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It is known that the relationship between a father and daughter can make a great impact on the daughter's life for the rest of her life. Throughout The Glass Castle the reader sees this relation between Jeannette and her dad, Rex, starts off as a roller coaster, it’s dangerous yet so full of fun. Then at the end, the roller coaster stops as life starts kicks in and reality of the world pushes that force to a stop. You do see the love between Jeannette and her dad, Rex, from, The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, their relationship is considered to be rather unhealthy than healthy, which is because Rex relies too much on Jeannette to be the one to keep the relationship strong. One way we see that relies on Jeannette keeping the relationship strong is by how he makes her believe everything he …show more content…
does is to help her.
This makes the relationship unhealthy by putting her in these dangerous situations. Right in the beginning of the book Rex is taking Jeannette out of the hospital “Walls style” (Walls 14). As a child Jeannette sees this as fun and adventurous like nothing bad could happen and that she is healthy to go home since her dad is taking her out, but as outsiders you see that he could be putting her in danger as her wounds could not be fully healed, she could get an infection. This is seen also later in the story when he is helping her learn to swim by throwing her into the water waiting for her body to go into survival mode to make her learn to swim (Walls 66). This shows how you see that she continues to show her faith in her dad even when what he is doing could just end up killing her, making the faith in him the reason it’s unhealthy because
how he uses it. Her faith in him is how she keeps the relation strong while he feeds on it. Another instance is, “I knew you would do just fine” (Walls 213). That is what Rex said to her as she tried telling him that the guy he was playing with was trying to get with her. Rex makes it seem that he knows that she is strong and he only puts her in situations he knows she can deal with and for the most part we see that she does believe him. Which is harmful because of all the situations he puts her through but she still has faith in him and keeps the relationship strong. It is Jeannette’s faith that keeps the relation strong but Rex uses that and puts her in dangerous situations. Rex and Jeannette’s relationship is considered unhealthy rather than healthy, because Rex relies too much on Jeannette to keep the relationship strong. Rex makes her think that he is doing is to help her but in reality he is putting her in harm's way but when she sees this before anything could happen her dad, Rex, feeds her false promises and gives gifts to reset the cycle. While this is always happening she is always defending her dad to her family. Relationships like these are not healthy and can lead to more dangerous situations, these are just some signs of unhealthy relations if this is happening reach out and get help immediately.
Throughout the Glass Castle there is a constant shift in Jeanettes tone through her use of diction. Her memoir is centered around her memories with her family, but mainly her father Rex Walls. Although it is obvious through the eyes of the reader that Rex is an unfit parent and takes no responsibility for his children, in her childhood years Jeanette continually portrays Rex as an intelligent and loving father, describing her younger memories with admiration in her tone. The capitalization of “Dad” reflects Jeannette’s overall admiration for her father and his exemplary valor. “Dad always fought harder, flew faster, and gambled smarter than everyone else in his stories”(Walls 24). Jeanette also uses simple diction to describe her father, by starting sentences with, “Dad said,” over and over. By choosing to use basic language instead of stronger verbs, she captures her experience in a pure and honest tone.
This is illustrated when the author says, “...when he turned to me, his eyes had a wounded look, like a dog who’s been kicked.” Also when Jeanette says, “It’s just that I think Mom would be a lot happier. Plus, we’d have the extra money.” It forces Rex to face the fact that he hasn’t supported and provided for his family and his children well enough, like he thinks a father should. He also is forced to face that he has done things that make his daughter feel uncomfortable and sad and frightened in their own house, which topples his good spirits. You can also tell Jeannette is extremely hesitant to go through with the request, the way she refuses to make eye contact with her father as she builds up the courage to ask him to stop drinking suggests that she knows the powers her words
Rex has many good traits that show he can be a good father when he isn’t drinking. One of these traits is that he never gives up hope. He promises his family that he will build them a house called the Glass Castle, a place where they can finally settle down in one place and stop skedaddling. Jeannette describes the Glass Castle as “a house completely made of glass and had solar cells on the top that would catch the sun’s rays and convert them into electricity for heating and cooling and running all the appliances”(25). One other positive thing he does for them is that he teaches his children important skills like swimming, self-defense and how to read and write. In one part of the memoir, Jeannette and her father are at the Hot Pot, a sulfur spring in the hills and Rex uses a teaching method that would make him seem crazier than he really is. He throws Jeannette in
The author Jeannette Walls of the Glass Castle uses the literary element of characterization to further the theme of the individual chapters. Walls, divides the novel into sections which signify different parts of her life. During one of the last sections in the later half of Jeannette Walls life she comes accross the character by the name of Ginnie Sue Pastor. Ginnie Sue is a single mother who works at The Green Lantern (a local brothel) in order to support her family. When Jeannette first comes across Ginnie Sue she thinks to herself, “It was only on the way home that I realized I hadn’t gotten answers to any of my questions. While I was sitting there talking to Ginnie Sue, I’d even forgotten she was a whore,” (Walls 163). Jeannette is referring to her question she had earlier anticipated on asking which related to her
Individuals who are involved in self improvement ask themselves what the key to success may be. The key to success in life is, by far, self-reliance. Although there is nothing wrong with asking for or receiving help, the support of friends and family will only benefit us ephemerally. People go through their own personal journey of reaching the best version of themselves. That journey is best achieved with self-reliance. Jeannette Walls’ memoir, The Glass Castle, is symbolic of the theme survival through self-reliance.
In his own very special way, Rex Walls loved his children because he taught them to be independent, and self sufficient. He taught them life lessons that he believed could come in handy in the future. At times it seemed he loved the numbness that alcohol provided him more than his kids. He was never a role model for his children; he had the worst habits and lifestyle any adult can have. On more than one occasion Rex Walls abused the love and trust Jeannette had for him. A good portrayal of this is when the check for lease on Rose Mary’s Texas land came in the mail and Rex tricked Jeannette in trusting him with the money and said “Let’s hide it together”. To Rex everything was a big adventure, he did not care that that money was to provide for his children; his only concern was getting money to spend on alcohol and winning money from games of billiards. Even with all of his undesirable traits, his children loved him and they looked up to him when they were little. On one occasion, he said to Jeannette, "But you always loved your old man, didn 't you?" "I did, Dad," I said. "And you always loved me". Jeannette and Rex Walls shared a very special father and daughter relationship. Out of all his kids Jeannette was always the one who trusted him and
Ever since she was a young girl. Jeannette had set high goals for herself. Since she was so advanced in school and genuinely enjoyed learning, it made sense that she would want to do big things with her life. Whether it was being a veterinarian or a geologist, her dreams extended far beyond her homes in little desert towns or Welch, West Virginia. However, because of her poverty-stricken home life, many people believed it didn’t seem likely that she would be so successful. One day, while living in Welch, Jeannette goes to the bar to drag her drunk father back home. A neighborhood man offers them a ride back to their house, and on the ride up he and Jeannette start a conversation about school. When Jeannette tells the man that she works so hard in school because of her dream careers, the man laughs saying, “for the daughter of the town drunk, you sure got big plans” (Walls 183). Immediately, Jeannette tells the man to stop the car and gets out, taking her father with her. This seems to be a defining moment in which Jeannette is first exposed to the idea that she is inferior to others. Although this man said what he did not mean to offend her, Jeannette is clearly very hurt by his comment. To the reader, it seems as if she had never thought that her family’s situation made her subordinate to those
Jeannette and her father Rex have a hopeful beginning to their relationship which consists of its own heroic moments filled with many learning experiences, moments of trust, and source of comfort, which letter on took a disappointing end filled with, hypocrisy, lack of trust, lack of protection, alcohol addictions, and death.
The metaphor the Glass Castle represents is a perfect life that the family cannot have. The dad is a drunk, he has this big plan to build a castle made of gold with a cooling system in the desert. The only thing that makes that metaphor true is that it is impossible, the castle would overheat. Jeanette is important because she is the reason why the dad wants to build the castle, Jeannette is his little “mountain goat”, the child that he is really want to make happy. If he builds this castle they can have a perfect life, that is why he focus so much on trying to improve his prospector.
Towards the middle of the memoir, the theme is shown through the irony of Jeannette’s mother’s situation as well as Jeannette’s feelings towards
Now that Montraville realizes his mistake in taking Charlotte, he feels trapped. Because he does not believe he has broken his father’s advice, he still refuses to marry Charlotte. This is seen when he response to the relation that Charlotte’s father cannot give Charlotte enough money to support herself by concluding “it was impossible should ever marry [her]” as though he is still following the advice (41). He is speaking as though there will be grave consequences only if he marries Charlotte. Quickly, Montraville finds himself unwilling to back up because he finds such an act “cruel beyond description” and unwilling to move forward if fear of violating his father’s advice (83). All of this is caused by Montraville applying the advice to experiences and understanding the father never thought he would
Jeannette knew that she was her father’s favorite child, but they kept it a secret. As children, we should always remain faithful in what our parents do for us. No matter what the circumstances are, you should never be ashamed of your parents. The Walls family had a different, but special bond despite being a dysfunctional family, but what family is perfect? This quote enhances the relationship between Jeannette and her father. It is a true symbol of a father and his daughter’s love for one
Parenting isn’t all that great. According to Marisa de los Santos, author of Love Walked In;, “No one is ever quite ready; everyone is always caught off guard. Parenthood chooses you. And you open your eyes, look at what you’ve got, say “Oh, my gosh,” and recognize that of all the balls there ever were, this is the one you should not drop. It’s not a question of choice.” (Bongiorno). In the memoir, of The Glass Castle, by Jeannette Walls, the parents tend to stray away from the ‘normal parenting rules’. According to the Walls, being a parent means toparenting is leave ing your kids to fend for themselves, stealing from them, and letting them have the unlimited freedomletting them do whatever they want. The parents,; Rex and Rose Mary, do treat their kids with somewhat a low sense of decency.
She was in the kitchen cooking hotdogs when she was three years old, and no one was paying attention to her. The fire burned her so severe that she acquired a large scar on her torso. After being in the hospital for several days, her father, Rex Walls, checked her out. Her parents later encouraged her to go back to cooking. It is clear that Jeannette’s safety was neglected by her parents. To be neglected as a child means “when a parent or caregiver does not give the care, supervision, affection and support needed for a child’s health, safety and well-being” (What is Child Abuse). In The Glass Castle, there are many times when the kids were neglected. Another time when the parents neglected the children’s safety is when their father took them to the zoo. But, they weren’t there just to look at the animals. On page 108, Jeannette tells of when her dad “took my hand and slowly guided it to the side of the cheetah’s neck”. Again, the father did not take into consideration that he was putting his children in danger because he believed that he had the situation under control. Therefore, it is clear that the children’s safety was
I could say, and few would disagree, that perhaps the most important things for a parent to have and to give is love. Love seems at first to be all-encompassing; that as long as you love your children, you would do anything and everything for them- and this makes you a good parent.