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