The Glass Castle is a memoir by Jeannette Walls, about her life growing up in a dysfunctional family. She has three siblings, Lori, Brian, and Maureen. She is born to Rex and Rose Mary Walls, whose strange ideals and stubborn non-conformity shape their family's life. Rose Mary is an artist who cannot bear to sell her artwork, and Rex is a brilliant drunk who teaches his children physics, geology, and to embrace life without fear and to not care what other people think. They are not concerned about money or social status, but rather staying together as a family. Indeed, throughout most of the book, they live in poverty, despite the land Rose Mary owned (and refused to sell) that was worth one million dollars.
The family moves around much like nomads, "doing the skedaddle", as Rex says, usually when the bills pile up or Rex loses a job. Because of this lifestyle, the Walls children are sheltered with their family, and so idolize them despite their faults. But as they grow older, and are exposed to the world around them, they realize they must fend for themselves. Rex especially betrays them many times, for he is trapped in a vicious cycle of drunkenness. In the end, the Walls children escape to New York, where they build up normal lives, and their parents follow, as homeless people on the streets. Interestingly, both the children and their parents are proud of the lives they have shaped as their own.
The remarkable thing is that Jeannette managed to escape from her parents' lifestyle, while, at the same time, describes them with deep affection and respect. Her memoir is an unconventional, inspiring story about family.
The family moves around much like nomads, "doing the skedaddle", as Rex says, usually when the bills pile up or Rex loses a job. Because of this lifestyle, the Walls children are sheltered with their family, and so idolize them despite their faults. But as they grow older, and are exposed to the world around them, they realize they must fend for themselves. Rex especially betrays them many times, for he is trapped in a vicious cycle of drunkenness. In the end, the Walls children escape to New York, where they build up normal lives, and their parents follow, as homeless people on the streets. Interestingly, both the children and their parents are proud of the lives they have shaped as their own.
The remarkable thing is that Jeannette managed to escape from her parents' lifestyle, while, at the same time, describes them with deep affection and respect. Her memoir is an unconventional, inspiring story about family.
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