Glass Castle Quotes . . .

. . . #1: " A few days later, when I had been at the hospital for about six weeks, Dad appeared alone in the doorway of my room. He told me we were going to check out, Rex Walls-style. . . Dad hurried down the hall with me in his arms. A nurse yelled for us to stop, but Dad broke into a run. He pushed open an emergency -exit door and sprinted down the stairs and out to the street. Our car, a beat up Plymouth we called the Blue Goose, was parked around the corner, the engine idling. Mom was up front, Lori and Brian in the back with Juju. Dad slid me across the seat next to Mom and took the wheel. 'You don't have to worry anymore, baby,' Dad said.'You're safe now.'"

• I found this quote interesting because it really emphasized the Walls' unique mentality about technology, modernization, and life in general. A regular family would probably have left their sick child in the hospital for as long as the doctor suggested, even longer if they thought necessary. But the Walls family was so dead set against putting their children in the hands of anyone else that, even in trying to save them, they ended up putting their children at risk. Although Rex Walls thinks he's helping his daughter, he could very well have removed her from the care she needed to survive in the hospital.

. . . #2: " When dad wasn't telling us about all the amazing things he had already done, he was telling us about the wondrous things he was going to do. Like build the Glass Castle. . . All we had to do was find gold, Dad said, and we were on the verge of that. Once he finished the Prospector and we struck it rich, he'd start work on our Glass Castle. "

• I really thought this quote was important because of it's explanation of the book's title, and it really highlighted the childlike fantasy of a man with the mind of a genius but no common sense for the real world. It shows how Rex Walls was a good father to his children in nurturing their minds and keeping them optimistic in difficult times, but he failed to follow through and provide necessities to his family. He was always dreaming, always living the life he wanted to live without any way to get his head out of the clouds and understand that he has a family to provide for.
  
  

. . . #3: " We laughed about all the kids who believed in the Santa Clause myth and got nothing but a bunch of cheap plastic toys. 'Years from now, when all the junk they got is broken and long forgotten,' Dad said, ' you'll still have your stars.'"( 41, Walls)

• I like this quote because I think it displays how sweet Rex is with his kids. Although they don't have much, Mr.and Mrs. Walls do a good job at keeping their kids optimistic through it all, even if it means laughing at the other children who believe in Santa Clause. However, I still believe that their children's sheltered contentment is no excuse for Rex not to try to get an honest-to-goodness job for a change!

. . . #4: " It wasn't just any tree. It was an ancient Joshua tree. It stood in a crease of land where the desert ended and the mountain began, forming a wind tunnel. From the time the Joshua tree was a tiny sapling, it had been so beaten down by the whipping wind that, rather than trying to grow skyward, it had grown in the direction that the wind pushed it. . . One time I saw a tiny Joshua tree sapling growing not to far from the old tree. I wanted to dig it up and replant it near our house. I told mom that I would protect it from the wind and water it every day so that it could grow nice and tall and straight. Mom frowned at me. 'You'd be destroying what makes it special,' she said. 'It's the Joshua tree's struggle that gives it its beauty.'" ( 35-38 Walls)

• I liked this quote because i thought it really summed up the walls' parenting philosophy and idea of life in general . They never really baby their kids at all and, quite often, this puts their kids in danger. Although I am definitely not advocating this type of parenting, I'm starting to see that their motive for doing so is to help their kids build character. They think that making them face these impossible struggles will make them stronger people, and in most cases, they're right. It seems like their unorthodox parenting ideas are paying off in helping their kids gain confidence and resilience in every day life.

. . . #5: " Mom and Dad rented a great big U-Haul truck. Mom explained that since only she and Dad could fit in the front of the U-Haul, Lori, Brian, Maureen, and I were in for a treat: We got to ride in the back. It would be fun, she said, a real adventure . . . Suddenly, with a bang, we hit a huge pothole and the back doors on the U-Haul flew open."

• After reading this quote I really started to question weather the Walls were the best people to be raising children anymore. Leaving their 3 young kids in the back of the U-Haul doesn't exactly solidify their credibility as parents in the first place, but then the back doors flew open and any reputation they had as good parents was gone. I just can't believe they would put their kids in that type of danger!! I know that Mr. and Mrs. Walls really love their kids, but it seems that while they are running away from the modern world, their kids are having to suffer the consequences.

. . . #6: " ' Sink or swim!' he called out. For the second time, I sank. The water once more filled my nose and lungs. I kicked and flailed and thrashed my way to the surface, gasping for air, and reached out to dad. But he pulled back, and I didn't feel his hands around me until I'd sunk one more time."

• Now, I don't know if its just me, but this sounds a little crazy. I can understand letting your kid fend for itself a little, but it seems to me that the Walls uphold self-sufficiency so much that they're willing to flirt with death, on their children's behalf, to give it to them. This has happened several times in the book. First, when Jeannette's mother allowed her to cook hot dogs by herself at the age of four and her dress caught on fire, severely burning her. Next, when some kids were bothering her at school, her father encouraged Jeannette to fight them, resulting in her and her brother being beat up several times. Finally, Jeannette almost drowns just to learn how to swim. On each occasion, had things not gone the way they did, Jeannette's life could have gone horribly wrong. Plus the multiple other occasions when the Walls were not seeking to teach their kids a lesson, but simply living their rogue lives in which they endangered their kids (when Jeanette falls out of the car while her father is driving from the police, or when the kids almost fall out of the back of the U haul ). I just don't know if that level of self-sufficiency is worth such a steep price, or even necessary in normal life.

. . . #7: " ' We're not poor,' I said. She had used that word one too many times. 'Of course your not,' the lady quickly replied. 'I didn't mean it that way.' But I could tell that she had. The lady grew quiet, and for the rest of the trip, no one said much. As soon as she dropped us off, Dad disappeared. I waited on the front steps until bedtime, but he didn't come home." ( 66, Walls )

• I thought this quote was very important to the story because it really "lifted the veil" into the mindset of Rex Walls. On the surface he seems not to be bothered by the fact that his children are almost going hungry and they have no money, but underneath, there seems to be much more going on. This quote took place right after the Walls' car broke down and they had to hitch-hike with strangers into Phoenix. I think that Rex is really feeling the burden of his family's welfare on him and it appears to shame him greatly that he cannot provide for them.

. . . #8: " We started talking about some of Dad's great escapades: letting me pet the cheetah, taking us Demon Hunting, giving us stars for Christmas. 'We should drink a toast to Rex,' John said. Mom stared at the ceiling, miming perplexed thought. ' I've got it.' she held up her glass. 'Life with your father was never boring.' We raised our glasses. I could almost hear Dad chuckling at Mom's comment in the way he always did when he was truly enjoying something. It had grown dark outside. A wind picked up, rattling the windows, and the candle flames suddenly shifted, dancing along the border between turbulence and order. "

• I really liked this final quote of the book. I thought it was important to include because it so expertly summed up the entire story of the Glass Castle, especially the last sentence. The phrase dancing along the border between turbulence and order seems to sum up Jeannette Walls' entire life. She was always pushing the limit, but almost always stayed on the order side.