The Glass Castle by Adrian Garcia

Broken Promises

adriantwin02 — 2025-02-27 20:14:20 UTC

In the Glass Castle, by Jeannette Walls, the kids are given promises that the parents often couldn't keep, sometimes being basic necessities. Rex would often share his dream of making a house made of glass, calling it the "Glass Castle". The kids had to dig the hole for the foundation for the father. This would never make it passed a hole, filled with trash, for the foundation. Rex had promised that he would build the foundation on the hole “but he never got around to that, either, and as Brian and [Jeannette] watched, the hole for the Glass Castle's foundation slowly filled with garbage” (Walls 155). This shows the broken promises that The Glass Castle represents, a promise made by their father.

Forgiveness

adriantwin02 — 2025-02-27 20:23:49 UTC

In the memoir, some of the kids chose to be forgiving of their parents. Some of the things that the parents subjected their kids to do were outright unforgivable. Jeannette being the more forgiving, forgiving Rex and giving Rose Mary a house. Maureen being the least, saying she has no mother and moving away. When Rex said, "Never did build that Glass Castle." Jeannette responded with, "No. But we had fun planning it." Jeannette had mostly forgiven her father for the things that he did.

Unconditional Love

adriantwin02 — 2025-02-27 20:35:33 UTC

In the Glass Castle, the conditions that the kids had to live through were horrendous. Even after all of that their kids, for the most part, made sure that they were taken care of. After all the neglect, Jeannette put her mother in a house on her land, which Rose Mary still finds things to complain about. Rex said, "But you always loved you old man, didn't you?" Jeannette responded, "I did, Dad." After all Rex did, Jeannette still loved him. This shows the unconditional love that Jeannette had for her parents.

Self-sufficiency

adriantwin02 — 2025-03-03 19:13:10 UTC

Many times throughout the memoir, the kids show self-sufficiency. Jeannette attempted to cook hotdogs and caught her dress on fire. Even after coming back from the hospital, she started doing the same thing again. Their lack of food security put them in charge of finding food, often found outside of their home.

Acceptance

adriantwin02 — 2025-03-03 19:14:06 UTC

In the memoir, the kids had to accept a lot of what they had been given. They had to accept things to get over the obstacles and struggles that they had in life. They were able to jump most of the hurdles in life to get where they are. And because of some of these hurdles they are better people.

Disappointment

adriantwin02 — 2025-03-03 19:14:19 UTC

Throughout the memoir, they often felt disappointment towards their parents. The parents could not take care of them, they often took care of themselves. One example of the kids being disappointed was when their father, Rex, attempted to get sober and have a steady job, but went back to doing the same things after Rose Mary told him she was lonely.