Differences Between Rex And Rosemary Walls In The Glass Castle

A balance between a enriching intellectual environment and comfortable living conditions is what all families, especially parents want. This is a constant struggle in the Glass Castle because of the Walls poor living condition, but eagerness to explore and adventure the world. Rex and Rosemary Walls, parents of Lori, Jeannette, Brian, and Maureen, obviously take an exploratory and learning environment over a comforting living space. Although living in rough conditions, which leads to bullying, poverty, I believe that it was more important that the Walls created circumstances for most of the children to explore and enjoy learning. Jeannette Walls, the author and the narrator throughout the book, tells a story about her life from when she was

But once they move to Welch, we see a more neglectful and destructive parenting style. Both Rex and Rosemary start to ignore the kids, asking them to fend for themselves and each other. This leads to both Lori and Jeannette having to help and almost manage the other two children. But in the long run, this may not have been a bad idea because it strengthened both of their independence. More and more we see this, as the Walls parents put the children in bad situations, they struggle, but eventually fix the situation and learn valuable lessons. One prime example of learning of out struggle was when the mother gave Jeannette 200 for one summer. She believes that she can make it work, if she works more. But eventually her father asks her for money and she gives in to the temptation “I pulled my head back. Giving him that money pissed me off. I was mad at myself but even madder at Dad. He knew I had a soft spot for him the way no one else in the family did, and he was taking advantage of it” (209). Although getting played by her father, Jeannette learns a valuable lesson about managing money and how to be strong. We see in the end of the book that almost