https://padlet.com/393530/ltifk0fcgcfd A memoir by Jeanette Walls en-us 2019-05-15 16:40:43 UTC 2024-10-02 03:04:55 UTC hello@padlet.com 393530 https://padlet.com/393530/ltifk0fcgcfd/wish/360447151 Although Rex was an extreme alcoholic, Jeanette always showed him unconditional love. Even on bad terms, Jeannette continued to have a soft spot in her heart for her father. The picture below demonstrates empty bottles of liquor, or what Rose Mary calls, "the hard stuff". This is one of the many reasons he is constantly letting people down. When drunk Rex threatens to beat Rose Mary, and/or anyone who gets in his way. He can also go as far as stealing money from his own kids or asking them for 20 dollars. The quote ties into the theme because it is a time where Rex did indeed steal, made Jeannette frustrated, but could still tug on her heart and make her laugh.


"He was actually half grinning at me. After the whipping, Dad had jacked up the charm with me, and even though I was planning to leave, he could make me laugh when he tried, and he still considered me an ally." 

]]> 2019-05-15 16:57:36 UTC https://padlet.com/393530/ltifk0fcgcfd/wish/360447151 393530 https://padlet.com/393530/ltifk0fcgcfd/wish/360447313 The theme forgiveness is seen all throughout the book. Jeannette and her siblings are always forgiving their parents for the constant let down they consistently receive. There parents are very irresponsible, but somehow manage to always be forgiven. An example of this is represented in the picture below. When Rex was teaching Jeannette how to swim, he just threw her in, so she could figure it out herself. Jeannette forgave him. Rex is always making causing problems, whether it be due to alcohol or rationalizing bad decisions and Rose Mary is the same, she makes irresponsible decisions that have led her kids to suffering. That includes her not taking any charity when needed or not working to provide for her children. Through all of this, Jeannette and the rest of the kids forgave them both on a daily basis and still held some type of love towards them.  As seen in the quote below, when she met up her dad for the last time, she forgave him for all the chaos he created in her life, still loving him very much.

"But despite all the hell-raising and destruction and chaos he had created in our lives, I could not imagine what my life would be like—what the world would be like—without him in it. As awful as he could be, I always knew he loved me in a way no one else ever had."]]> 2019-05-15 16:57:52 UTC https://padlet.com/393530/ltifk0fcgcfd/wish/360447313 393530 https://padlet.com/393530/ltifk0fcgcfd/wish/360447744 The theme non conformity in The Glass Castle can be seen clearly from the very first page. Jeanette describes herself cooking hot dogs at the early age by herself in boiling water and she describes cooking for herself often even after being badly burned and sent to the hospital at the early age of three. It can also be seen in the types of animals they kept as pets. Most typical normal families would not keep stray snakes,  coyotes and buzzard's as pets. They even named their buzzard Buster. The whole book illustrates how the Walls family was not normal and not what would be considered a regular part of society, nor did they live this way. They would hunt for food in abandoned houses. One day, Jeanette's mother bought them a ham. They ate off of the ham for days, however, had no refrigerator so they left the ham on the shelf and it grew maggots. A normal person would throw something so disgusting out. Below you will see a different reaction from Mrs. Walls that describes the non conformity very well.

"Mom was sitting on the sofa eating a piece she'd cut. "Mom, that ham's full of maggots," I said. "Don't be so picky," she told me. "Just slice off the maggoty parts. The inside is fine."


]]> 2019-05-15 16:58:41 UTC https://padlet.com/393530/ltifk0fcgcfd/wish/360447744 393530 https://padlet.com/393530/ltifk0fcgcfd/wish/360447863 The theme fantasy VS reality can be seen from the very beginning of the book and carries through all the way to the end. Fantasy was actually all they really had and was one of the things that Rex continued to display especially with his words and promises. Promises of building them a glass castle. Reality is, they live a very dysfunctional life. Rex and Rose Mary are poor examples of parents. They do not really care about their children's well being nor their spirits. The continued exposure to disfunction and disaster and had absolutely no stability. Reality is that Jeanette and her siblings grew up and they eventually knew they had to get the hell away from their parents in order to survive and to have some kind of sanity. They all came to the reality that the madness must stop and only they could change their own situations. They had to save themselves or be like their parents. Displayed in the quotes below is a perfect example of the reality they had to face.

"I'll never get out of here," Lori kept saying. "I'll never get out of here."
"You will," I said. "I swear it." I believed she would. Because I knew that if Lori never got out of here, neither would I. ]]> 2019-05-15 16:58:56 UTC https://padlet.com/393530/ltifk0fcgcfd/wish/360447863 393530 https://padlet.com/393530/ltifk0fcgcfd/wish/360453679 The theme chaos and order can be witnessed throughout the book. Chaos actually continues to shadow throughout the story. From their parents making them skedaddle quickly in the middle of the night to avoid debt collectors, to the family continually putting up with their drunk father who would often even steal from them for selfish reasons. Even taking every cent out of their piggy bank Oz. For selfish reasons like buying his alcohol and cigarettes. He would even take the last few dollars the family had and spend them on himself before even buying food to feed them. Rex actually many times allowed his family to starve. Also having a not so attentive mother who would put others before her own children and refused to leave her husband and his continued abuse. All of these things were apparent in all of the abuse that the family witnessed and endured. Unfortunately the chaos was so often that family became immune to it and it became their order in a way.  Rose Mary their mother would often try to share her life lessons with the children even during the chaos that life certainly would improve someday. You can witness this below in a lesson she was trying to impress on
 her children.

"Things usually work out in the end."
"What if they don't?"
"That just means you haven't come to the end yet."]]> 2019-05-15 17:11:46 UTC https://padlet.com/393530/ltifk0fcgcfd/wish/360453679 jessicaromeroxo https://padlet.com/393530/ltifk0fcgcfd/wish/365456800 The parents, Rex and Rose Mary, consistently encouraged Jeannette and her siblings to be self-dependent and to never rely on anybody else all throughout the memoir. Although the family certainly needs it sometimes and are scavenging for food, they refuse to accept help from anybody. The picture below symbolizes that they are against food donations, and/or any other kind of donations. Some of the dialogue seen below demonstrates Rose Mary's mindset and how she wants her and her family to be self-sufficient and to deny any charity given to them.

"Although we were the poorest family on Little Hobart Street, Mom and Dad never applied for welfare or food stamps, and they always refused charity. When teachers gave us bags of clothes from church drives, Mom made us take them back. "We can take care of our own," Mom and Dad liked to say. "We don't accept handouts from anyone.""]]> 2019-06-04 01:47:00 UTC https://padlet.com/393530/ltifk0fcgcfd/wish/365456800