The Glass Castle

         
                    Ever had that one time where your family is moving everywhere? Never in the same school for long, and oh how you wish your family would just settle in ONE place? That is certainly like the childhood Jeanette Walls had, but I shall hazard you didn't have to face the horrors she did. Born in 1960, to Rex and Rosemary Walls, Jeanette has had a rough life. Beginning in a trailer park, she was badly burned cooking hot dogs just at the age of 3, which also happens to be the first time her family had to move with her around. While in the hospital, still recovering from her injury, her father suddenly came in and took her away, the reason being was to not let her be sent to a foster home considering everything she had told the doctors and nurses. In the early years, the family would continuously alternate between moving from California and Arizona every few months, in which her father has been shown to have a serious drinking and gambling problem. In the midst of this, her father has often talked of building a "glass castle", which should be pretty self-explanatory.

                  Despite the urges from her mother to just move in with Grandma Smith(Rosemary's side of the family), or receive financial support, her father always flatly refuses, having the tendency to have a giant argument. On many occasions, the Walls had been forced to give up various possessions, ranging from their mother's wedding ring, to even their own cat. Jeanette accidentally fell out of the car at one point, and was very worried that her own family was going to abandon her. When she was 7, her family moved to Battle Mountain, in Nevada, which was also where they finally managed to settle down for the first time. Her father got a stable job, and made a decent amount of money every so often. But, after a conflict with one of the kids Billy Deal that ends with the eldest child Lori pulling out a real gun on him, the family is forced to move once again in order to avoid trial and the possibility of losing their children.


             If you thought that their life would just become another vicious cycle of moving, you are wrong. Not long after leaving Nevada, Rosemary gets news that Grandma Smith has died, and they get her house, and later, it's also revealed Rosemary inherited a ton of land somewhere in Texas. But of course, it never lasts. Rex later comes back into contact with his parents and brother in Welch, West Virginia. While they are going to move, they still technically live in Grandma Smith's house, so, it make it seem like someone still lived there, Rosemary put dishes in the dishwasher, hung laundry, basically anything that would ward off intruders, and so the family went to Welch.

           The instant they get out the driveway, trouble has already popped up. Their car went kaput and it took around a month to get into West Virginia. And, Irma was revealed to be a rather unusual and strict person, her idea of punishment locking people into the basement, such as when Jeanette talked back to her for saying very racist things about African-Americans(well what did I expect? I'm sure Irma has been alive since the civil war, and certainly wasn't happy about the South losing). She also did enjoy drinking as much as Rex. What seemed to have been the final insult was when she tried to fix Brian(Jeanette's younger brother)'s pants, Irma was caught in the act of doing something weird to Brian, and a huge fight between Lori and Irma erupted, later causing the Walls to get kicked out of her house and having to move into a really crappy house down Little Hobart street.
Everything wrong with living in that house:
1. They had practically no electricity
2. There was the occasional rat infestation
3. Pieces of the house fell off every so often
4. The abuse Jeanette and her family often experienced focused mostly on their lifestyle
5. There wasn't an actual trash can
6. They didn't have indoor plumbing
7. Jeanette did once try to recolor the house, but by that time, everyone practically gave up on maintaining it and not even when she was half finished, the paint could no longer be used
8. Even when the family had a decent amount of money, it was spent stupidly on cars, booze, or gambling
9. It also gave their newborn child Maureen a bad experience, given how she spent much of her time over at friends' houses, and it would soon influence her to move far, far away
10. It ended any hope of the glass castle

                   Enough of that, I assume you already get the point. Anyways, the likes of a black girl named Denitia, and the local prick Ernie Goad would be the ringleaders of the pain and suffering, Denitia at least wasn't so mean, she did stop her bullying after Jeanette got her neighbor home safely, and, where Ernie tried to keep her away from the pool, Denitia did allow her to join her in the early mornings, which was just about the only time colored people were allowed in (this is 1960). This of course, would mainly focus on the children. Rosemary on the other hand, when she got the job as a teacher, she just had to be lucky enough to be driven to the school by another teacher who simply hated her guts. Every time Rosemary got off the car, that teacher would spray the seat, in fear of her ruining it. This also was in fact, something Jeanette faced when she took up writing for the school newspaper, which is something I shall get to later. You may be wondering? What kind of crap was Rex taking? In my opinion however, I am pretty sure Rex was abusing himself, being the guy who drank and smoked tons, Jeanette, who had faith in him since day 1 of his money-making schemes also considered leaving him behind.

              It might be a miracle how the Walls survived through this hell. Things turned out better when Jeanette was offered a spot in the school newspaper, and writing proved to be one of her talents. Well, that and mountain-climbing. As I had mentioned earlier, Rosemary did get a job as a teacher and came home with a decent amount of money every day, and Lori was offered to go to New York. Every time Rex sabotaged her, he always claimed it was to protect her from the "rapists, thieves, etc." This sounds coincidentally like Chicago to me. But, after much perseverance, sabotaged opportunities, and a long bus ride, Lori successfully made it to New York. Not long after Lori had gotten a decent job and place to live, Jeanette followed her. Thought she'd work for the newspaper? No. During the early days in New York, Jeanette worked at a restaurant and made around 80 dollars a week, which was an ok salary, but later, Jeanette would quit her job and work for the newspaper. In terms of living conditions, Jeanette moved into her husband Eric's apartment. Continuing on the New York cycle, Brian later moved in after living conditions back in Welch became crappier. He would marry, have a daughter, and become his dream job; a police officer. Maureen then came after Brian, and would often live with Lori, or later, the parents. The parents perhaps made the biggest scene arriving in New York via car.
1. Furniture fell out the trunk
2. While stopping to pick up the couch, one of the dogs ran out.
Rex and Rosemary lived with Brian and Lori initially, but Rex's heavy drinking issue and Rosemary's reluctance got them in the streets, searching the dumpsters for food. Funnily enough, Rosemary actually preferred this lifestyle, though the parents later moved into a run-down apartment.

        Rex's heavy drinking, smoking, gambling, and picking fights later caught up to him. While picking a fight, Rex caught a rare, incurable disease and claimed he was dying, but one of the more ridiculous aspects was that he had smoked at least 4 packs a day since HE WAS 12, and that didn't kill him. Soon enough, Rex Walls died at the age of 59, but not from the disease or his drug and alcohol abuse. He died from a simple heart attack, which was stupidly the least expected way to die. Soon after his death, Jeanette's family(minus Maureen, who was convicted of attempted murder, put in a mental institution, and moved to California) would meet on Thanksgiving and have a toast about Rex.

       You might be wondering, where does Jeanette Walls live now? She lives with her 2nd husband, John Taylor, on a farm in a countryside unlike what you've seen in New York.