The Glass Castle Symbolism

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Recommended: Essay on symbolism in The Glass Castle, by Jeannette Walls

In the opening scene Jeannette is riding in a taxi headed to a party when she sees her mother digging through a trashcan. Walls has not seen her mother for months and she is struck by the reality that the woman who raised her presently appears no different to passersby than any other homeless person on the city streets. Jeannette quickly leaves out of fear that someone will notice her. Only a few blocks away from the party, she fears that her fixation on the woman by the dumpster would arouse suspicion. To avoid being seen she lowers herself in her seat and tells the taxi driver to take her to her home on Park Avenue. She cannot risk being seen by any others of the party because they might discover her secret.The driver turns around and Walls …show more content…

Choose at least three symbols and explain what these objects represent:
The Glass Castle symbolizes the illusions that Jeannette must release in order to fully mature. For years, Dad has made blueprints and floor plans for a magnificent transparent palace built in the desert and relying on solar panels for electricity.
Fire is present in The Glass Castle from one of the very first scenes, when Jeannette accidentally lights herself on fire while making hot dogs as a three-year-old. Fire is both a source of heat and light and a force for destruction.
The Joshua tree symbolizes the strength and beauty that can arise from dysfunction. As Mom tells Jeannette, the tree’s struggle is what gives the tree its beauty. This symbol can be applied to Jeannette’s need to surmount incredible difficulties in the process of growing up.
9. Choose at least one theme that recurs throughout the story and two specific examples of this …show more content…

Jeannette 's father, Rex Walls, suffers from severe alcoholism. Throughout the novel, not only Rex himself is affected by this, but his family too is brought down and hurt by this also. When sober, Rex was a very smart and intellectual individual, but due to his abuse of alcohol these good attributes of his are taken over by alcohol. For example, when sober, he would teach his children physics, Morse code, and other skills. All of this changes when he gets drinks. After drinking, he becomes a mad person who throws around chairs and threatens his wife and other people who come across

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