Themes in The Glass Castle by Sara Pinedo

Forgiveness

sarapinedo2025 — 2025-02-27 18:34:35 UTC

In the book The Glass Castle, Jeannette never complains or shows anger towards her parents for the things they did throughout their life. There were many times when Rose Mary did not provide food or support her children, Jeannette never complained or argued. A quote from the book that best explains forgiveness is when Rose Mary says "You should never hate anyone, even your worst enemies. Everyone has something good about them. You have to find the redeeming quality and love the person for that." (Page 144) This is a great example because it shows how Jeannette understood her parent's unique qualities. Jeannette knew her parents weren't going to change and for the rest of her life she decided that she was not going to end up like them. When Jeannette gets older, she realizes that her parents are the way that they are and the only thing she can do is to not follow in their footsteps.

Lost Dreams

sarapinedo2025 — 2025-02-27 18:48:40 UTC

The Glass Castle, designed by Rex Walls is an example of a lost dream. All of Jeanettes life, Rex promised her and siblings that he would build them a Glass Castle. Rex never fulfilled his promise; this shows how Rex was not a great dad and always left the kids disappointed. A quote from the book that best explains this theme is when Jeanette said, "I was beginning to realize that the things we wanted didn't always come true, and that you could go your whole life without achieving your dreams." This quote shows the realization of when Jeanette finally sees the type of person her father really is and to not always believe what someone says. Another example of this is on Page 25, "When Dad wasn't telling us about all the amazing things had already done, he was telling us about the wonderous things he was going to do. Like build the Glass Castle." Rex never got to building it and the kids were always hoping that dream would become true.

Self-sufficiency

sarapinedo2025 — 2025-02-27 18:57:51 UTC

In the Book, The Glass Castle, shows a lot of independence and self-sufficiency. This mainly comes from Jeanette Walls and her siblings. Jeanette at a young age was cooking for herself and doing many adult activities other children typically wouldn't do. A quote from Rose Mary that best indicates this theme is "Mom always said people worried too much about their children. Suffering when you’re young is good for you, she said. It immunized your body and your soul, and that was why she ignored us kids when we cried. Fussing over children who cry only encouraged them, she told us. That’s positive reinforcement for negative behavior." (Page 28) This quote is a good example of self-sufficiency because Rose Mary believes that the best thing for her children was to allow them to fend for themselves, even if that meant they had to starve or endure hard conditions.

Poverty and Homelessness

sarapinedo2025 — 2025-03-03 05:48:17 UTC

Throughout the whole book, we are introduced to poverty and homelessness. Jeannette and her siblings were always starving and did not have many clothes to wear. Their childhood included constant traveling to deserted and abandoned places. The walls' family were always trying to see where their next home would be or how they were going to get food. When Jeannette is in New York City, she notices her mom rooting through a dumpster. Early on in the book, Jeannette and her family travel from one area to another. "Later that night, Dad stopped the car out in the middle of the desert, and we slept under the stars. We had no pillows, but Dad said that was part of his plan." Jeannete later on tells Lori how lucky they are to be sleeping out under the sky like Indians. "We could live like this forever," I said. "I think we're going to," Lori said. (Page 18) This quote shows how often Jeannete, and her family would travel different places because they never had a home or money.

Parental Neglect

sarapinedo2025 — 2025-03-03 06:01:30 UTC

In the book, The Glass Castle, we see a lot of signs of parental neglect and abuse. In the beginning of the book, Jeannette is cooking hot dogs on the stove at three years old. This is not typically normal for a three-year-old to do, Jeannette's mother was not supervising her or helping. Jeannette then gets severely burned and has to be taken to the hospital. After being in the hospital for about six weeks, Jeannette is randomly carried out by her father Rex. On Page 14, Rex unhooks Jeannettes arm from her sling and quickly runs down the hall. A nurse yells out and tells Rex to stop but he does not listen. A few days later, Jeannette is back home cooking hot dogs by herself again. Rose Mary says "Good for you, you've got to get right back in the saddle. You can't live in fear of something as basic as fire." (Page 15) This quote is a perfect example of parental abuse because it shows how Rose Mary did not care if her child was cooking by herself or in the position to burn herself again. Rose Mary only cared about herself and never put her kids first, this shows neglect and an unfit parent.

The Pursuit of Dreams

sarapinedo2025 — 2025-03-03 06:04:07 UTC

Jeannette's parents, Rex and Rose Mary Walls, were always dreamers, but they never fulfilled those goals or dreams. When Jeanette started getting older, she realized that her parents were never going to change their ways or try to have a better life. Jeannete knew she was not going to end up like her parents, constantly running out of food, never having enough clothes, always having different homes, and not fulfilling their dreams. Jeannette dreamed of escaping the poverty and actually wanting to have a good life. A good quote from the book is when Jeannette says, "I wanted to escape, to get out of that town and into a place where I could make something of myself." This shows how Jeannette did not want to keep living like her parents and wanted to become successful. She then moves out and heads to New York City to become a writer.