The Glass Castle - a review

I took some time off this afternoon to finish The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls (Scribner, 2005). The Glass Castle recounts Walls' surprising childhood. Her parents were brilliant eccentrics. Providing basic necessities for their children - like food and adequate shelter - was not a priority. Instead, the four Walls children lived in hair raising conditions. Their survival was nothing short of miraculous.

Rex Walls, Jeanette's father, was an alchoholic. Her mother, Mary, suffered from an unspecified psychiatric disorder. Neither parent could hold down a job or manage money. Rarely did the Walls family live in one place for very long. Money would run out, Rex would get into arguments or scrapes with law enforcement. The Walls children regularly were imperiled by their parents' judgment. While living in Phoenix, Arizona, Rex and Mary insisted on leaving the front door, the back door and windows open at night. Vagrants would wander in and fall asleep in the house and, on one occasion, one tried to molest Jeannette. The family picked up stakes to move back to Welch, West Virginia Rex's childhood home. The Walls relatives in Welch fulfilled every stereotype of Appalachia imaginable. Grandma Erma tried to molest her grandson and, on another occasion, Uncle Stanley attempted to fondle Jeannette. LIving conditions frequently were perilous.

Both parents eschewed responsibility. Each decision they made, even those endangering their children, was excused. They never felt guilty about exposing their children to bitter cold, hunger, physical pain and humiliation. Walls' mother was certified to be a teacher. Her mental illness manifested in a refusal to go to work, complaining that her children were a burden. She showed no concern for the comfort of her children and didn't know or care that they frequently scrounged in garbage for food. Rex disappeared for days at a time, spend every dime to drink, even steal from his children to buy alchohol, yet would challenge the children to tell him whether he had ever let them down. Mary's response to any hint of criticism would be some retort - luxuries would make the children weak and soft, others had it worse and the like.

On the other hand, Mary's attitude showed how one can view a challenge as a hardship or as an adventure. Rex did show he cared by making valiant attempts to dry out. The children did become resourceful and independent and, with the exception of the youngest child, became fully functioning adults within mainstream society. To an extent, Mary was correct that her children were stronger as a consequence of their experiences. It is clear that the author remains angry at her parents for

Our home is warm and cozy, with plentiful food and abounding in comfort. I like it that way. But maybe a thing or two could be learned about parenting from Mary; perhaps we 'typically functioning' people are a bit too cautious. Certainly, this book made me realize that, as a typically functioning, very mainstream adult, I have failed my emerging writer of a daughter by not providing her with material for a book.