Symbolism And Symbolism In 'The Glass Castle'

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When analyzing the symbolism in the Glass Castle it would only be appropriate to start with the major symbol: The Glass Castle. The Glass Castle represents hope and a bright future. The fact that Rex Walls never achieved the goal of building his dream house shows how deeply he needed to overcome his alcoholism and paranoia. Even though the glass is unstable, it symbolizes how Rex Walls wanted an unrealizable lifestyle. It was a lifestyle that could fall apart at any moment. The other symbols that represent Jeanette’s transition into adulthood are fire, The Joshua Tree, and independence. Fire is an important symbol in The Glass Castle because it is a symbol of Jeanette’s first memory of her getting burned while cooking hot dogs at the age of three. Even though she got burned badly, she became fascinated with it. Her father throwing her in the hot pool relates to her burning herself because she is fascinated with fire because it is unstable and unpredictable. In the memoir, fire and her father are parallel because they are dangerous. I believe that she associates fire with disappoin...

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