Tolog Review: The Glass Castle

The Glass Castle
by Jeannette Walls
reviewed by Emma Condit

A true story, the compelling novel The Glass Castle recounts the crazy childhood of narrator Jeannette Walls. Raised in a deeply dysfunctional family, Walls was forced to grow up very quickly and take on many of adult responsibilities. Jeannette and her three siblings, Lori, Brian, and Maureen, were raised by Rose Mary and Rex Walls. Rose Mary Walls did not want the responsibility of being a mother, and instead spent her time painting and promoting positivity. Rex Walls, an alcoholic, inspired his children yet often disappointed them.

Rose Mary’s positive outlook on life, which she took to the extreme, had a negative effect on her family because she never saw anything as a problem. Although the family spent years living as nomads in extreme poverty, often going without food, the reader discovers that Rose Mary was in fact quite wealthy and could have provided a stable life for her children, but chose not to. Her parenting style encouraged independence because she felt that “it was good for kids to do what they wanted because they learned a lot from their mistakes." When the Wells family moved to Welch, Rose Mary got a job as a teacher; however, on multiple occasions, she pretended to be sick and refused to go to school, and Jeannette, Brian, and Lori took on the role of parents and insisted that she be responsible and go to work. Despite her positive outlook on life, Rose Mary Walls did not set a satisfactory example for her children to follow.

Rex Walls encouraged his children to take risks and have fun. His general approach to parenting was “If you don’t want to sink, you better figure out to swim” (Walls 66). He forced his children to be extremely self-reliant. Rex Walls captivated his children from a young age by promising to build them a castle made out of glass. This idea excited and intrigued Jeannette, so she admired her father, despite the fact that he constantly let her down. Rex Walls often stole the hard earned money of his wife and children to buy liquor, and he frequently disappeared for days at a time. The Walls children seldom stood up to their father because they knew that there was no point in doing so, but the children still wished he would behave like a normal father. This is evident when Jeannette tells the reader, “I looked at Dad for what felt like a very long moment. Then I blurted out, ‘And why don’t you act like a dad?’” Rex Walls believed in his children but rarely followed through with his promises.

I found The Glass Castle truly fascinating because it vividly described a incredibly unstable childhood that I cannot imagine living. I am growing up in a nice house, I never go to bed hungry, I go to a very good school, and I have dependable, mentally stable parents. I was shocked to see how parents who claim to love their children can neglect them so much and repeatedly let them down. The fact that The Glass Castle is such a personal story made it all the more interesting to read. The book intrigues the reader because not only does it tell a true story, but because the author’s childhood did not derail her entire life. The Glass Castle is a very inspiring story about living a childhood full of obstacles, but still finding success.