In The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, Rose Mary is the mother of the Walls children who often does not act as a true adult. Rose Mary’s attitudes and behaviours are childlike, and therefore her children must take on responsibility for the lack her own. Rose Mary ignores her obligations as a parent and chooses an irresponsible way of life which endangers her children. Rose Mary has never properly matured into adulthood due to her lack of financial stability, bliss ignorance and optimism, and her selfishness nature.
To begin, the lack of financial stability in the Walls family has always been problematic, however as the mother of her children, Rose Mary never contributed much to the family income due to her stubbornness and free-spirited nature. A prime example of Rose Mary not providing for her family is a constant lack of food in the house. The children’s hunger is apparent when Jeannette says, “We did eat less. Once we lost our credit at the commissary, we quickly ran out of food. Sometimes Dad’s odd jobs would come through, or he’d win some money gambling, and we’d eat for a few days. Then the money would be gone and the refrigerator would be empty again” (Walls 67). Rose Mary did not provide an income for the family, she spends most of her time immersed in various artistic projects, though never ones that could support her family. She also did not like to cook and often told her children to cook for themselves; it is due to her careless attitude that Jeannette burned