The Glass

Castle

Caleb A. Todd
Theme
After reading the novel “The glass castle” the theme would only truly reveal itself at the end of the story. After the
children struggle to grow up properly despite their parents disability to parent properly, it may turn out to be some convoluted
life lesson that everyone may be missing.

While reading the book and being able to somewhat relate to its contents it was hard to tell exactly what was right or
wrong, almost as if i were a naive child again who was new to life. Probably because that may be how we all feel when faced
with problems that we do not have the answers too or have faced but simply regret the actions we choose.

When seen on paper there may be no doubt that the parents in the story are not to be trusted, but despite it all the
question remains : “ did they do a bad job?” when looking at the results it's really hard to say, seeing as though all the children
have grown up to be quite successful.

Theme: while it may be weird or indifferent but love is love, it just may be hard to tell the difference what's true or false.
The glass castle
First off it be obvious to some more than other
but, Rex Walls does seem to be a father who cares
about his family despite his own shortcomings.
Rather than taking out his failures out on his family
he continues to dream on improving their life while
keeping his children full of hope.

The theme being that because it's not

something we really affiliated with love at first
“When Dad wasn’t telling us about all the amazing glance, it is irrefutable that Rex Walls does indeed
things he had already done, he was telling us about
care for his children.
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.”
Our Stars
While it may seem like a scapegoat for the
father because he can't afford presents for his
children, Rex doesn't try to be something he's
not. I feel as if even if he did have money that the
present he gave his children is far more valuable,
it may also be a very important life lesson to
someone when it comes to things that may truly
lead to happiness.
“We laughed about the all the kids who believed
in the Santa myth and got nothing for Christmas
but a bunch of cheap plastic toys. “Years from
now, when all the junk they got is broken and
long forgotten,” Dad said, “you’ll still have your
stars.”
Rexs wisdom
At first sight Rex is seen as a simple
drunken father who cannot hold a job however,
throughout the story he does show that he
possess great knowledge and knows about many
thing. When describing to his daughter Jeannette
how fire works, he states that it's not too
different to how humans live. A bunch of random
molecules just bouncing off of one another. Rex is
“Dad pointed to the top of the fire, where the
snapping yellow flames dissolved into an invisible not in no means “stupid” or “crazy” he is simply
shimmery heat that made the desert beyond just an unorthodox man.
seem to waver, like a mirage. Dad told us that
zone was known in physics as the boundary
between turbulence and order. “It’s a place where
no rules apply, or at least they haven’t figured
’em out yet,” he said.”
The hard truth
While almost all parents would never want
anything bad to happen to their children which is
reasonable, Rex not particularly wanting this for
his child either. Rex is aware though that life is
not gonna be so simple so in order for his child to
succeed, Jeannette would have to grow to be
stronger.

“Dad kept telling me that he loved me, that he A.K.A TOUGH LOVE
never would have let me drown, but you can’t
cling to the side your whole life, that one lesson
every parent needs to teach a child is “If you
don’t want to sink, you better figure out how to
swim.”
Strongest man
“I swear, honey, there are times when I think
you’re the only one around who still has faith in
me,” [Dad] said. “I don’t know what I’d do if you
ever lost it.” I told him that I would never lose
faith in him. And I promised myself I never
would.”
While the audience can tell already but, Rex
is somewhat a broken man who appears to almost
never have anything he's planned go his way.
Even after almost the entire family loses faith in
him except for his daughter Jeannette, Rex is still
committed in doing what's best for his family so
much in fact that he would later give up drinking
for two months and hold down a good job all for
his daughter jeannette.
Goodbye Rex
“Hey,” [Dad] said. He winked and pointed his
finger at me “Have I ever let you down?”
He started chuckling because he knew there was
only one way I could ever answer that question. I
just smiled. And then I closed the door.”
Even after all of his children ran away from
home in order to become successful and
constantly calling him out on his shortcomings he
never once hated his children, even after
Jeannette told him he would never build the glass
castle and ran away from home, he never once
hated her.
Rex Walls may have made a lot of
unorthodox choices as a father, but there is no
doubt in my mind that he cared deeply for his
family whether they loved him or not.
 Personification and simile
Fire is an object frequently personified in "The Glass
Castle." First when Jeannette is cooking hot dogs and her dress
catches fire. "... the flames leaped up... " she recalls. Later, Walls
describes fire as "testing" her, "trying to escape" a garbage can
and actually "...being out to get me."Finally at the end of the
novel , where the candle flames on the window are described to
be"...dancing along the border between turbulence and order."
While the family was starving for food, Jeannette describes
her family as cactus."We were sort of like the cactus. We ate
irregularly, and when we did, we'd gorge ourselves." she states.
These similes help the family's feelings about their situation
really come to life.