The Glass Castle (230-288)

Summary.
Conclusion, the family is growing apart. Rex is not supportive of Lori moving to going to college, he calls her a sheep, which means she does not think like winners. “Sheep don't win horse races." Rex says he does not feel appreciated and does not know why he comes home. The father steals the money that they have being saving to go to New York. Lori calls him a bustards for taking the money and when he tries to tricking Jeannette to side with him that he did not take the money, she remembers the whipping he did to her and supported Lori. In other words he did not want them to live. Jeannette concludes that the only way to get out of Welch was if her sister did. So when she gets the opportunity she passed it to Lori. The fact that Lori does not look back when she lives means that she was excited to leave the city. Rex concludes “this family is falling apart” (Walls 230). In 10th Grade, she begins to write the school newspaper and this got her thinking of what she wants to do with her life. Jeannette decides that she wants to go to school In NYC and her guardian counselor asks her if she would miss her family and her friends. If I was Jeannette I would not, because I am leaving a dump to get a better life. The house had gotten worse; the roof had gotten so bad that when it rained, Brian’s room was flooded. Mom becomes arrogant and conceded. When Jeannette tells her that she is moving, she said “I’m upset because you get to go to New York and I am stuck here, it’s not fair. The way I see it is that Rose chose to live this life; she has a degree but does not want to get a job. Rex barely spoke to Jeannette after her big announcement. He tells her that he beginning to build the Castle; she replied “you never build the Glass Castle, go ahead and build it but don’t do it for me” (Walls 238). Rex is furious at this point. Later on he tells her to comeback if she does not make it. Jeannette concludes she would not come back.

Part IV- New York City.
When she landed in NYC, she stated “My heart started to race and my palms grew damp” (Walls 246). The apartment that she and Lori lived in was bigger than their house in Welch. “It had shiny oak parquet floor, a foyer with two steps leading down to the living room” (Walls 247). This showed that the parent could have rented a bigger house with mom inherited money, but they refused to. Brian writes to Jeannette that dad gets drunk all the time except when he is in jail. The family members have nothing in common. Brian moves to New York after he gets invited by Jeannette. Jeannette attends Barnard College and works as an editorial assistant 3 days a week. When Lori suggested that Maureen should come to NY, Rex accuses Lori of stealing his children and declares he disowned her. The parent moved to New York “so we could be a family again” (Walls 253). The Parent were homeless, Rose loves the idea “Being homeless is an adventure” (Walls 255). In the Jeannette class, they began the discussion of homelessness. The professors ask if homelessness was the result of drug abuse or did it occur as the liberals argued. She said to her “I was tired of taking on the people who ridiculed us for the way we lived. I just didn’t have it in me to argue Mom and Dad’s case to the world” (Walls 256).

Rex and Rose looked worse day by day according to the narrator. Rex ends up in the hospital and asks that not one visits him. Lori became an illustrator at a comic- book company. Maureen lived with Lori and goes to a high school. Brian is on the verge of being a police man. Father does not attend Jeannette’s graduation because she did not invite in out of embarrassment, mom does not like to hear boring speeches. Jeannette lies about her family’s statue in an interview. Mom does not want to sell her house that is worth millions, but she is homeless (ironic). Maureen stabs Rose because mom tells her to move out of the house and become self-sufficient. She goes to a jail for a while. She lives with Jeannette after release. Rex begins his old habit of smoking four packs of cigarettes and died of a heart attack. A year after his death, Jeannette left her husband Eric, “he was a good man, but not the right not the right one for me” (Walls 280).

Part V: Thanksgiving
Jeannette marries John Taylor who is now her current husband. 5 years after the death of Rex, the family decided to meet together and have a feast. Rose commented “Life with your father was never boring” (Walls 288).
The End.

Quote.
“Life with your father was never boring” (Walls 288). I chose this quote because throughout the book, you can see how the behavior and actions of Rex did to the family, he stole their money, beat up their mother, but they still highlight the positive things about him. Relates to the saying “you don’t miss something till you have it no more”

Reaction
My feelings when I started to read this book have changed. Jeannette gives such descriptive imagery that I can play the memories of her childhood like a movie in my head. I also learnt different ways in which a parent action can lead to what their child turn out to be in the future. Rex was being molested by his mother, that’s why he was eager to live her house which means that Jeannette was right when she accused Erma of being a pervert. This gave me the sense of how children are being raised and leads me to ask this question; "Can loyalty and hard work always be enough to keep a family together?"
Literary Analysis.
Mood: The mood of the story is sad because Walls explains the struggle of her family and how she got to where she is now. Recalls, the Glass Castle was never built.


Theme: The theme of the story is forgiveness. The children forgave their parent for neglecting them in their childhood; they accepted in part 5 into their house and show rose compassion after the death of Rex, even though she was the worst mother ever.
Raising Action: The raising action was when she saw her mother picking out trash from the dumpster.
Falling Action: The falling action begins with Maureen’ escape to California after her jail time. The death of Rex, the family barely saw each other, but on thanksgiving they decided to act like a family forever.
Point of view: The point of view is Freon the narrator Jeannette. She is the protagonist and this is a first person narration.

The Glass Castle (150-230)

Summary

Poverty is the worst form of violence. This quote was made by Gandhi to while he was explained his doctrine on esteemed

 This quote is put here because as of now in the book, the decision, actions that are made are because the family is poor. The book is split up into 5 different parts, part 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 just like the book To Kill a Mocking Bird.   She divides the book into section because she wants the reader to see how her life differs from the places that they use to live or the place they currently are living.

 Pg 150-227

In part 4 the kids and their parent move to Welch and they are living in a house with no indoor plumbing, they do not bath everyday and they lack food from time to time. They parent think that this is good they raised the children in a way that they have endure with whatever they had. Mom quotes "because this is not a house for the faint of heart" (Walls 150).  Lori said that she did not believe that one day she would get to like in a house like this and when they asked Rex when they were going to move to a nice home, he replies "this is home now” (Walls 154). Her mom compliments that the kids are ungrateful because they do not appreciate what they got. She stated that kids in Ethiopia would die for this house. The house had bad architect, the wire were naked, they were patches in the ceiling so that whenever it rained, the house would have unwanted amount of water. The father even commented on how bad the place was “Helen Keller must have wired this damned house” (Walls 153) .They ate in the same place with rats. He father begins to plan the foundation for the glass castle.

             To provide for clothes, the kid had to sew them even if it can out coming raggy. Because there was no indoor plumbing in their new house and because they were poor, they had to put their dirt and trash in the foundation that they were supposes to use to build the glass castle. There is a foreshadowing that they may never but the house. Living in this house does not suit Jeannette so she begins to paint the house for it to be stylish but she does not feel appreciated by her family who says negative things about her painting the house. In school, a kid tries to make her to join the Junior Ku Klux Khan group. Although they are poor, parent refuses to take welfare. “Life’s too short to worry about what other people think about you” (Walls 157).  They are so poor that have to scrap out maggot form their food before they ate it. The book gives descriptive imagery of how Jeannette looks. They made fun of her because she was really skinny. “They called me spider legs, skeleton girl, pipe cleaner, two by four and stick woman” (Walls 173). The story is similar to Indian education, other children throw their food in the trash and she picks them and eats them.

           Traumatic Violence is seen when the oldest son of the Grady begins to practice his shooting at her and her brother as they run for their life. This section also provides separation of class; they only people who live in this neighborhood are poor. Either their parent had not job or one parent was missing. Jeannette is very similar to Scout, she is tomboyish and prefers to fight and pay with boys than hang out with girls. Their grandma Erma dies and mom thinks that she committed suicide. She forces the kid to kiss Erma’s corpse. She describes it “Kiss Erma’s cheek so vigorously that you could hear the puckering sound throughout the chapel” (Walls 180). The kids  sing that the wicked witch is  dead , the father gets angry and  say “ You make me ashamed”  (Walls 181).  A situational irony is seen in the book, they kids are supposed to fend for themselves; they take on the traditional adult roles. The mother gives Jeannette money and she has to take care of the family. While the parent act like children, the father is a drunk who goes out and drinks till he passes out and the mother is caught eating candy under the bed. The voice of the older Jeannette speaks to her mother why she acts foolishly and like a kid and she get beaten by her dad. In other s the parents don't care about the kids.

          There is bit of foreshadowing in the book. Jeannette's takes her to the club and when she orders soda he gives her beer letting other guys know that she is available. After a guy tries to sleep with her in the club, she tells Rex and he didn't seem concern. Kid decides to move to New York City.

Qoutes

     “Sexual assault was a crime of perception" (Walls 184). Jeannette mother said this to her after uncle Stanley starts to touch her thighs and later on he unzips his pants. She starts to feel sorry for Stanley   saying he was lonely instead of feeling bad for Jeannette

Reaction.

     There is a sense that the parent do not like being parents, they do not seem to mind that the children are suffering. They only are about themselves. The mother once said that the family was stopping her from achieving her dream of being an artist. The father does not care that he would build the glass castle that he promises his daughter.

for Blog 4

The Glass Castle (100-150)

Vocabulary

Pervert-to leads astray morally.

Delirium- a more or less temporary disorder of the mental faculties, as in fevers, disturbances of consciousness, or intoxication, characterized by restlessness, excitement, delusions, hallucinations, etc.

(dictionary.com,

Summary.

Last time Jeannette encountered a sexual assault by Billy Deel. This was the reason why they had to move again. Later on she would as experience it. The family moves to Phoenix to live with their grandmother, Grandma Smith who is Rose’s mother. Unlike the Walls family, the Ruth is rich and because she was rich she didn’t want her daughter to marry a man of no value (money). The Grandmother owns two houses that cost a lot. While staying at the house, they kids were treated better than how they lived in Battle Mountain. The grandmother gets angry because Jeannette is not looking decent. She replied “Mom believed children should be responsible for their own grooming.” (Walls 91). This is a connection to the kids in Africa, because their parents have to work to maintain the family, the children are expected to care physically for themselves. Mom and Ruth are very different. Grandma likes rules are regulation and Mom doesn’t, this is the reason they always fight. Grandma dies of leukemia, but the mom thinks that she died from radioactive poisoning.  They inherit grandma house. They mother states “So the trouble you kids got into with Billy Dell was actually a blessing in disguise.” (Walls 100). This is a situational irony, because they were not expecting grandma to die and for them to inherit her property. Going back to the idea of building the glass castle, Walls states “we are definitely moving up in the world.” (Walls 94). Lori gets new glass for her eyes and she walks in her mother’s footstep, first she decides to be a teacher, now she wants to be an artist just like mom.

The neighborhood in which they lived in has a lot of pervert. One night she was awaken by a bum running his hand on over her private part. He said “I just want to play a game with you.” (Walls 102). Normally, children go fishing and trick or treating. She and her brother began to go hurting for perverts with a base ball hat who preyed on kids. The father does not believe in Christianity and he makes stupid suggestion of it. “He didn’t like religion and didn’t believe in God.” (Walls 103). He would yell out things in the church such as: Pope Alexander VI’ bastard children or Popes Leo X’s hedonism or he would say Jesus H. Christ was the world’s best-loved bastard. Mom said “God knows that your father is the cross we must bear” (Walls 105). In other words, they will suffer for their father’s ignorance. Rex gets fired from his job as an electrician because the union was corrupted and he didn’t want to be part of it. Dad becomes drunk and does not come home everyday. “Gods help those who help themselves.” (Walls 115).

Rex began to have delirium. In my opinion, God is punishing him for using his name in vain. “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.” ((Exodus 20:7). This is the third part of the story. They finally moved back to Battle Mountain. “Life is a drama full of tragedy and comedy, you must learn to enjoy the comic episodes a little more,” (Walls 129).  I think that she got the first line from Shakespeare stories because is a fanatic of him and she reads his book. The quote is also saying that life can have it good and bad moment and you should learn to enjoy it.

The family moves to Welch to live with Rex’s mother. In the New school, Jeannette tries to fit in like Jen, but she gets beaten and bullied by other kid. Unlike Grandma Smith, Erma did not like the children. She was racist. “The reason I haven’t gotten out in this house in 15 years is because I do not want to see or be seen by a nigger.”(Walls 143). Jeannette calls Erma a perverts because she was touching Brian in an unusual way. Erma slapped her on the face and forced the children to stay in the basement with no food or heater. Later on she chases them away from her house.

Quote.
“Life is a cherry bowl, with a few nuts thrown in it.” (Walls 98).  This quote means that life is food, but on the way, you encounter obstacles. They author compares life to cherries and struggling to nuts, they are hard to crack, and so is life.

Another quote that I found to be interesting was “God help those that help themselves.” ( Walls 113). This quote is self explanatory, it you need something like a job, you don’t just sit there and drink and think it will cone to you, you have to look for it and God might give you luck. This links to the quote “no food for a lazy man.”

Reaction.

This is a very sad part of the story and it is also the climax. The children cannot have a basic and normal childhood because of the choice that their parents are making. So far Rose alone thinks of her self and her art work, she does not worry about where the kids are going to sleep or eat. The parent rents a house with no indoor plumbing. She rarely bothers to feed and cloth the children. They are rejected by dad's mother, she encounter another sexual activity and she also experience dead in the family. This is too much for a child who is 9 yrs old.

5 thematic elements in southern Novel
1. Dialect - Et tahn sebm. Has a country accent
2. Genelogy. - Born from two families who hate each other.
3. Separation by race and class- Erma dislikes Negros and calls them the "N" word.
4. .Violence-The parent are always fight and arguing
5.  Decorum- the fathers behavior in church

The Glass castle (40- 100)

Plot -Blythe, Battle Mountain

Summary.
 Poverty in the family always make the father and the mother fight and abuse each other. "You crazy bitch get your goddamn ass back in this car." (Walls 43). they continuous fight in the front of the children which show their insecurity.  later on the always up. Walls stated that every time they fight they make up. Jeannette starts to go to school and becomes the teachers favorite student because the was very smart, but the other student hate her and envy her called her teachers pet. A few days later, 3 Mexican girls jumped her after school and they beat and injured her. Rose finally gives birth to a baby girl named Lilly Ruth Maureen because she was a diminutive of Mary, The name Lilly came from the name of Mom's mother name and Ruth came from dad's mother name. The irony about the name is that her grandmother form her mother's side does not like her name being next to Ruth's name because she did not like her and Ruth hates the name Ruth and wanted the baby's name to be called Erma.The baby was born in a squad car.
    Rex finally got a job as an electrician ( making them closer to getting that House called the Glass Castle).The kids when out eat in a restaurant. This is something that they do not do a lo because they were poor. The children were able to read classical book such as Charles Dickens, William Faulkner and Henry Miller. The mother beings to paint because she has no job. When school started again, Jeannette makes a Switch and stops raising her hand it class so that she would not be hated like she was in Nevada. Jen starts a collection of rocks such as iron pyrite, granite and obsidian. Jen and Brain played with fire and this time the flame got bigger and bigger and could not be controlled by her, so she called her father. The fire in the story symbolizes fear. it was her sign of fear and and so far she cannot control it.
    The kids began to notice and pay attention to their surrounding. the found a club called the Green Lantern. It is a prostitute house and they notice that the women that work there got paid more than her father. The mother does not kill the files in the house because she said it disturb the cycle of life. If the flies were dead what would the lizard eat. Unlike her mother, she has a special bond with her dad and he teaches her how to swim.
    Dad loses his job and they don't have a lot to eat. Fighting as usual erupts at home and at this point the father was dangling the mother from the second floor, her legs were swinging wildly. ( Walls 71). She was screaming "He's trying to kill me" ( Walls 71).  There is a connection to Indian Education in which Sherman starve because he was poor, so did Jen her siblings, they went to school without lunch and she would steal from other kids.
    Jeannette encounter sexual Experience when she met Billy Deel, he is a juvenile kid and he pressure Jeannette to be his girlfriend. she said no., he tells her that she would regret it. He was 3 years older. one day, while playing Hide and Seek he  takes her face and begin to kiss her by force, he begins to unbutton his pants, she touches he's groin, she could not hit him there so she bits him in the eat.. The next day he brings a BB gun and tries to kill her. But before that he shouts "I raped you." (Walls 87).

Quotes
"Van Gogh didn't sell any painting, I am an artist" said Mom. "Fine, the quit your damned bellyaching or go peddle your ass in the Green Lantern." said Dad. ( Walls 71). I love this quote because it is very detailed, it tells you a summary of what is going on in the house. Van was a artist who did not sell any paining while he was alive but after he died, his painting became famous. The Green Lantern is a porn house. The dads tells the mother to go get a job that they can have more money or else go to the Green because they women there get paid a lot ( he said it with anger and Not sarcasms) . This related to the bag of oranges, because they were poor, his father reacted very arrogance to the man to picked up the oranges, so does Jen's Dad and Mom. Poverty brings out the worst of People.

" My dad wasn't a wimp, he came out to play with the gang, running alongside us, tossing us up in the air ans wrestling  against the entire pack without getting hurt. Kids form the track (slum) came knocking at the door asking if dad could come out and play." (Walls 59).

Reaction.
 The story so far is really strong. you can actually visualize and infer what is happening and what is going to happen. Jeanntte is only 8 years old and this is a very young age to begin realizing adulthood instead of being a child. The story is evoking and the author's writing style is what's capturing me to continue to read the book.

Question.
1) Who is the Better Parent? Mom or Dad

2) The tone of the book is not sad or happy. How does she use the tone to acheive the effect in the book? 

3) Does Moving from Places to Places effect the writng veiw of the story?

4) what does the Glass Castle tells us about Jen and her father? Will he evenually build it ?

    

The Glass Castle (1-40)

Plot/Setting:Nevada,San Francisco, California;
Main character: The Walls Family: Rex, (the father,) Maureen, Brian, Lauren (siblings). and Rose (the mother).

Summary. 
The narrator describes her childhood in the book. Jeannette Walls lives with her parent. she is 10 years old. The walls family are poor which is the reason they are always moving to find a comfortable shelter."he just says that because it's more fun having FBI on your tail than bill collector" (Wall 19). The family attitude changes after their daughter Mary Charlene who was born before Jeannette dies. The father quits his job and starts to drink alcohol and smokes and he cannot keep the family in a stable house. So far the title of the book is called The Glass Castle because the father promises his children that he would get them a house after they found the gold and they names it would  the glass castle. Rex is very intelligent but he does not know how to keep a family. Jeannette becomes addicted to fire and plays with it so far that she almost burned down a hotel. At a young age the children are learning what it is to be an adult. At age 3 Jeannette knows how to cook hot-dogs.

Quotes.
One of my favorite quote from the book so far was when she talks about the fire " I live in a world that at any moment could erupt into fire." ( Walls 34). I love this quote because it shows the reader that the narrator is beginning to understand the result and consequence of their action. She gets burned with fire when she was 3, but she still continues to play with it. I also love this quote because I am a christian and in the bible it says that there will be an Armageddon which will result in fire and this is similar to what the narrator is saying.

Reaction.
I love this book because I can see the ways in which families are developed. The book is very detail and in the beginning of the book, Jeannette talks about her adulthood, she see her mother picking outing thing from the trash then she begins to narrate from childhood to adulthood. It shows how she is adjusting to the way of life that are parent choose and how she reacts to it. t the story she has a special bond with her father which is lovely. The narrator uses personification in the story. " I pulled off some toilet paper and lit them ..... I was torturing the fire, giving it life and snuffing it out." (Walls 33)

Next
Ask I continue to read , I would try to answer this question.
1. what does the fire symbolizes?
2. why does the narrator starts to talk about her adult life before she goes to talk about her childhood.?