22 Jeannette Walls’ The Glass Castle
In This Chapter
Author Background
Jeannette Walls is an American author and journalist best known for her memoir, The Glass Castle. Born on April 21, 1960, in Phoenix, Arizona, Walls had a tumultuous childhood characterized by poverty and instability. Her parents, Rex and Rose Mary Walls, were unconventional and often neglected their children’s basic needs.
The Early Years
Walls and her three siblings were frequently uprooted, living in various towns across the United States, as her parents struggled with unemployment and substance abuse. Despite the challenging circumstances, Walls found solace in books and developed a love for storytelling from an early age.
After graduating from high school in Welch, West Virginia, Walls attended Barnard College in New York City, where she studied literature and graduated in 1984. She began her career in journalism, working for various publications such as New York magazine and MSNBC.com.
Writing Career
In 2005, Walls published her memoir, The Glass Castle, which chronicles her unconventional upbringing and the resilience she and her siblings displayed in the face of adversity. The book became a New York Times bestseller and has been translated into multiple languages. It received widespread acclaim for its honest portrayal of Walls’ childhood and the complexities of family dynamics.
Since the success of The Glass Castle, Walls has continued to write and has authored several other books, including Half Broke Horses (2009), The Silver Star (2013), and Hang the Moon (2023).
Walls’ memoirs have resonated with readers worldwide, drawing attention to issues of poverty, family dysfunction, and personal resilience. Her writing style is marked by vivid storytelling, introspection, and a compassionate exploration of the human experience.
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The following questions can be used to guide discussion as you and your classmates read The Glass Castle.
Pages 1-47:
- Jeannette’s story is told through first-person from an opening present-day vignette switching to chronological order from age 3. What are the effects of this rhetorical strategy? How does it compare to Fun Home or other memoirs?
- How does the opening vignette convey the distance between Jeannette and her mother (particularly in lifestyle choices)?
- How does Jeannette respond to seeing her mother? Why?
- Fire is a recurring symbol in the story, starting with the hot dog incident. In what ways is fire symbolic so far?
- What questionable parenting techniques do we see from Rex and Rose Mary?
- Jeannette is a biased narrator. What positive and negative qualities do we pick up in the characterization of each parent through this first section?
- What is the relationship like between her parents? Unpack their family history.
- The kids as well as the parents seem quite smart. How do we know? How do the kids learn independence as well as book smarts?
- What is the glass castle of the title? What are your predictions for it?
- How might the Joshua tree serve as a symbol? How about the demon?
Pages 48-90:
- How is the Walls family both frivolous with money as well as thrifty?
- Are the Walls parents really anti-consumerist or is this just an excuse/front to their kids for being poor and lazy?
- How do the parents take turns pushing blame onto each other (while, hypocritically, telling the kids to be independent)?
- How do the parents take on the role of children and the children become the adults?
- How does this section highlight Jeannette’s innocence?
- Why does young Jeannette idolize her father so much?
- What’s special about geodes? How do they relate to fire? Are they symbolic?
- What feminist issues come into play so far in the book?
- Begin the “Lessons from Rex” activity (see assignment below).
Pages 91-125:
- How does Rose Mary’s relationship with her mother affect her relationship with Jeannette and how she views life (especially motherhood)?
- Rose Mary says, “I like the world just fine the way I see it” (97). How does this stubbornness persist for her through many of her decisions?
- How is life different for the Walls family in Phoenix? How do Jeannette’s parents turn their noses up at social expectations throughout this section?
- Discuss Rex’s spiral into alcoholism. What motivates him in each direction?
- How do Jeannette’s feelings about Rex start to change?
Pages 126-170:
- We’ve learned about the conflict between Rose Mary and her mother. Discuss Rex’s family dynamics. Why has he always avoided talking about/visiting them?
- What are your first impressions of Welch? How does Jeannette’s descriptions and experiences reinforce West Virginia stereotypes?
- How is school different in Welch?
- How do we see the family being stubbornly proud in this section?
- How is Rose Mary the voice of optimism in every situation? Is this an admirable quality or not?
- How do we see Jeannette as a kind, compassionate person who also uses sound reasoning and keeps an open mind?
- How do we see Jeannette making the best of what her parents have taught her?
- To what extent are Rose Mary and Rex Walls “unfit parents”?
- Are they getting any closer to the glass castle in Welch?
Pages 171-205:
- Do we see Rose Mary any differently in this section? Are you sympathetic towards Rose Mary?
- How do Rose Mary’s actions and advice raise feminist concerns about how to interact with men?
- What is the significance of Rose Mary’s painting after the social worker’s visit?
- How does Erma’s death affect the Walls family?
- How does Mountain Goat fit as a nickname for Jeannette?
- How does working on the newspaper change Jeannette’s worldview?
Pages 206-241:
- How does Jeannette start to sympathize with her mother in this section?
- How does Jeannette’s trust in men continue to be challenged?
- How do the family dynamics change once Lori decides to move to New York?
- How has Jeannette changed over time? How has she grown as a person as well as a narrator?
- How about her parents? Are they static or dynamic characters? Have either changed over time?
- How do Jeannette’s parents both impede and cultivate her success in life?
Pages 242-272:
- Why does Rex specifically want a “glass” castle rather than just any castle?
- Why did Rose Mary and Rex continue to live the way they did?
- Why did Jeannette and her siblings seem to have such good work ethic and morals regardless of their upbringing?
- How has Jeannette’s upbringing prepared her for New York City? What does she find easy/difficult?
- How did every member of the family (including parents) find “Home” in New York City?
- Why does Jeannette never show real resentment and blame towards her parents?
- With Jeannette now being financially stable, how has her status possibly strained or affected her relationship with her family as a whole?
- Why wouldn’t Jeannette talk about where she came from? What was she afraid of (i.e. discrimination, pity, admitting certain aspects of her childhood to herself even)?
- Jeannette says “I think maybe sometimes people get the lives they want” (256). Is this true of her parents?
- When Jeanette was in college and singled out by her professor about not knowing what the less fortunate go through, why did she not defend herself?
- You have likely made connections between Rex and Bruce from Fun Home, but are there any connections between Rose Mary and Helen from Fun Home?
- Did you expect Maureen’s storyline to end up the way it did? Why do you think she turned out so different from her siblings?
- Do you think Rex’s death changed Jeannette’s outlook/values in life?
- How does the story come full circle at “Thanksgiving”?
- Jeannette Walls was asked in an interview whether she owes her success to the hardships she had as a child. What do you think? Did she become the woman she is because of her childhood or in spite of it?
The map below details Jeannette’s travels and homeplaces throughout the book.
Jeannette Walls’ memoir was adapted into a major motion picture staring Brie Larson, Woody Harrelson, and Naomi Watts in 2017. View the film and consider the following reflection questions.
The book version of The Glass Castle starts with a brief chapter set in present day then tells Jeannette’s story chronologically. In contrast, the film takes place in the present with Jeanette’s story told through a series of non-chronological flashbacks. What is the effect of each strategy? Which do you prefer?
Use the following activities to supplement your reading and discussion on Jeannette Walls’ The Glass Castle.
Activity: Comparing Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home and Jeannette Walls’ The Glass Castle
Throughout your reading of The Glass Castle, you may have made connections with Fun Home, particularly the similarities in the father/daughter relationships. Take some time to unpack and compare/contrast these two memoirs.
| The Glass Castle | Both | Fun Home |
Throughout her childhood, Jeannette admires, revers, and defends her father regardless of the situation. Rex has had a tremendous influence on what she has learned and valued. In class, we have discussed how the experiences Jeanette has gone through, similar to the battered but still standing Joshua tree, have made her stronger. Use this chart to unpack some of the “lessons” she has learned from her father.
| Lesson from Rex | Supporting Quote/Example from Text (with Page Number) |
Sources
“Jeannette Walls: Confronting the Past and Writing Her Truth.” CBS News, 15 June 2017.
The Glass Castle. Dir. Destin Daniel Cretton. Per. Brie Larson, Woody Harrelson, and Naomi Watts. Lionsgate, 2017. Film.
“The Real-Life Jeannette Walls On The Glass Castle.” NPR, 5 April 2005.
“The Story Behind The Glass Castle: Q&A with Jeannette Walls.” Publishers Weekly, 1 March 2005.
Walls, Jeannette. The Glass Castle: A Memoir. Internet Archive, 2005, https://archive.org/details/glasscastlememoi0000wall_d1r4/mode/2up
