Living with the Walls Family

“In my mind, Dad was perfect, although he did have what mom called a little bit of a drinking solution. There was what mom called Dad’s “beer phase.” We could all handle that. Dad drove fast and sang really loud, and locks of his hair fell into his face and life was a little bit scary but still a lot of fun. But when Dad pulled out a bottle of what Mom called “the hard stuff,” she got kind of frantic, because after working on the bottle for a while, Dad turned into an angry-eyed stranger who threw around furniture and threatened to beat up Mom or anyone else who got in his way. When he’d had his fill of cussing and hollering and smashing things up, he’d collapse. But Dad drank hard liquor only when we had money, which wasn’t often, so life was mostly good in those days.” (pg.23)

This quote perfectly describes Jeannette’s family in “The Glass Castle.” Jeanette’s life was difficult from the moment she learned to walk and talk. With her mother and father not taking on the role of responsible parenting, she discovered the twisted world she was living in at a very young age. This quote begins with a description of the relationship with her father. She idolizes him, even though at that time she does not realize that his drinking problem was not something to accept. As she grows up this “situation” will cause turmoil, and eventually destroy the only sense of family connection they’ve managed to form. Rex Walls, Jeanette’s father is an excessive alcoholic. In the book you see him putting the little money they have towards his addiction rather than to support his family’s needs. This had a devastating effect on Jeanette, her siblings and mother, who often went days without eating a proper meal. In this quote Jeannette described what it was like when her father drank. When Rex drank beer it caused minor problems, but it did not have a major effect on Jeannette’s everyday life. But when Rex pulled out a bottle of the “hard stuff” he turned abusive and aggressive towards anyone who got in his way. As Jeannette grows older her father’s drinking issue becomes a significant problem. This results in Rex taking the little money Jeannette’s mom, Rose Mary, makes when she actually is making an effort to provide for her family. Rex stoops so low to stealing money from his daughters money jar in order to fix his craving for alcohol. On two occasions Rex attempted to reduce his dependence on alcohol and quit drinking. But was unsuccessful and went back to the bottle. I think Rex is solely dependent on alcohol because later in the book we find out that he grew up in an alcoholic family, with his mother and father constantly drunk. Rex’s mother, Jeanette’s grandmother, was also a sexual offender who assaulted Jeanette’s younger brother on an occasion when her parents had abandoned their children. This may be the cause of Rex’s problem, but the novel never clarifies because he would never talk about his life growing up.

This quote helped form my view of Jeannette’s life. The dynamics of her family were skewed because of her parents’ lack of parental guidance. This had a great impact on her childhood and how society accepted her. Jeanette’s life was not easy. She was forced to provide for her and her siblings more often than not; there were still many times in her life when the family did not have enough support to provide a single meal.