The Glass Castle by

Broken Promises

kevinenri — 2025-02-27 20:50:00 UTC

"He explained that he was going to hire a truck to cart the garbage to the dump all at once. But he never got around to that either, and as Brian and I watched the hole for the Glass Castle's foundation slowly filled with garbage." This quote represents how many time Rex has told and promised that he would get around to building this fictional glass castle but never did. This quote is one of many of telling his children that he will build it and they would live happily ever after in it. There are various times he promised to get started and create the glass castle, but there was always an excuse in the end as to why he couldn't, making his promises end up just like the glass castle's foundation, trash.

Non Conformity

kevinenri — 2025-02-27 20:59:29 UTC

"Lori blamed Dad for creating a sick environment, while Dad maintained that Maureen had faulty wiring." This quote to me represents that not only Maureen has faulty wiring, but all of them do. Growing up the way the kids did changed them all in a way that made them develop a different way than the average kid does. For Jeannette and Lori , they won't have kids, they do not want them, for all three of them with Brian, they are all self-sufficient, especially Jeannette, in some way shape or form they don't want help from anyone. It's the way they grew up, fending for themselves, taking care of themselves since such a young age. For Maureen though it was the complete opposite, she was too dependant on people, whether it was her neighbors, boyfriends, Etc, she always relied on other people . When her parents finally told her she needed to be independent, she snapped, even though she was the only one who did, you can argue that every single one of those kids each have their own reason to snap as well.

Fantasy Vs Reality

kevinenri — 2025-03-02 23:04:15 UTC

"I'd broken one of our unspoken rules: we were always supposed to pretend our life was one long and incredibly fun adventure." This quote most accurately represents Jeannette's and her siblings lives, acting as if their life is good or something. It depicts on how the parents live in this fantasy that they're lives aren't actually horrible and it's better that way. What is worse is that they forced their children to live this way as well and grew up telling them that the traditional american way was a pathetic way to live. They always had an excuse for changing up the reality and creating this fantasy; for example, when they would always move away to different run down houses in other states, they would make excuses saying it's the thrill of life, when in reality they were being chased by FBI the entire time.

Self Sufficiency

kevinenri — 2025-03-02 23:44:14 UTC

"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." This quote shows a recurring display of selfishness and having too much pride. Especially from Rex, who needed to be the one to provide for his family, and out of delusion believed to do so. This family had so many opportunities to be fed and clothed and time after Rex and Rose Mary would not accept it. An example is when Rose Mary and Rex are homeless in New York and Jeannette offers to help them out, they would not accept it and would rather suffer.

Unconditional love

kevinenri — 2025-03-03 00:21:23 UTC

"In my mind, dad was perfect." throughout the book you'll notice that the bond between Jeannette and her father is much stronger than the rest of them. Jeannette always expressed how much she loved her father and that she always felt close to him. Despite the things her father as put her through especially with pimping her out or killing Oz to get a quick buck, she always still loved her old man. Even when she was grown up and left her parents, as well as her father dying at the end of the book, she still showed how much she'll always love him even through all the things he put them through.

Disappointment

kevinenri — 2025-03-03 19:25:01 UTC

" I knew it was Dad, but at the same time, I couldn't believe he'd stoop this low." This quote even though she doesn't exactly say she is, you can tell she is very disappointed with her father. Although Jeannette loves her father unconditionally, that doesn't stop the fact that as she grows and matures, the more she realizes that her father isn't what he portrays himself to be. From being pimped out, to stealing/ripping Oz for money, Jeannette finally starts being fed up with her father and the excuses he makes for everything. She was definitely the last out of all her siblings to really feel this anger and disappointment with her father since she had a much closer bond with him than her other siblings, she was always biased and ignored the fact that he was always letting them down constantly.