The Glass Castle By Jeannette Walls

“A wind picked up, rattling the windows, and the candle flames suddenly shifted, dancing along the border between turbulence and order.” For Jeannette in The Glass Castle, this border defines her childhood and how she and her siblings were raised by their parents. Growing up, the Wall's children quickly learned to rely on each other for support and protection, caused by the careless and destructive behaviors of their parents, Rex and Rosemary. Both were creative and intelligent parents who eventually followed their children into their new lives. In the novel, The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, the success that she creates for herself is heavily impacted by Rex and Rosemary’s parenting styles.

The qualities that Rex has as a parent causes

When her dad tells her to apologize to her mother, she says no, because she knows that she did nothing wrong. He threatens to whip her but she doesn’t believe that he will after everything she’s done for him, “I expected him to turn and walk away, but there were six stinging blows on the backs of my thighs, each accompanied by a whistle of air.”(Walls 220). When any of his children did not listen to an order from him, he would whip them as punishment. But for Jeannette, that was the moment that pushed her to decide to leave Welch and her parents. Leaving her parents started her success because with that came her living a comfortable life supporting herself. Moreover, when her dad tries to teach her how to swim, his method is to throw her in the middle of the water so she is forced to swim. She writes, “Dad kept telling me that he loved me…that one lesson every

When Jeannette writes about how her parents allowed her and her siblings to do anything they wanted, she explains how her, “Mom believed that children shouldn’t be burdened with a lot of rules and restrictions…She felt it was good for kids to do what they wanted because they learned a lot from their mistakes. ”(Walls 59). Jeanette’s mom is not the type of mother that gives their children rules, but by doing so she is putting her children in more danger. So from a young age, Jeannette has already had many dangerous experiences, which makes her a stronger person over time. She can survive because of those experiences, which is useful when she moves to a place that she is unsure about. Similarly, when her mom comes back from her trip she says that she doesn’t want to work again and that Jeannette and Lori are old enough to get jobs. Jeannette writes, “I told her she had responsibilities…I told her child welfare might come down on us again if she wasn’t working.” (Walls 219). Jeannette tries to convince her mother to work and support the family, she even tells her to act like a mother. This is a common part of their relationship where the roles are switched and the child has to be the responsible one. This teaches Jeannette early on to be responsible and be the one to care about things because she knows her mother won’t. And this also prepares her for her new