Glass Castle Basic Questions
Jeannette has:
A brother and two sisters
What is the glass castle?
A home that Rex dreams of building for his family
When Rex has no money to buy Christmas presents for the children, what does he give them?
A star
What job did Rose Mary once hold?
A teacher
What else does Rose Mary tell Jeannette that she should do?
Accept her parents as they are
Where did Jeannette's mother grow up?
Arizona
What does Jeannette do after she first sees Rose Mary at the beginning of the book?
Asks to be taken back home
Where does Jeannette decide to meet Rose Mary?
At a restaurant
After Lily Ruth Maureen is born, where does the family move?
Battle mountain
Why does Jeannette meet Rose Mary at this location?
Because her mother likes it there
Why does Jeannette enjoy staying in the hospital?
Because it is quiet and not chaotic.
What word can best describe Jeannette's childhood?
Chaotic
What basic needs do Jeannette's family not always provide?
Food and shelter
Jeannette's parents believe that children need:
Freedom and the chance to learn to fend for themselves.
How does Jeannette feel as she looks around her comfortable apartment?
Guilty
Why does Rex lose so many jobs?
He is an alcoholic
What is Rex's educational background?
He is educated and has worked as an engineer.
How does Rex react when Jeannette accidentally burns the shed down?
He is not angry and turns it into a physics lesson.
Why does Rex say that the family must leave Las Vegas?
He says that a blackjack dealer has figured out his "system" and they could get in trouble.
What types of activities does Rex do with his children?
He tells them stories at night and plays outside with them
What was Rex doing when he met Rose Mary?
He was in the Air Force
What happens when Jeannette is released from the hospital?
Her father takes her out against medical advice.
What is Rose Mary doing when Jeannette first sees her at the beginning of the book?
Her mother is digging through a dumpster.
Where does Rex work when the family lives in Battle Mountain?
In a mine
Where does Jeannette live at this time?
In an apartment on Park Avenue
Why won't Rose Mary talk about her homelessness?
It is genuinely not important to her
More on the Glass Castle Plot:
Jeannette Walls is riding in a taxi in contemporary New York City, on her way to an event, when she looks out the window and sees her mother digging through trash. Although Mom has been homeless for years, Jeannette feels a sudden sense of shame and gloom about Mom's life and begins to reflect on her childhood and how Mom and Dad's choices affected her. The Walls opens the door to her childhood, beginning when Jeannette is three-year-old and standing on a chair to reach the stovetop as she boils her own hotdog. Her pink dress catches on fire, and she gets horribly burned. After a few days in the hospital, Dad shows up, lifts Jeannette out of bed and they do "the skedaddle," leaving the hospital without paying the bill. Much of Walls' memories of her childhood in the desert focus on "the skedaddle" and how the Walls family — Mom, Dad, Lori, Jeannette, Brian, and, eventually, little Maureen — move to different desert towns, settling in for as long as Dad can hold a job. However, Dad's paranoia about the state and organized society, coupled with his alcoholism, leads them to move frequently. They settle down in a small mining town, Battle Mountain, Nevada, for a few months and Jeannette and Brian spend countless hours exploring the desert. Mom even takes a break from her art projects to hold down a job as a teacher to extend their stay. A minor altercation with law enforcement, however, compels the family to pick up and move to Phoenix where Mom has inherited a house from her mother. At first, Phoenix offers the family some stability; Mom's house is large and has a yard and the children enroll in school. Dad is able to keep a steady line of electrician jobs going for awhile. However, once again, his alcoholism gets the best of him. Jeannette is so bothered by it that she asks him to give up drinking for her tenth birthday. He goes sober for a few weeks, but then, after their car breaks down in the desert and the family has to accept the charity of a stranger for a ride back to Phoenix, Dad runs back to the drink to drown his sense of shame. Mom, in need of more adventure, suggests they move to Welch, West Virginia, where Dad grew up. She thinks maybe his family can help them out. Dad is reluctant, but eventually piles into the family's latest lemon of a car and they head east. Welch turns out to be more depressing than any of them wants to admit. First, Dad's mom is an abusive woman who takes sexual advantage of Brian — suggesting that she also abused Dad when he was younger. The town is impoverished, segregated, and does not welcome newcomers. The family stays put, however, and Mom and Dad buy a shack on the top of a hill for the family to live in. The structure is decrepit; it has no indoor plumping or central heating and has a leaking roof. Dad's drinking gets worse and the kids are often hungry. As Jeannette enters adolescence she contemplates more and more her parents' choices and rails against them for being irresponsible parents. She and her older sister Lori hatch an escape plan: Lori will move to New York City when she graduates and Jeannette will follow her there. And, despite some setbacks, the girls accomplish this dream. In New York City, Jeannette is surprised how quickly she is able to find a job and get work as a reporter, which is her goal in life. She and Lori eat well and love having a roof over their head, warm water, and heat. They eventually ask Brian and Maureen to move in with them. The kids enjoy their new lives together; however, Mom and Dad feel abandoned and move to New York City. Neither Mom nor Dad is able or willing to keep a steady job, and they end up becoming squatters in an abandoned building. While Lori, Jeannette, and Brian are able to secure jobs and build new lives, Maureen is unable to care for herself and, in a bout of insanity, stabs Mom. Maureen ends up in a mental institution. The family drifts apart. Dad, with a lifetime of chain-smoking and drinking, is dying although he is barely sixty years old. When he dies of a heart attack, Jeannette is forced to examine her own life and realize that while she has pushed away her parents and her past, part of her thrives on the reckless freedom they instilled in her. She divorces her husband, moves, and eventually finds peace with her past and her present.
What is the incident in the first section of Part 2 that serves as a metaphor for the neglect that the children suffer?
Jeannette falls out of the car and her parents don't notice for a while
What is Jeannette's profession?
Journalist
Who is the oldest child in the Walls family?
Lori
Who takes care of baby Maureen while the family is moving?
Lori and jeannette
Who is the youngest child in the Walls family?
Maureen
What type of book is "The Glass Castle"?
Memoir
What does Rose Mary want to discuss with her daughter?
Painters and a recent art exhibit
Why does the family often pick up and leave in the middle of the night?
Rex is convinced that government agents or police are after the family
What does Jeannette NOT portray in her style of storytelling?
Self pity
What words might best describe Jeannette?
Self reliant, strong
What does Jeannette feel when she first sees Rose Mary at the beginning of the book?
Shame
What is Rose Mary's philosophy on child-rearing?
She believes that children need freedom and no structure
How does Jeannette contact Rose Mary to set up a meeting?
She calls a mutual friend
What are Jeannette's feelings towards her parents in light of her upbringing?
She feels fondness and is a bit confused by them
How has Rose Mary reacted to previous offers of help from her children?
She has turned them down
How does Rose Mary feel about her current living situation?
She is all right with being homeless.
How does Jeannette end up hurting herself?
She is boiling hot dogs and gets burned.
Where is Jeannette going when she first sees Rose Mary?
She is in a cab, on the way to a party.
What is Jeannette's mother doing when the accident happens?
She is in the other room, painting.
What happens to Jeannette when she first starts school in Blythe?
She is picked on because of her intelligence
Where did Jeannette grow up?
She moved frequently
Why does Jeannette enjoy staying with Grandma Smith?
She provides a sense of stability and hot meals
How does Jeannette explain her accident to the doctors and nurses at the hospital?
She says that she is allowed to cook alone, because she is very mature.
According to Rose Mary, how should Jeannette explain her mother's situation to others?
She should tell the truth.
How long does Jeannette stay in the hospital?
Six weeks
What is Jeannette's manner of telling her story in Part 1?
Straightfoward
Which of the following does Rose Mary tell Jeannette about changing?
That she does not want to change
What happens when the children are traveling in the back of the U-haul to Battle Mountain?
The door of the U-haul comes open and the parents don't notice
Where do Jeannette's parents live in Part 1 of the book?
They are homeless
What are Jeannette's parents' feelings regarding society's rules?
They refuse to conform to them
What do the Walls parents teach the children?
They teach them to read and write, to do math, and practical skills
How old is Jeannette when she gets injured?
Three years old
What type of childhood does Jeannette say that she had?
Unique
