They were going to live in a glass castle, that was the goal. The memoir,
The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls shares the story of her life to the world. Growing up, Jeannette and her three siblings (Lori, Brian, and Maureen) had to deal with an alcoholic father who could not hold a job and a whimsical, free spirited mother who rarely fulfilled her parental role. The Walls family never stayed in one place for too long, they were constantly on the move whether it was because Rex (Jeannette's father) lost another job or because they felt like outcasts. Throughout the memoir, Walls recalls her fathers plans to build a house he called their Glass Castle. After years of putting up with and even admiring her parents Jeannette realized the true status of her life. So her older sister Lori and herself devised a plan to move to New York to escape their hell of a life. Soon after they moved the girls were able to convince their other two siblings to move to New York as well. In the end, Rex dies of a heart attack. His death made Jeannette rethink her new life; and with these thoughts came the divorce of her and her first husband, Eric.
I believe Walls wrote this memoir in order to show readers the lessons she has learned from her life while also being able to express (and maybe even release) the feels and experiences she had gone through. These lessons adds character too the book in a unique way. For example in one part of the book, Jeannette was trying to learn how to swim but continuously drowned, Her father told her
“If you don't want to sink, you better figure out how to swim”. Although it's not the best way to teach a lesson, it does make a strong point.
Overall, I enjoyed this memoir and believe that Walls was able to achieve her purpose in a unique, inspiring, and even heart-wrenching way. Although she had an extremely tough life, Walls was able to make the best of it and in the end (well at least the end of the book) was able to make peace with herself and her life.
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