Melissa

The Glass Castle Discussion Questions

Feel free to let me know what you're thinking about my answers!

Though The Glass Castle is brimming with unforgettable stories; which scenes were the most memorable for you? Which were the most shocking, the most inspiring, the funniest?

I don’t know if any one scene was more memorable to me than any other. I think that Jeannette did a really good job of providing a vivid setting for the events that unfolded throughout the book.

I feel that the most shocking moment was probably when Rex took Jeannette to the bar with him to help out his pool game. Before that point, I felt as though he really did want to take care of his daughter but just wasn’t as able to as he would have liked. That moment led me to believe that he didn’t really care as deeply for Mountain Goat as his pet name would imply. I also felt shocked, but knew it was coming, when he decided to whip Jeannette with a belt after she back-talked her mom. I too have been in the same boat as Jeannette and felt that there was no way my father would have sided with my mother on a certain issue. Then he did – and although I didn’t get a beating (instead got kicked out of the house and called many nasty names – I love the man, still though) I still felt a similar pain to hers’, I believe.

I laughed out loud on more than once occasion while reading The Glass Castle. I had a huge laugh when Jeannette was in the swimming pool shower room and carrying on with the black women and Dinitia. I think my longest laugh was when Jeannette explained her creative braces technique. I laughed and laughed as I too, used rubberbands to try to force my gap together. (It eventually grew together on it’s own though – unless my technique worked too).

The first story Walls tells of her childhood is that of her burning herself severely at age three, and her father dramatically takes her from the hospital: “You’re safe now (p.14)." Why do you think she opens with that story, and how does it set the stage for the rest of the memoir?”

I believe she started with that story because it is where her mind's starting point began. That’s her first memory. It set the stage for the story because it showed us as readers that from a very early age she was on her own. It’s also and example of one of the main themes of the book “leaving things behind.” Jeannette, Lori, and Brian all eventually left their past behind just as the dad and mom left each place they ever lived. They skedaddled.

What is the “glass castle” and what does it signify to Jeannette and her father? Rex Walls often asked his children, “Have I ever let you down?Why was this question (and the required “No, Dad” response) so important for him--and for his kids? On what occasions did he actually come through for them?

The glass castle was their better life, their family dream, and what the family, especially the children and to an extent the parents always wanted but could never achieve. It was a real home, together and happy. The question Rex always asked his children was so important to him because he wanted, but didn’t work hard enough to be their super hero. The children could never really answer yes to his face because they knew he knew that he had let them down – and once you're let down that many times it’s hard to even let the person know they’ve done it. He did come through for the children when he gave Jeannette the money to finish her senior year.

What kind of man was Rex Walls? What were his strengths and weaknesses, his flaws and contradictions?

Rex was a very smart man with a great imagination who actually loved his children very much but couldn’t get through his own issues. His greatest strength was passing on his knowledge to the kids and instilling a wonderful sense of imagination. Of course his weakness was alcohol, but another would be the fact that he’d never be happy living a normal settled life. He always had to be on the go. I would say his biggest contradiction would be the fact that he didn’t want his grown children to leave him after so many years of pushing them away with his awful behavior.

What kind of woman was Rose Mary Walls? What did you think about her description of herself as an “excitement addict? (p. 93)"

I think she was very selfish, very unique, and not a mother at all. She had no drive to make her family better.

In college, Jeannette is singled out by a professor for not understanding the plight of homeless people; instead of defending herself, she keeps quiet. Why do you think she does this? Is homelessness a choice?

In some cases homelessness is a choice, but everyone has their issues and some of us aren’t equipped well enough to endure them. These days, it is so expensive to live, I can completely understand someone having no home. I had no home for a while. It’s easy for people to hide things from one another and I’ve witnessed a hard working and middle class person lose their home at the expense of someone who had a problem that went unrecognized. It may seem like it was that person’s choice to do the things they did to cause this to happen, but looking back and knowing their guilt they did the best they could at the time.

Jeannette should have probably spoken up, but there would be very few people at an Ivy League school that would really understand what she was saying. Then she would have won the argument by saying she had homeless parents – and she’d worked so hard to move on from that and make something of herself – what business was it of their’s? None, and just not worth it to her as she had already been through so much more.

The two major pieces of the memoir -- one half set in the desert and one half in West Virginia -- feel distinct. What effect did such a big move have on the family --and on your reading of the story? How would you describe the shift in the book’s tone?

I don’t really know how to answer this question right now, I might need to think about it some more and comment later.

What was Jeannette’s relationship to her siblings? Were you surprised to learn that, as adults, Jeannette and her siblings remained close to their parents? Why do you think this is?

Jeannette loved all of her siblings, they all loved each other deeply. Our siblings are the only people that live through the same things we do. They might deal with them differently, but they know – and you can’t help but love someone who has come from the very same place you did. I understand completely how the kids can still remain close to their family even as they are older. I’ve stayed (with bouts here and there) close to my family. Our parents remain in our hearts and the children were all smart enough to know that their parents weren’t okay. They had problems – but they also had great qualities.

What do parents owe children and what do children owe parents?

Love, a safe environment, and the best childhood possible. Children owe their parents at least the best attempt possible not to make the same mistakes and make the most of the opportunities they’ve been given. That's a loaded question

Though it portrays an incredibly hard scrabble life, The Glass Castle is never sad or depressing. How do you think that the author achieved that effect?

It is sad and depressing. Jeannette may not have ever come right out and said how sad she was, but you could feel it when her dad whipped her, when her dad took her money, and when she was freezing at night laying in the bed knowing there was no food for her to eat. She didn’t let the sadness stop her, that’s all. And that’s what we have to try to do.

The most extraordinary thing about The Glass Castle is that despite everything, Jeannette Walls refuses to condemn her parents. Were you able to be equally nonjudgmental?

No, they aren’t my parents. I passed judgement and questioned how in the heck they could do that to their children. I understand how she didn’t really condemn them, but she did on occasion express her feelings of anger/betrayal.