Jeannette's Identity In The Glass Castle

In the memoir, The Glass Castle, written by Jeannette walls, we see how Jeannette’s childhood with her extraordinary parents shapes her identity and sense of value. Rex and Rosemary Walls, the parents of Jeannette, can be seen as irresponsible and careless people, although they raise Jeannette as an extremely resilient, independent and warm-hearted person in the future.

Jeannette is using some of the certain objects as a reflection of her and, her emotions. Furthermore, she repeatedly makes mention of the objects to remind readers what significant meaning it has in shaping Jeannette’s Identity. “I felt blaze on my right side I turned to see where it was coming from and realized my dress was on fire “(9) three year-old Jeannette gets on fire
I thought Joshua tree was ugly; it looked straggly and freakish “(35) as they are driving to midland, Jeannette spots the Joshua tree that is grown sideway by constant wind blowing in the desert. While, Rosemary tells Jeannette it’s beautiful and mystical, Jeannette thinks it’s just ugly and freakish. The quote is showing how Jeannette is relating the tree to her own life. Because she also sees her scars and environment negatively just like she thinks outside of the Joshua tree is ugly but, they are also firmly standing towards the struggle, has unique beauty that not anyone can see. The wind represents the parents, who are constantly weighing down their children and have greatest influence in shaping them. afterward, Jeannette Walls use rocks to show the change in Jeannette’s thinking “From the outside, geodes looked like boring round rocks, but when you open them, the inside were hollow, like a cave, and the walls were covered with glittering white quartz crystals or sparkling purple amethyst “(60) Jeanette takes out her rock collection and decides to open the market, although there is no one around
On the other hand, it means Rex and Rosemary Walls are the people who she most love and look up to. “But it could also improve my self-esteem and at time like this, self-esteem is more vital than food” (186) Brian and Jeannette finds a diamond from somewhere in the house, and gives it to rosemary to show her that they have found it. But, Rosemary uses it for her own good, instead of selling it. As a result, Brian and Jeannette finally lose their trust on mom. In addition, Jeannette loses her last faith in Rex as well, when he steals all the money in Oz, the piggy bank in the page (229) “someone sure as hell gutted old Oz didn’t they? “ this incident made their family drift farther apart from each other. Years later, during her last visit to see her father in New York, she finally admits how inspirational he is to her and realizes that she always had faith on dad in one side of her heart, as we can see on the page (279) “But Despite all the hell raising and destruction and chaos he had created in our lives, I could not imagine what my life would be like-what the world would be like-without him in it…As awful as he could be, I always knew he loved me in a way no one else had “

Throughout the memoir, The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, it’s unavoidable that the parents’ irresponsible and terrible actions