The glass castle review

Who leaves next?

Brian leaves next.

"You know, it's really not that hard to put food on the table if that's what you decide to do" (288).

Brian said this to Jeanette when they were making a Thanksgiving feast referring to their parents never having enough food.

How does Dad sabotage Lori's chance of a scholarship?

Dad ruined Lori's clay bust of Shakespeare because he thought he was a fraud.

Anyone who didn't like to travel wasn't invited on our adventure, Dad said. He stopped the car, grabbed Quixote by the scruff of the neck, and tossed him out the window" (18).

Dad threw their cat out of the car window because he said he didn't like to travel.

Explain the circumstances around finding the diamond ring. What happens as a result of this find?

Jeanette and Brian found a diamond ring and wanted to use it to pay off the house and buy food. Mom had it appraised and then kept it to help her self-esteem.

" We could live like this forever." "I think we are going to" (18).

Jeanette and Lori talking about sleeping under the stars in the desert with no pillows with Dad.

"His face took on that wounded expression he got whenever the world called his bluff. 'You must be pretty ashamed of your old man'" (116).

Jeanette asked her dad to stop drinking for her present when she turned ten.

Explain the significance of the painting of a drowning woman.

Jeanette's mom paints it after hearing about the child-welfare man's visit the evening before she gets a teaching job.

Describe the types of books that Lori likes to read. What type of books does Jeannette like to read? How do their choices illustrate their personalities?

Lori liked to read fantasy and science fiction. Jeanette liked to read books about people dealing with hardships. Lori was looking to escape her life and Jeanette was looking for ways to deal with it or fix it.

What happens to Maureen?

Maureen moves in with Mom and Dad after high school and stabs her mom. She was sentenced to a year in a mental hospital in California.

"These days we seemed more of an inconvenience then we used to be..." (146).

Mom and Dad left the kids with Erma to go to Phoenix. The kids were getting older and they couldn't just travel with them as easily.

"We were in for a treat, we got to ride in the back. It would be fun, a real adventure..." (48).

The kids had to ride in the back of a U-Haul truck with no light and they weren't allowed to talk.

What happens that sends Jeannette to the hospital? What is positive about her stay?

Jeannette is up in the hospital because she was cooking herself some hotdogs in the family's trailer and her dress catches fire. She enjoys her time in the hospital because the nurses take care of her and she has a tv and food.

What are Mom's addictions?

Reading, chocolate, excitement

What is the parent's philosophy regarding welfare and charity?

Rose Mary and Rex want to think they can take care of their own family even though they really can't.

How is the school newspaper good for Jeannette?

She is a proofreader and paste-up for the school newspaper, The Maroon Wave, and she decides she wants to be a reporter.

"Have I ever let you down?" (78)

Dad asked Brian and Jeanette if he'd ever let him down and Brian said yes. He always let them down but didn't want to realize that.

What are Dad's addictions?

Drinking and gambling

Explain the symbolism of fire throughout the novel.

Fire symbolizes Jeanette's hardship during her life. She had to be brave in the face of adversity.

What does Jeannette ask for on her 10th birthday? Does it work?

For her 10th birthday she wants her dad to stop drinking. He stops for a few months.

When Dad is hospitalized, what does he ask of Jeannette?

He asked Jeanette if she always loved her old man. She said she did and knew he loved her.

How is Jeannette 'learning to swim' a metaphor for their lives?

Her dad teaches her to swim by letting her sink, then rescuing her, and throwing her back in the water. It is a metaphor because that's how he parented too. Let the kids figure it out on their own.

What is the significance of Jeannette's first memory? How is it a metaphor of their lives?

Her first memory was burning herself while cooking hotdogs at the age of three. It is a metaphor because she had no supervision even at age three and that continued.

How was life better in Phoenix? Explain.

Her mom inherits a large house in Phoenix. The kids are in the gifted reading groups at school. Rex gets a job as an electrician and they have money for food and bicycles.

What are Mom and Dad's reactions to Jeannette's decision to leave after her junior year? How does Dad help her with tuition?

Her mom is jealous and her Dad is heartbroken because Jeanette is his favorite. Her dad gave her a mink coat that she could pawn for money for tuition.

How does the novel begin? What is the significance of this?

In the opening of the novel the author describes seeing her mom in the dumpster picking through trash. The significance of this is Jeanette lives in an apartment in New York City and she feels bad for her mom who is homeless.

Explain the metaphor of the glass castle.

It is a metaphor for Rex's hope for a magical, fantastic life in which he can provide for his family and please his children.

"...what I did know was that I lived in a world that at any moment could erupt in fire" (34).

Jeanette after the hotel burned down. She realized her life could change at any minute so she had to stay on her toes.

"'You mean you owe land worth a million dollars?' I was thunderstruck. All those years in Welch with no food, no coal, no plumbing, and Mom had been sitting on land worth a million dollars" (273).

Jeanette couldn't believe her mom had land worth money when they had grown up with no money and now lived on the streets.

"I would have been happy staying in that hospital forever" (12).

Jeanette got chewing gum for the first time and plenty of food so she didn't want to leave the hospital.

"I could hear people whispering around us about the crazy drunk man and his dirty urchin children, but who cared what they thought? None of them had ever had their hand licked by a cheetah" (109).

Jeanette got her hand licked by a cheetah after Dad let them go into the cage to prove that no animal is dangerous if you know what you're doing.

Why does Jeannette struggle to control the family's finances the summer she is in charge?

Jeanette makes a budget that works but dad keeps asking her for more and more money.

List and explain some examples of the children's ingenuity.

Jeanette making her own braces,

"I'd broken one of our unspoken rules: we were always supposed to pretend our life was one long and incredibly fun adventure" (69).

Jeanette said that she was hungry to her mom. She was supposed to pretend everything was fine.

"When Dad went crazy, we all had our own ways of shutting down and closing off, and that was what we did that night" (115).

Jeanette said this right after dad lit their christmas tree on fire after getting kicked out of mass.

Why does Jeannette decide to write the book?

Jeanette wants to show her struggles during her life to help other people learn the lessons she did.

Explain the following allusions: "...Garden of Eden..." (149). "...I should be Hercules by now" (179). "...ding dong the witch is dead..." (180). "...slaying dragons..." (229). "...a sort of Emerald City" (223).

Lori was saying Erma's house wasn't nice and she didn't care if they got banished. Lori got burned in an explosion and mom said what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Lori said this about Erma dying because he had nothing nice to say about her. Dad was trying to say he works hard for his family to keep them safe which is not true. Lori thought of New York as a place at the end of a long road where she could become a new person.

Everyone assumed I was a normal person, it was weird" (218).

Lori went to summer camp and was able to be happy and feel normal.

"Mom always said people worried too much about their children. That's why she ignored us kids when we cried" (28).

Mom thought suffering when you're young is good for you and paying attention to kids that cry encourages them.

"Just tell the truth, that is simple enough" (5).

Mom told Jeanette to tell the truth when people ask about her parents.

How does Dad ruin Christmas one year?

On Christmas Day, Dad drinks so much that he shouts blasphemous curses during Christmas Mass, and when they get home, he lights the Christmas tree on fire, destroying all the presents.

How is Mom as a teacher? What problems did Mom's salary cause?

She doesn't like teaching because she would rather be an artist. When mom got a salary, dad would take it all and waste it.

How does Jeannette know her parents have moved to town? Why have they?

She heard a news story about a broken down van on the highway. She got a phone call from them after that. They moved to New York to be a family again.

Explain some of the ways the children ate during their time in Welch?

She is terrified to draw the threaded needle through Dad's skin, but she manages a few stitches. More and more, Dad spends days at a time away from home.

How does Jeannette help Lori?

She let Lori take her babysitting job and the family bought her a bus ticket to New York City.

Explain the metaphors of the Joshua tree and the reference to the family being like cactus.

She means that they only eat on occasion and when they do they eat hoards of it like a cactus would with water in a dessert.

Why is celebrating Thanksgiving an appropriate way to end the novel?

Thanksgiving is appropriate because the family was able to remember the good times with Rex and finally had plenty of food on the table.

"...the most fragile one of us...." (276).

The Walls family members were blaming each other for pushing Maureen over the edge.

Explain the metaphors of a cactus and a Joshua tree.

The cactus symbolizes how the Walls family ate and didn't often have food. The Joshua tree is twisted and sideways from the desert wind and symbolized the extreme environment Jeanette lives in.

"Dad must have arranged for the weirdest people to pretend they were his family" (131).

The first time Jeanette met Dad's family - Erma, Stanley and grandpa and didn't think any of them looked like Dad.

Explain the metaphor of the glass castle. Be sure to include what happens to the hole dug for the basement and the symbolism.

The glass castle is a metaphor for the empty promises and false hopes made by Dad to his family. He had the kids dig a hole for the foundation of the glass castle. Once it was done, they ended up filling it up with trash because they couldn't afford garbage pickup. Their dream was never going to happen.

What becomes of the hole they begin to dig in Welch?

The hole becomes a place for Wall's to dump their trash, since they are unable to pay for the garbage collection.

What are some of the bad things about living in Phoenix?

The house has termites. Rex is fired three times and the inheritance money runs out. Mom has the kids shoplift for clothes and there is often no food in the house. Rex starts drinking heavily again.

What does Jeannette learn about the land Mom owns?

The land Mom owns in Texas is worth $1,000,000.

Who needs glasses? What is Mom's reaction to also needing glasses?

The nurse discovers Lori needs glasses. At first, Mom refuses to let her get glasses as she believes glasses are like crutches and just weaken the eyes. However, the school provides free glasses for Lori. Mom doesn't want glasses because she likes to see the world the way she sees it.

What is the significance of the piggy bank's name? What happens to the money?

The piggy bank was named Oz because they were saving to go to the Emerald City (New York City). Dad stole all the money.

What causes a relapse?

Their car breaks down and a lady picks them up and kept saying "oh you poor family" and the dad interpreted it as no money. He went on a 3 day drinking binge.

When staying with Erma, horrible things happen. What do the kids realize about Dad after these experiences?

Their dad was abused by Erma too.

What is a memorable present the kids get from Dad one year?

They can pick a star from the sky and that is their gift.

What is the family's philosophy about celebrating Christmas?

They celebrate Christmas after. The parents tell the kids that Santa is fake (because they can't afford many presents).

What holiday is it when the family gets back together following Dad's death? What is the significance of this?

They have Thanksgiving after Dad's death. The significance was they had a big feast and they never had food growing up. They toasted to Dad.

How do the kids view New York?

They view it as the Emerald City

The family got periodic checks that made it easier to survive; where did the checks come from?

When Mom gets her check from the oil company that leases the land in Texas she inherited, the family has food for a few days.