Analysis Of The Glass Castle

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American businesswoman Carly Fiorina once concluded, “If a decision-making process is flawed and dysfunctional, decisions will go awry.” In the critically acclaimed memoir The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls pilots a turbulent excursion through the bottleneck of her childhood and dysfunctionality and flawed decision-making is all too common. Throughout this memoir the reader learns of the the appearances and disappearances of stability and functionality, discovers the theme of fantasy vs. reality, and determines how and why the familial dynamics of the Walls alter through the duration of the memoir. The reasons for the instability of the family are evident. The main contributing factors to the Walls family tumultuousness can be identified …show more content…

The Glass Castle, a phantasmal house designed by Rex, played a major role in the memoir. It was used to manipulate, and could be used by Rex to get what he wanted; such as granting a larger room in return for money, and was used for insurance by Rex to retain the children’s faith in him. Eventually its significance ceased to exist. In reality, the Glass Castle was no more than some crinkled pieces of paper. Rex and Rose also neglected to deal with their actual situation and tried to pretend that the family was stable and often told the kids “don’t worry”, “everything is fine” and “stop being so uptight and spoiled” and the children had to learn to find food, money, and stay level-headed in the midst of everything. The couple also disregarded the fact that their family was in fiscal mayhem, committing massive tax fraud, and continued to squander the little money they possessed on expensive casino dinners the moment it was gained. The chemistry of the Walls changed vastly throughout the memoir and there are clear reasons as to how and …show more content…

Battle Mountain was the happiest the family as a whole ever was. The children’s relationships with one another were very strong, as well as the relationship between Rex and Jeannette. Jeannette viewed her father as an infallible superhero. Although, the eldest daughter, Lori viewed Rex as wildly irresponsible, and untrustworthy and thus began her skepticism of her parents’ parenting abilities. While in Welch, West Virginia, a major paradigm shift took place. Rex’s addictions increased exponentially when the family moved in with his parents, his absences became more interminable, and in turn caused the family’s solidity to deteriorate more rapidly and seriously. By doing this, Rex conceded what little faith his children had left in him, eventually causing them to leave him and Rose for greener pastures in New York. After Lori, Jeannette, Brian, and Maureen left their parents in Welch for New York City, the rift between the children and their parents seemed vaster than ever before. Rex and Rose’s feelings were very hurt after being left and were lost without the four. By the time they rejoined the kids in New York, the children had assimilated to city life and had grown somewhat ashamed and embarrassed of their parents whom chose to still live on the street and from this moment on, all of their lives would morph into a ball of confusion. Nothing was ever

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