The Glass Castle Study Guide

- How has the loss of Rex impacted Jeannette in her adult life

After Rex dies, Jeannette always feels like she needs to be on the move. She realizes that she needs adventure, a little bit of crazy, and not the extravagant life she had with Eric. She left Eric for amore suitable life for herself, one where she found balance (being turbulence and order as she says), until she meets John who admires her the way her dad used to.

- What is the Prospector

An invention Rex is working on to separate gold from rocks.

- Grandpa

This character worked at the Green Lantern and was "friends" with Rex.

- What does Rex do to try to get Jeannette to stay in Welch and not move to NYC

He pulls out the blueprints for the glass castle and tries to reconfigure her room size to get her to stay.

- What did Rex do to teach his kids about wild animals

How does Jeannette feel about the scrutiny from the crowd after this incident? Rex took the kids to the zoo to teach them about wild animals and the harm in keeping them in cages. He explains the animals' behaviours at the zoo and takes Jeannette to a cheetah exhibit. He lets Jeanette pet the cheetah, all while the crowd is screaming at Rex and trying to grab Jeannette to pull her back over the rope. Jeannette does not care what the crowd thinks because the cheetah licked her hand, and the crowd has never pet a cheetah themselves. This shows that she is proud of where she came from and the experiences she had.

- Ernie Goad

Jeannette and Brian outsmart this character and his relentless gang by building a catapult and using a mattress to pelt rocks at them from their window and knock the gang off their bikes.

- Erma

Jeannette and Lori called this character a "pervert" and attacked her to protect Brian. The actions of this character made Jeannette and Lori wonder if the character abused Rex as well.

- What internal struggle does Jannette face in her new life with Eric

Jeannette feels as though she doesn't belong in his world. Coming from so little and gaining so much didn't give her the satisfaction she was looking for. She never felt comfortable sharing her past and realized that she should be embracing the adventure she had growing up rather than settling for a passion-less, comfortable, stable relationship.

- Why did Rex chase a very pregnant Rose Mary with the family car

Rose Mary told Rex that she had been pregnant for 14 months and when he didn't believe her, she got angry and ran.

- After catching fire and escaping the hospital "Rex-Walls-style" what issue did Jeannette develop as a result of never being taught about how dangerous fire is

She became fascinated with faire and played with it whenever she could.

- What did the Joshua Tree that Rose Mary paints symbolize in Jeannette's life

The tree represents Jeannette herself. On the outside the heat and high winds make the Joshua Tree appear weathered and unattractive. However, it is the strength of the Joshua Tree that gives it its beauty. This symbolizes Jeannette because even through all the hardships she has endured, (GIVE AN EXAMPLE OF A HARDSHIP) she has grown into a woman who is wise and strong.

- What did Rex get the kids for Christmas in Battle Mountain

Their own star/planet

- Brian

This character fights to protect Jeannette in Welch when Dinitia Hewitt and her gang bully and beat up Jeannette.

- Robbie

This character is a friend of Rex's and tries to seduce Jeannette.

- Describe the house on Little Hobart Street with 3 details. (These are not the only correct answers)

1. There was no plumbing or electricity. 2. It was on top of a hill in Welch, West Virginia, where the days were mostly humid in the summers and unbearable cold in the winters. The house got below freezing on these days. It was half-painted yellow from Jeannette trying to bring positive change to the house.

- How do Rex and Rose Mary each deal with the death of their baby Mary Charlene

Explain. Rose Mary is seemingly unaffected by the death. When she recalls the incident and then Brian's birth, she mocked the face he made when Brian was seizing and said "I thought this one was a goner too". Rex on the other hand found Mary Charlene and hasn't been the same since. He never talks about her and started drinking to cope with the loss.

- How does Rose Mary handle the death of her mother

How does her death connect to the Walls deciding to leave Battle Mountain? Rose Mary is very nonchalant and matter of fact about the death of her mother. She doesn't tell her kids about the death until it is relevant. When Jeannette was upset about her grandma's death, Rose Mary couldn't understand why Rose Mary has lacked empathy anytime death comes into the novel. This connects the Walls' decision to leave Battle Mountain because they needed to outrun the police after the kids' gun fight with Billy Deel, so Phoenix was the next perfect location.

- How do Rex and Rose Mary make their entrance into NYC

Jeannette hears on the radio about a can breaking down in the middle of a busy highway, making thousands of New Yorkers late for work. Belongings were all over the highway, and their dog Twinkle was being chased by police officers and Rex tried fighting a police officer.

- How did Jeannette get her name

She got it from Rex's English teacher, Miss. Bivens, who pushed Rex to enter his writing in a contest, that he won. When Rex heard gossip about his parents that he must have cheated, he stormed out and tried to drop out of high school. Miss. Bivens convinced him to come back for his diploma. Rose Mary added the extra N to Jeannette because it looked French.

- How did Rex and Rose Mary view institutions in society such as hospitals

They thought they were corrupt and avoided them at all costs.

- Miss. Katona

This Welch High employee disapproves of Jeannette's plan to leave Welch to attend college in NYC. This character's questioning inspires Jeannette to leave earlier and finish high school in NYC.

- Rex

This character "got into a fight with a mountain" and asked Jeannette to stitch up their arm one night.

- Miss. Bivens

This character encouraged Rex to enter his work in a writing contest and convinced him to get his diploma after he dropped out of high school.

- Grandma Smith

This character forced Rose Mary to get her teaching license in case her art career failed which put a strain on their relationship most of Rose Mary's life.

- Eric

This character gave Jeannette a comfortable life, but one that she never quite fit into. The death of her father helped Jeannette have a revelation about her future with this character.

- Jeannette

This character is the narrator of the story. The entire story is told from their point of view.

- Tinkle

This character is the one who ultimately kills Rufus.

- Maureen

This character kept having reoccurring nightmares of scary men in Halloween masks in Phoenix and of Rufus the rat trying to eat the character. When Jeannette called this character silly and flocked on the light, sure enough, the rat was on her bed.

- Lori

This character sobbed after getting glasses in Phoenix and realizing what they have been missing out on seeing. Getting glasses helped this character see the world in a whole new way.

- John

This character tells Jeannette that the texture of her scar is interesting and that the scar itself represents that Jeannette is stronger than whatever it was that tried to hurt her.

- Dinitia

This character took Jeannette to public school in Welch during the non-socially acceptable hours according to the segregation of the town.

- Billy Deel

This character took Jeannette to their house to show her their drunk father and make fun of him. This character also compared their dad to Rex which made Jeannette furious as she cannot see her dad's flaws.

- Uncle Stanley

This character was described as a redneck who was overly affectionate in an uncomfortable way when they met Jeannette.

- Quixote

This character was thrown out the vehicle when they seemingly weren't on board with the "life is an adventure" mindset that the Walls lived by.

- Rose Mary

This character yelled at the children for eating margarine in the fridge because supposedly, the margarine was being saved to make bread. Jeannette secretly thought that the character might be saving it for themselves.

- How do we know that Jeannette forgives Rex for his empty promises

We know Jeannette forgives Rex for his empty promises because in their last conversation before he dies Rex says, "We never did build that Glass Castle" Jeannette says, "No, but we had fun building it". This and the fact that Jeannette brought vodka to Rex, as requested, shows us that she accepts her dad for who he is and chooses to focus on the good times rather than the bad.

- Why does Rose Mary ask Jeannette for a million dollars

What does this make Jeannette realize about her upbringing? Rose Mary asks Jeannette for a million dollars to buy Uncle Jim's land, which is about the size of her own land. This makes Jeannette realize that the land the family owned in Texas was more money than most people ever see in their life and while they were struggling, starving, and miserable in Welch, they were actually sitting on land worth about a million dollars.

- When Rose Mary had a teaching job, how did her steady paychecks actually lead to MORE problems for the Walls family

When Rose Mary was making the money for the household Rex became very possessive of her pay checks. He took them and spent them recklessly to prove that he was the man of the household and made the financial decisions. By the end of the month, with all the reckless spending and lack of budgeting the Walls were usually out of food, despite the steady pay checks. GIVE AN EXAMPLE OF WHAT THE RECKLESS SPENDING WAS.