The Glass Castle Characters

Kenny Hall

A 42-year-old mentally challenged man in Welch who has a crush on Jeannette, for which the other kids make fun of him.

Robbie

A friend of Dad's from a bar in Welch who tries to seduce Jeannette.

Carla

A friend of Jeannette's in Battle Mountain whose family, unlike Jeannette's, uses a No-Pest Strip to catch insects.

Ernie Goad

A kid who lives in Welch and torments Brian and Jeannette for living in "garbage."

Ginger

A prostitute at the Green Lantern whorehouse in Battle Mountain, Nevada whom Dad goes to visit

Lady in blue Buick

A well-coiffed woman who picks up the Walls family after their car breaks down on the way to the Grand Canyon.

Lucy Jo Rose

A woman who works with Mom as a teacher outside Welch and drives Mom to school most days.

Veronica

Brian's daughter

Brian Walls

Brother of Jeannette, Lori, and Maureen, and the third-oldest sibling after Jeannette. Brian is the closest to Jeannette for much of their childhood: they play together, forage for food together, and defend

Uncle Stanley

Dad's brother, he lives in Welch, West Virginia with Erma and Grandpa Walls. While Jeanette and her family are living in Welch, he attempts to sexually assault her. She escapes but, subsequently, avoids their home as much as possible.

Erma Walls

Dad's mother, she lives in Welch, West Virginia. Jeannette catches her sexually abusing Brian, leading the kids to question whether Dad suffered the same. Erma is cold and bitter, but Mom asks the kids to have more empathy towards her, since she had a difficult childhood being shuttled around between various relatives.

Jeannette Walls

Daughter of Rex and Rose Mary Walls, and the second oldest of four siblings in the Walls family. Jeannette is practical, rational, and thoughtful. Unlike Mom, she enjoys adhering to rules

Rex Walls

Father to Jeannette and her siblings, and the son of Erma and Grandpa Walls. He is primarily referred to as Dad in the narrative. Originally from Welch, West Virginia

Dinitia Hewitt

Initially the leader of a group that bullies Jeannette at school in Welch, but who later becomes her friend.

Mike Armstrong

Jeannette's boss at The Phoenix newspaper in New York who convinces her to go to college.

Cindy Thompson

Jeannette's classmate, who tries to recruit her for the Ku Klux Klan.

Carrie Mae Blankenship

Jeannette's classmate, whose father is a hospital administrator, and whose home is equipped with a thermostat, which fascinates Jeannette.

Professor Fuchs

Jeannette's favorite college professor. When he grows distressed at something Jeannette says in class about homeless people, Jeannette feels that she can't reveal her true background and her own experience with poverty and homelessness.

Eric

Jeannette's first husband. He is wealthy, lives on Park Avenue, and is extremely organized

Miss Caparossi

Jeannette's first teacher in Welch, who goads the other students into making fun of her.

John

Jeannette's second husband, with whom she owns a house in the country and has a happy marriage

Miss Page

Jeannette's second-grade teacher in Battle Mountain, who is suspicious of the advanced math that Dad has taught Jeannette, and makes Jeanette re-do the homework in the precise way she expects and defined

Miss Jeanette Bivens

Jeannette's teacher at Welch High School. She was also Dad's teacher when he was in school, and was the first person to really believe in him, he says. She is also the faculty advisor for the school newspaper that Jeannette edits. She is a consistent source of support and encouragement for Jeannette

Jessica

John's daughter from his first marriage.

Rose Mary Walls

Mother to Jeannette and her siblings, and the daughter of Grandma Smith from Phoenix. She is primarily referred to as Mom in the narrative. Mom originally wanted to be an artist

Mr. Freeman

The Walls family's next-door neighbor in Welch.

Lori Walls

The eldest of the Walls children. She is usually absent from the adventures of Jeannette and Brian, but is cool and calm in the face of crisis

Gypsies

The family's neighbors in Phoenix, one of whom steals Brian's pogo stick.

Chuck Yeager

The first airplane pilot to fly faster than the speed of sound, who gives a speech at Welch High and whom Jeannette interviews for the school newspaper.

Miss Katona

The guidance counselor at Welch High.

Welch Elementary principal

The principal at the elementary school in Welch. He can't understand Jeannette's accent the first day she arrives (nor can she understand his), so he enrolls her with students who have learning disabilities.

Mary Charlene Walls

The second daughter that Mom gave birth to after Lori, who lived only to the age of nine months.

Ginnie Sue Pastor

The town prostitute in Welch, and also the mother of nine children.

Maureen Walls

The youngest of the Walls siblings. Maureen's character is not as well developed as that of the other siblings. Seven years younger than Jeannette, she is a baby for much of Jeannette's childhood

Ken Fink and Bob Gross

Two filmmakers who come to Welch from New York City and who tell Lori she needs to go to New York in order to make it as an artist.

Mrs. Sanders

A teacher for whom Jeannette babysits, and who, in a plan hatched by Jeanette, hires Lori to babysit for her children as she travels with them for the summer. She then buys Lori a return train ticket to New York, rather than Welch.

Evan

A friend of Lori's in New York.

Billy Deel

A teenager who is neighbors with the Walls family in Battle Mountain, and who has a crush on Jeannette that turns violent. Lori defends Jeanette from Billy by threatening him with a gun.

Grandpa Walls

Erma's husband and Dad's father, he lives in Welch, West Virginia with his wife and Uncle Stanley.

Clarence Pastor

Ginnie Sue's husband.

Kathy Pastor

Ginnie Sue's oldest daughter.

Grandma Smith

Mom's mother who lived in Phoenix until her death. The reader sees Grandma Smith only through Jeannette's flashbacks; when the family actually moves to Phoenix as part of the linear narrative, it's because Grandma Smith has just died. But Grandma Smith, a flapper-turned-schoolteacher who nagged Mom but spoiled Jeannette by combing her hair and letting her try on perfumes, makes it easier to understand both Mom's and Jeannette's characters. Mom rebelled against her mother, but Jeannette—in rebelling against Mom—embraces many of Grandma Smith's traits and values.

Mr. Becker

Owner of Becker's Jewel Box in Welch, where Jeannette works part-time.