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Rex Walls: Hero Or Villain

1331 Words6 Pages

Even though Rex Walls goes from being a hero to a villain in the eyes of his children, the romantic values he instills in them in their earlier years serve as part of their inspiration for escaping him as they grow up.

At first, Rex Walls is an incredibly adventurous man who promises his children wealth and happiness while staying faithful to his ultimate dream of building a glass castle. The family at first was very adventurous, they were moving around a lot and they only would stay there for a short period of time. Rex was seeking wealth everywhere they went around the west coast, they kept looking for gold and a place to build the glass castle. He showed the family glimpses of wealth and what the experience of wealth felt like by taking …show more content…

For instance since they had no money at Christmas he gave all the children planets. He also always took jeanette demon hunting, he always went along with Jeanette pretending to hunt for the demons that were terrorizing her. Rex installed promises of wealth and happiness in the family every time they moved. Thus, in this quote Jeanette demonstrated the promise of wealth and happiness, “ There was gold in Battle Mountain, dad said, and he intended to go after it with the prospector. Finally we were going to be rich.” (page 113). This gave the Walls their hope and momentum of a better life and a dream of wealth. Rex always stayed faithful to his dreams of the Glass Castle. In this following quotes demonstrates how Rex installed immense faith in his children for the Glass Castle, “ Dads engineering skills and mathematical genius were coming together in one special project. He carried around the blueprints for the glass castle wherever we went, and sometimes hed pull them out and let us work on the design of 0ur rooms. All we had to do was …show more content…

The children made massive efforts to leave Welch and the family. They were determined to not end up like their parents. Jeanette wanted to start being accepted by people, she wanted to be like everyone else. In this following quote is shows the new values Jeanette has adopted of wanting a better life, “ I was convinced that people might be more accepting of us if we made an effort to improve the way 93 Little Hobart street looked. “ , “ I had been counting on mom and dad to get us out, but I knew I had to do it on my own.” ( page 364 and 512 ). This showed that Jeanette wanted to actually do something about their living status, she wanted to live a better life. The children saw no future in Welch, their father's drinking was worse and mother was going crazy. They even lost all complete faith in the Glass Castle. The children worked tirelessly raising up money for themselves to leave. Jeanette worked at a jewelry store, Lori sold posters, and Brian did labor work. The children sought the inspiration of going to New York and leaving the harsh life in Welch , they saw New York as their new Glass Castle. The children used their adventurous values to make New York happen, the children were almost colonizing New York. it took great courage and

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In The Glass Castle, Rex and Rosemary Walls can be categorized as permissive parents. Rex and Rosemary’s parenting style is permissive because they approach their children as more of a friend than a parental figure, they do not discipline their kids, and they have few demands expected from their kids. The Walls parents act more of a friend than a parent to their kids due to their easygoing nature. Rex brushes off Jeanette's complaint regarding Robbie’s inappropriate touching and does not take action as a normal parent should. Rex had the opportunity to punish Robbie for his behavior but decided not to: “I’m sure he just pawed you some, I knew you could handle yourself” (Walls 213).

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When Rex Walls would announce that they had to leave, the children would not become irritable because, to them, this meant a new adventure was ahead. As she grew up, Jeannette brought

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Since the Walls family is so poor and homeless it seems that Rex and Rosemary are not always there to give their children the support and comfort that kids need at a young age. Instead of giving love and comfort, they decide to teach their kids how to be tough and how to learn to do things themselves. Unlike most parents, who focus on supporting, caring for their children first, and then teaching them how to live on their own once they get much older. This attentive parenting method is not visible in the Walls’ family. For example, when Jeannette has her accident with fire and explained it to the nurses she gets rather surprised and

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They think they can bend the rules and do what they think is necessary. Jeannette is exposed to these understandings, making her the person she grew up to be. Jeanette demonstrates how she struggles with her family throughout numerous portions of the novel: “The Desert,” “Welch,” New York.” These struggles developed and defined who she came to be.

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As a child, Jeannette Walls moves around constantly with her family. The Walls family would move to different desert towns and settle as long as Mr. Walls can hold a job. When sober, Mr. Walls represents a charismatic father who loves his children and teaches them important life skills. He encourages imagination inside of the Walls kids and often captures their dream and creativity. Together, the family had planned to build a glass castle that contains all of the family’s hope and inspiration.

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Jeanette wanted to escape Welch because of her unstable lifestyle, but she had fully given up on her parents. As she created her plan to escape, she said: “I had been counting on Mom and Dad to get us out, but I now knew I had to do it on my own” (Walls 221). She had finally realized that she could not rely on

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Just from reading this much, the parenting style in this book is ridiculous and the kids made the right choices as they got older to be successful. RoseMary

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Max Lerner an American Journalist stated “the turning point in the process of growing up is when you discover the core of strength within you that survives all hurt.” Throughout The Glass Castle a memoir by Jeannette Walls, Jeannette and her siblings, Lori, Brian and Maureen are faced with an unpleasant upbringing that they are put through by their parents Rex and Rose Mary Walls. Due to the terrible living conditions and bad parenting they had to endure for many years, they had to teach themselves and each other to be strong and survive on the very little food and necessities that they were given. Throughout the memoir, it is seen that Jeannette has a special connection with her father unlike any of the other siblings, but despite Jeannette believing in him Rex struggles to raise her and the kids in the normal life that they deserve due to his battle with mental illness. Bipolar disorder “is a brain disorder that causes unusual shifts in mood, energy, activity levels, and the ability to carry out day-to-day tasks” (National).

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Once he finished the prospector and we struck it rich, he’d start work on our glass castle” (25). Walls’ innocence and optimism for the creation of the Glass Castle is indicated through her belief that Rex really is on the verge of finding gold and building the Glass Castle. In reality, he was out drinking all day, spending money that could have been used to feed Walls and her siblings. She still thinks that her father will follow through on his promises, and in doing so bring her happiness. She is unaware of his deception, which is becoming increasingly damaging to his family, as they have trouble affording food.

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Nicholas Sparks once said, “I don’t know that love changes. People change. Circumstances change.” In the memoir, The Glass Castle author Jeannette Walls shows how her father Rex Walls changes with everything thrown at him as a father or four. In the beginning of being a parent Rex shares his intelligence with his children.

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In The Glass Castle Jeannette Walls faces harsh stuff through her childhood because of her parents. In the beginning of the book she finds her mother digging through trash. She feels embarrassed, so she turns around and goes home without saying hello. Jeanette then calls her mother and asks to have dinner with her. She offers her mother help because she feels guilty, but her mother rejects her help.

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It is evident that her childhood may have impacted her in a more severe psychological way. The book The Glass Castle is a very interesting narrative. The author Jeanette Walls is able to bring new light to circumstances that many people choose to ignore or overlook by writing about her own childhood. This gives the book a new perspective and allows the reader to gain insight.

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