp of reality.
c. Jeannette Walls uses this memoir to reflect upon her childhood and tells of the amazing
courage she demonstrated as she pursued a more stable and normal life in her adult years.
d. Lori Walls came to depend on Jeannette for support and, because of Jeannette’s prompting,
was the first to escape an unhealthy family environment.
e. Brian Walls was the tough little brother who attempted to keep the family together. Even
though he was reluctant to get into the middle of family fights, he tried his best to protect his
sisters.
f. Maureen was the youngest child who was the most neglected and, so, suffered the most.
Even when she is on her own, she has no direction to her life and seems headed for a very sad
outcome.
6. On the surface, everyone would consider the Walls an unconventional family. Dad drifts
from job to job, and mom prefers painting to mothering. The kids seems to “go with the flow”
and are not that affected by the chaos in their lives. Under the surface, both parents are deeply
unhappy, and the children are scarred by their parents’ irresponsible behavior.
7. The parents remain fairly consistent throughout, unaffected by reality. The children, when
they were young, each managed to find ways to survive their circumstances; as they matured,
Jeannette, Lori, and Brian became less trapped and more courageous, each making successful
lives for themselves. That was not the case for Maureen who ended up becoming a victim of her
childhood.
Discussion Questions:
1. Does a person have the right to “air her family’s dirty laundry” (expose family problems) as
she uses writing as a form of therapy?
2. Were there certain characteristics in Maureen that would prepare the reader for her
less-than-desirable outcome? Why does she not survive in the way that her siblings do?
Setting by: Elizabeth Gianino
I. The Physical Environment
The setting of The Glass Castle is very idiosyncratic. The memoir goes through time period
from the mid-1900’s to present day. Towards the beginning of the book, the Walls’ traveled
from place to place because of financial issues. Together, they spent some time in the Mojave
Desert in search of gold and other minerals. They meandered their way through California and
Battle Mountain, Nevada, and finally settled in a quaint house in Phoenix, Arizona. They made
a living with whatever they had. The children slept in card board boxes, and tried to entertain
themselves to the best of their ability. After a few years, the Walls’ became financially in debt
and fled to Welch, West Virginia. Later, they found a run-down, dilapidated house that was
affordable and met their limited budget. “The houses up here were shabbier than the brick
houses lower in the valley. They were made of wood, with lopsided porches, sagging roofs,
rusted-out gutters, and balding tar paper or asphalt shingles slowly but surely parting from the
under wall.” (p.150) After several years of surviving poorly, the three children: Lori, Jeannette,
and Brian moved to New York City in search of a better life. They lived in small women’s
hostels, and eventually moved into a small apartment. “Our apartment was bigger than the
entire house on Little Hobart Street, and way fancier. It had shiny oak apartment floors, a foyer
with two steps leading down into the living room- where i slept- and, off to the side, a bedroom
that became Lori’s.” (p.247) Several years later, the parents moved to New York City, to “reunite
the family”. However, life in New York City was worse for the parents. They slept on park
benches and scoured the garbage on the streets. This was especially difficult for Jeannette to
live with, but it was her parents that told her it was what had made them who they were.
II. The Cultural Environment
The causes of moving numerous times put a downfall on the family. School was an issue, and
it was especially hard to get the proper education. When moving, the children were told to bring
only one item that was special to them. Because of this, they had fewer items of their own. In
addition to all of this trauma, the Walls’ could not celebrate Christmas until a week later, when
stores put sales on merchandise. Or, if there budget was too tight, they didn’t even celebrate
Christmas with gifts. At times, the Walls’ would go days without eating properly. The feelings
and thoughts of the children were specifically harsh because of the neglect and emotional pain
they were treated with. A different time and/or place would not change the results of these
feelings and reactions. It was only a matter of taking the responsibility of themselves that made
a difference.
III. Discussion Questions1. Do you think the parenting skills of Rex and Mary Rose were deliberate (intentional)? If so,
what were their reasons behind certain aspects of life?
2. What do you think Jeanette’s life would be like if she hadn’t moved to New York?
Point of View- Jillian Nelson
The Glass Castle is written in first person and it is a memoir of Jeannette Walls’ life. Having the
book written from young Jeannette’s eyes makes the story much more dramatic. Also when
reading the memoir, readers feel closer to Jeanette because they can read her thoughts and
feelings from her perspective and can truly understand what it was like to grow up in the Walls’
family.
A good example of readers being able to truly understand the hardships of Jeannette’s
life can be found on page 52. “Instead of beds, we kids each slept in a big car board box, like
the ones refrigerators came in. A little while after we’d moved into the depot, we heard Mom
and Dad talking about buying us kids real beds, and we said they shouldn’t do it. We liked our
boxes. They made going to bed seem like an adventure.” Here readers learn firsthand what it
was like to live in a home where there was no real furniture but they also see that Jeannette still
has her child innocence and doesn’t see the reality of the situation.
Readers also see how embarrassed she is at times by her family first hand so they can
develop a sense of what Jennette was going through. “...I was overcome with panic that she’d
see me and call out my name, and that someone on the way to the same party would spot us
together and Mom would introduce herself and my secret would be out.” -page 3
Here Jeannette describes her fear of the world knowing her story even though it is mind
blowing and incredible. If this scene had been written in third person readers would not feel that
sympathy for Jeannette so soon in the book. Being written from her perspective, this particular
story grips readers immediately and leaves them curious, making them want to read on.
Theme by Kathryn Thompson
I. While there are multiple themes throughout the book, there are two prominent themes
that seemed to stand out most:
1. Forgiveness and acceptance of who people are: Jeannette realizes the importance of
forgiving her family for her childhood and not being ashamed of who they are. She learns that
she cannot forget or ignore her family and past no matter how hard she may try. Jeannette
learns this lesson after driving by her homeless mother in New York. Before, she was
embarrassed about her mother. What would people think when Jeannette revealed her mother
as a homeless woman living on the streets of New York? After ducking when seeing her
mother on the streets, she was humiliated for herself. “I hated myself - hated my antiques, my
clothes, and my apartment.” (pg 4) She was standing there in nice clothes, had come from
her apartment, while her mother was wearing old clothes and digging for food in a trash bin.
Jeannette learns that she cannot hide her past or be ashamed of her parents, nor can she be
ashamed of who she has become. She forgives her parents and herself, accepting the truth and
the reality of who she is and was.
2. The positive effect of speaking up about a situation: Writing can help someone reach a
peaceful state of mind. Before writing her memoir, Jeannette was nervous when discussing the
topics of her family situation, where she came from, and how she grew up. She was ashamed
of who they were and her life as a child. We learn that she eventually came to accept her family
and past as it is - sometimes even being proud of it. But, it was through writing this memoir that
Jeannette was finally able to reach this peaceful state of mind. In her acknowledgments she
says, “I can never adequately thank my husband, John Taylor, who persuaded me it was time to
tell my story and then pulled it out of me.” Jeannette finally gained enough confidence to speak
up about her life, and share it to the world. This enabled her to come to terms with her past, so
she was no longer insecure about her life.
II. Jeannette most likely wrote this memoir for two reasons:
1. So that she could resolve her anxious feelings about her family, let go of everything she’s
kept secret, and share her story.
2. So that we can learn from her fascinating childhood lessons, such as the importance of caring
for and not neglecting one another, providing for each other, and also realizing the differences
between necessities and wants. There are beauties and faults in the Walls’ methods of life.
Jeannette gives us an interesting view point on such methods, and helps us see things from
another perspective.
III. Discussion questions
1. Why might it have taken Jeannette so long until she was finally ready to share her story?
2. Do you think Jeannette was more disappointed in her parents or embarrassed about them,
before she wrote this book?
Bonus - Poem
Written by a reader of Glass Castle.
My father (Glass Castle)
by SMmoony
My father was a good man,
although, with alcohol, it erased his morals
made him dishonest and selfish,
it made my mother cry
while we, children, ignored this.
Time flew by, we grew older,
it became worse.
He turned more bitter and destructive.
Yet I always loved him
for his imagination,
for his desire of adventure
as we traveled all around:
to the deserts, the mountains and the wilds,
And he always drove like madman,
Laughing and crackling, in his 'Rex Walls' style.
Told amazing stories to us in bedtime
about him wrestling pack of dogs,
being a solider and saving damsels,
or meeting mom for the first time.
Yes, I love him, always will,
for his dreams,
for the glass castle,
even though he never built it,
in our heart it still lives.
http://www.gotpoetry.com/Poems/l_op=viewpoems/lid=64772.html