The Glass Castle

The Glass Castle
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The Glass Castle
Part 1: A Woman on the Street
Jeannette Walls commences her memoir with a scene from adulthood. While in contemporary New York City, Jeannette is riding a cab. She looks out of the window and sees her mother dumpster diving. It has been some time since Jeannette saw the mother. The reality of what has transpired for the woman who raised her strikes, Jeannette. She is torn between a mother who once played with her and read Shakespeare stories and the current reality where the same mother is homeless and survives by rooting through a dumpster. Ashamed to be identified with the mother, Jeannette ducks down the seat so that no one can recognize her. She tells the taxi driver to take her to Avenue Park. Jeannette feels a sense of hate towards her possessions and decides to do something (Walls, 2017). Jeannette gathers courage and invites her mother over for lunch at a Chinese restaurant despite the shame.
Jeannette tells the mother that she saw her picking through the trash in the meeting. The mother responds that individuals are wasteful, and her actions amounted to recycling. Jeannette asks the mother if she needs any assistance. The mother is shocked at the daughter's generosity and insists that she does not need help, only requesting electrolysis treatment. Jeannette openly admits that she is ashamed of the mother, which irritates the mom, who terms her values as "confused" (Walls, 2017). The mother maintains that Jeannette requires assistance because of such values. Jeannette wonders how she can deal with the guilt that her parents live a disapproving lifestyle. Instead of Jeannette being ashamed of her past and hiding it, the mother insists that she should instead accept reality.
Part 2: The Desert
Jeannette now goes back to her earliest memory. As a three-year-old, she would cook hot dogs on the stovetop. While cooking, the flames caught her dress and burned her torso one day. Desperate for help, Jeannette calls for help. The mother rushes to her rescue, wrapping Jeannette with a blanket. With the help of a neighbor, the mother rushes Jeannette to the hospital. At the hospital, Jeannette is happy to be in a new environment. Unlike in the home, she can have three meals a day. Jeannette gets the opportunity to watch cartoons via the TV at the ward. The nurses are concerned about the home environment (Walls, 2017). They are surprised to discover that a three-year-old can be allowed to cook hot dogs. The father is not happy that the daughter is in the hospital. One day, he comes to visit and narrates how Lori got stung by a scorpion and how he got healing from a Native American healer. Because of the father's distrust of hospitals, he sneaks Jeannette out of the hospital, leaving behind a huge unpaid bill.
After a few months, Jeannette's father tells the family to pack in the middle of the night for a journey to "Wherever [they] end up" (Walls, 2017). The journey takes them to the desert, where the father claims that FBI agents cannot find them. However, the mother indicates that their pilgrimage is to avoid debt collectors. While in the desert towns, the father does not keep jobs for a long time. The math and engineering generous instead takes positions then leaves after a short period. The family is on constant movement, which denies the children formal education. Instead, the parents teach their children elementary things together with survival tactics. Jeannette enjoys the adventure of the desert and especially the father's storytelling skills. The father demonstrates that the ultimate aim is building the Glass Castle.
Jeannette's parents warn their children against fantasizing about Santa Claus. The parents emphasize that the myth is for foolish individuals who lack knowledge. Since the parents cannot afford to get gifts to their children during Christmas, they wait until a week later to get discarded decorations from the trash. The mother is pregnant and informs the family that she will have a baby soon. The father and mother debate on how long it takes to gestate, with the mother insisting that she gestates her children longer, an assertion that the father denies. The mother dashes out of the car and heads to the desert, a fight ensues. The husband runs after the wife and finally manages to bring her back. The mother eventually gives birth to a daughter named Maureen. In school, Jeannette and her brother Brian face discrimination from other students because they appear brighter. At one point, they are beaten up by the other students.
The father is driving through Blythe when the police stop his car. Aware that the father speeds off in addition to the broken brake light, the car has no insurance. The father drives dangerously through the town and eventually eludes the police. Since town life is challenging for the family, the father decides that it is time to move away from the desert. They rent a U-Haul and get the children at the back. The father orders them to remain silent, at least the police discover and stop them. The family reaches their new home in Battle Mountain, Nevada, where the father secures a new job in a mine. The place is good because the family can explore the desert. Here, the parents enroll the children in a school. Jeannette is careful not to display her higher cognitive ability but remains quiet in the classroom (Walls, 2017). The father is not amused and makes her do the homework in binary numbers. Jeannette and Brian learn how to make money for buying candies by selling collected bottles and scrap metal. At the same time, the father takes the children to a pool, where he teaches Jeannette how to swim. He allows her to sink, rescues her, and throws her back to the pool. The father indicates that this is the only way to learn swimming, reassuring the daughter that she cannot drown.
Before the end of six months into the job, the father loses it. He claims that this happened on purpose to concentrate on searching for gold. Food becomes a problem in the house and the children are forced to steal food from their classmates. Because of the prevailing difficulties at home, the father and mother start fighting, and each beliefs the other to be the cause of the problem. Because of the intense fight, the mother applies for a teaching job, which she receives immediately since the area has a shortage of teachers. The mother teaches using the same methods she uses to raise her children. This upsets the parents, who consider her methods to be unorthodox. Despite the mother's earnings, the family continues to struggle financially. The father controls the wife's earnings. The mother tries to control her earnings by hiding some of the money in a sock and allowing Jeannette to keep part of the cash.
Billy Deel wants Jeannette to be his girlfriend. While Jeannette wants the attention, she does not want Billy for a boyfriend because he is troublesome. Billy gives Jeannette a turquoise ring, which she takes but does not wear. Billy tells the other friends that Jeannette is his girlfriend. One day Billy comes to Jeannette's house and starts firing his BB gun. Jeannette and Lori shoot in Billy's direction, using their father's gun to scare him off. The police come to find out the source of the gunshots. The family decided to leave and found a new home in Phoenix. Here, the father finds a new job as an electrician. The parents insist that the children must leave the doors and windows open at all times. One night a man touches Jeannette on her private parts in the night, which scares her. The mother takes the family to a Catholic church nearby despite her hate for the nuns and what they teach. While staying in Phoenix, the father reads an article where the police sho...