The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls: the Character of Father

In the memoir, The Glass Castle, by Jeannette Walls, she reflects back on her indigent and malnourished life. Due to unfortunate circumstances, Jeannette never had a real childhood and was forced to mature at a very young age. Constantly moving from city to city because of her paranoid father, who is unable to hold down a job, has a drinking problem and is an abusive husband, his sanity is questionable. Throughout The Glass Castle, the questioning of why Rex chose this lifestyle and why he is the way he is was constantly sought out.

It is mentioned that Rex refuses to believe in the government, putting his kids in school and keeping a job. Rex lacks responsibility and he sees himself as a wild animal just trying to survive without consequences. “You can’t kill something just because it’s wild” (pg. 106), he’s talking about himself just as much as he’s speaking of the mountain lion that was shot. ”Dad missed the wilderness. He needed to be roaming free in open country and living among untamed animals. He felt it was good for your soul to have buzzards and coyotes and snakes around. That was the way man was meant to live, he’d say in harmony with the wild, like the Indians, not this lord-of-the-earth crap, trying to rule the entire goddamn planet, cutting down all the forests and killing every creature you couldn’t bring to heel” (pg. 106), Rex pictures himself as one with the wilderness, an untamable man, equal with the animals and not a care in the word for anything other than that. He’s an unstoppable figure who knows everything about survival, he’s an intelligent man, almost an evil genius, which may be a problem. Rex talks about building a “Glass Castle” all throughout the story and promises Jeannette he’s going to build it himself, all made out of glass, but Jeannette is fully aware he is not a man of his word and she will only be let down. He dreams big about being rich someday, but it is obvious it will never happen. The biggest question of this story is why Rex is an alcoholic and what led him to be this way. His alcoholism is his root problem of being unable to keep a job and to just simply be stable.

At some point, Jeannette and her family travel to Welch, West Virginia. Rex refused to go, but was obligated to tag along for his family. When Jeannette meets her grandmother, a lot is learned about Rex’s upbringing as a child and what his family is like. Rex’s mother may have been a potential child molester which is believed to be the cause of Rex’s drinking problem. His mother was also an alcoholic with issues from her childhood, she later drank herself to death. Even after her death Rex never explained the situation and relationship with his mother. Was she the root of his problems that Rex never opened up about? Whether Rex was a good or bad parent is definitely a debatable topic. He shares the quality of a caring father but neglects the responsibility of being an adult. Rex undoubtedly loves his children, and proves that no one could hurt him, but he lack responsibility to care for his kids proper education, health and wellbeing. Although he does educate them in reading, writing and math, he still chooses to ignore the proper functions of having to be a father. His consumptions of alcohol pushes him to selfishness which forces his children to turn their backs on him, even Jeannette who once had the most faith in him. He talks big talk about being rich and giving his children everything, but his addiction leads to an endless cycle of failure.

Even when is own children leave because of his poor decisions, he denies to better himself. Rex showed such high intelligence, what he could have been is contemplated. He knew physics, science, and math, he even taught his children morse code. But the father’s main passion was energy issues: thermal, nuclear, solar and wind. He said that in the world there are so many kinds of energy not mastered by humanity, and people only foolishly burn oil and gas fuel. Rex constantly invented something. One of his biggest inventions was a device called the Seeker, using which should help to look for gold. Rex was going to build the Crystal Palace. It was a special project of a house in the desert, in which he would embody his engineering and mathematical abilities. The castle should have thick crystal walls, a crystal ceiling, and a crystal staircase. On the roof there should be solar panels, providing electricity for heating, cooling the house and other needs. Once the family settles in Welch, Dad seems to embrace irresponsibility and spends his days drinking and gambling.

However, he continues to want to be self-sufficient, and never accepts charity from others, even his kids. He could’ve achieved anything with his intelligence if did the right thing and not give into his demons. Rex chooses ignorances and is anti-anything. It could’ve been a possibility that if Rex picked proper education he could’ve done anything in the world and had a career. His family didn’t have to live in poverty. His children wouldn’t have to leave him behind and Rose Mary and himself wouldn’t be homeless. He picks selfishness even until his very last breath.