The Glass Castle

The Glass Castle

By: Jeannette Walls

The Glass Castle is a story of Jeannette Walls and her family. Always short on cash and food, the family moves around the country a lot and tries to re-settle. Although the family is dysfunctional, the experiences communicates itself without blaming either of the Walls parents. Humor frequently infuse the work with a light-spirited tone.

For the first half of the work, the family lives in various excavating towns on the West Coast of America. This part of the work is defined by common moves from town to town. As Jeannette grows up in the desert she is captivated by the never-ending bounds of nature and the fantasies her father dreams up for her and her siblings. While living in the desert Jeannette begins a rock collection and explores the natural and man-made features of the environment with her brother Brian. Life in the desert ends when Rex's alcoholism worsens and the family runs out of funds. They leave the desert and relocate to Welch, West Virginia, the town where Rex grew up, to find better out looks for their future.

Life in Welch, West Virginia is completely different than the life the Walls led in the desert on the West coast. Especially, Welch has a winter season which brings new challenges to the Walls family. From their arrival, the Wells children are itching to leave Welch and return to the desert. But eventually circumstances become so bad that they realize they must move away from their parents in order to achieve stable lives. Lori and Jeannette set their sights on New York and begin saving money to move out of Welch once and for all.

The siblings all end up relocating from Welch to New York in an attempt to be free from the stuffy environment in Welch. For a time everyone is settled and living independently until Rex and Rose Mary show up in Manhattan in a van. The couple ends up poor and homeless once again and despite their efforts, the children are unable to take on the burden of accommodate their parents anymore. Rose Mary and Rex become squatters in abandoned apartments until Rex dies after having a heart attack.

By the end, Jeannette has finally settled her past and present and no longer feels the need to hide behind lies. The story releases her and allows her to do what she enjoys most about writing; communicate with the world.