Jeanette Walls’ father, Rex Walls, exemplifies the common saying that “the road to hell is paved with good intentions”. Raised in a poor household where he was frequently molested by his mother, Rex struggled to balance scarring childhood memories, alcoholism, and his family. As he fought to keep his head above the water, his unusual tactics, unreliability, and severe alcohol addiction took a major toll on the upbringing of his children. Although the children were in absolute admiration of their father’s fearlessness and “tough guy” persona, Jeanette Walls conveys the gradual withdrawal of appreciation for their father.
In the opening of the novel, during the early childhood of Jeanette and her siblings, it was clearly conveyed that the wide-eyed and naïve Walls children considered their father as the epitome of a role model. Rex assured his children that despite his unstable jobs and constant trouble with the police and alcohol, he would fulfill their every hope and dream with the creation of the glass castle. This childish admiration is displayed through a hopeful tone-“All this running around and moving was temporary, Dad explained. He had a plan. He was going to find gold” (Walls 22). Eventually, when the children realized that the blueprints for the glass castle would never become an actual standing structure, they lost faith in their father. Although it was never built, the significance of the glass castle to the father extended deeper than sheets of glass-it was the structure that harnessed his shattered hopes, dreams, and memories.
Readers witnessed the downward spiral of his sobriety and loyalty, as it was paralleled in the language and tone in the novel. As the plans for the glass castle fell through, so did the father. When the light shining through the glass died out, the spark of hope in the father would never be ignited again.
Rex Walls sadly did fall as most people do when they lose the light inside them. For Rex I believe that the glass castle symbolized light, it was something for him to look forward to, and though maybe he did not always believe it would happen himself, he convinced himself over and over again that the dream was possible. He lit a fire in his children's hearts with his own dream, and as long as they believed in it, that fire of hope and life could burn. He wanted to believe something in the world could be good to him, and I do believe he tried to reach happiness, but sometimes the human heart is too weak to overcome the adversities of its past.
ReplyDeleteI think it is interesting that you paralleled Rex's personality to the building plans for the glass castle. I did not make that connection but now that you point it out, it is obvious. In the same way when the children had faith in him, they had faith in the glass castle. Once they move to Welch and the children realize the impossibility of the glass castle, they loss faith in the glass castle and in turn, their father. I believe that once Rex Walls losses faith in himself after he losses faith in the building plans of the glass castle because he does not any goal or dream to work for. He realizes that his life is not what he expected which creates this downward spiral that we witness in his character.
ReplyDelete