Character ChangesThe most intriguing thing about The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls to me is the developments and changes of the characters throughout the story, especially in Jeanette and her siblings. In the beginning of the story, all of the kids are under control of their parents, who do very little to provide for them despite their best efforts. As the story progresses, the kids get older and are able to think more independently. Once they realize how bad of a situation they have been put into by their parents. Although her father leaves empty promises of building her a glass castle, Jeannette ends up leaving the family to head to New York to pursue opportunities in journalism, in which she is excelling.
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Rex Walls |
Although he always had the best intentions, the father of the story, Rex Walls, is most certainly a tragic character who leads to the downfall of the entire family. Wanting nothing but the best for his kids, he bounces from job to job while trying to strike gold so he can give his family a better life. He is shown to be a kind hearted man, and a tough guy at the same time, but either way, his drinking habit always got the best of him. Every time he tried to save his kids or move on to a new city he was usually under the influence of alcohol. Ultimately, it can be considered a factor in him being homeless and dying at a relatively young age at the end of the story.
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Jeannette |
From a very young age, Jeannette Walls had to learn how to be independent because that’s how her parents raised her to be. To quote her father, “If you don’t want to sink, you better figure out how to swim” (Walls 66). Although this approach seemed to help Jeannette become independent and realize how she needed to reach her goals, I did not necessarily help her in her childhood, as she, and her siblings, often got hurt with this approach. Jeannette became the most successful, and was heartbroken at the downfall of her parents, but in the end she became a stronger person than she ever was before.
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