The Glass Castle
In the book The Glass Castle, there is a huge power of the idea of the “American Dream”: to become educated, wealthy, and ultimately happy. Almost throughout the entire book there are references or ideas that pertain to the goal of wealth or happiness coming eventually. It appears as soon as Rex Walls even brings about the notion of building a glass castle, it was a dream, and something to aspire to, just like everyone has dreams for their future.
Aside, though, from the glass castle idea, the parents, Rex and Rose Mary Walls didn’t seem to show any ambition for their future or their children’s futures for that matter. They were perfectly content with all the hard-ships life threw at them and seemed to be happy with the way they were living their lives and raising their children. Rose Mary seemed only to want to please herself. Never wanting to hold a teaching position, which she was perfectly qualified for, and only consuming her time with paintings that she never really intended to sell. As we found out near the end of the book she was obviously very sentimental almost to the level of hoarding. She wanted to borrow one million dollars from Jeannette and her wealthy husband at the time, Eric, just to save a piece of land that she had never seen in Texas after her brother had died. She never wanted to sell the home they owned in Phoenix, or her collection of Indian jewelry, or even the two-karat diamond ring they had found outside the home on Little Hobart Street.
All of these items could have been sold to help provide for the family so they could by a car, or order lunches at school or even buy groceries, but instead the mothers need to collect things for herself put her family farther and farther from the American dream.
The father, Rex Walls, on the other hand seemed to have more aspirations than Rose Mary did. Always coming up with get-rich-quick schemes and fascinating ideas for inventions that Jeannette seemed to be the only one to believe in. Rex
Aside, though, from the glass castle idea, the parents, Rex and Rose Mary Walls didn’t seem to show any ambition for their future or their children’s futures for that matter. They were perfectly content with all the hard-ships life threw at them and seemed to be happy with the way they were living their lives and raising their children. Rose Mary seemed only to want to please herself. Never wanting to hold a teaching position, which she was perfectly qualified for, and only consuming her time with paintings that she never really intended to sell. As we found out near the end of the book she was obviously very sentimental almost to the level of hoarding. She wanted to borrow one million dollars from Jeannette and her wealthy husband at the time, Eric, just to save a piece of land that she had never seen in Texas after her brother had died. She never wanted to sell the home they owned in Phoenix, or her collection of Indian jewelry, or even the two-karat diamond ring they had found outside the home on Little Hobart Street.
All of these items could have been sold to help provide for the family so they could by a car, or order lunches at school or even buy groceries, but instead the mothers need to collect things for herself put her family farther and farther from the American dream.
The father, Rex Walls, on the other hand seemed to have more aspirations than Rose Mary did. Always coming up with get-rich-quick schemes and fascinating ideas for inventions that Jeannette seemed to be the only one to believe in. Rex