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.