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The Impact Of Bad Parenting On Child Development In The Glass Castle

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Examples of Bad Parenting in The Glass Castle

This article is an excerpt from the Shortform summary of "The Glass Castle" by Jeannette Walls. Shortform has the world's best summaries of books you should be reading.

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Are there examples of bad parenting in The Glass Castle ? Does Jeannette Walls believe that her parents are good or bad parents?

There are several examples of bad parenting in The Glass Castle. Though Jeannette has a close relationship with both parents, she and her siblings all suffered from neglect and were nearly always hungry.

Read more about the examples of bad parenting in The Glass Castle , particularly how the Walls children dealt with food insecurity.

Bad Parenting in The Glass Castle: A Visit From Child Welfare

There are many examples of bad parenting in The Glass Castle . The Walls. parents were impoverished, and when they did have money, budgeted poorly in addition to not providing other basic needs for their children.

These examples of bad parenting in The Glass Castle show Jeannette and her siblings struggling with the consequences of their parents’ neglect.

One of the examples of bad parenting in The Glass Castle led to a visit from child welfare. Jeannette lied about her parents’ work. The child welfare man never came back, but his visit was enough to force Rose Mary back into teaching. She was hired immediately in an elementary school in Davey, a few miles north of Welch. She had to carpool with another teacher, an unpleasant woman named Lucy. Whenever Rose Mary got out of the car, Lucy sprayed Lysol on the passenger seat. 

Rose Mary’s teaching performance was the same in Davey as it had been in Battle Mountain. She was lax about grading and discipline, and she had to be coerced to even go to school. Some mornings, she would hide in bed refusing to go like a child. The kids would drag her out and get her ready before Lucy became impatient and left her behind. 

Despite her antics, Rose Mary was making money, and her paycheck was a blessing to the household. On payday, they’d cash the check and pay off the monthly bills. Rose Mary put space heaters and a refrigerator on layaway and paid a little each month. They’d stock up on groceries and have enough money left over to survive the rest of the month.  But despite her good intentions, this is one of the examples of bad parenting in The Glass Castle.

But soon the food was gone, and so was the money Jeannette could never get a straight answer from Rose Mary about where the money went. She knew Rose Mary had to buy little gifts for herself, things she said made you feel rich, like crystal vases. But even accounting for those splurges, there should have been money left over. Jeannette and Lori came up with a budget and tried to persuade Rose Mary to let them handle the finances, but she refused. By the end of each month, Jeannette was back to digging in garbage cans for lunch.

The only time there was food in the house was when Rex managed to make it home and Rose Mary received a check from the Texas land. The money she received was enough to stock the pantry for days to weeks at a time.

The family ate pinto beans day after day until they ran out. Sometimes they’d have popcorn for dinner if that was all the food left. When the checks were big enough, Rose Mary would buy a large canned ham, and they’d feast on thick slices. Because there was no refrigerator, the ham would spoil on the counter. One day, Jeannette went to cut a slice and found it infested with maggots. Rose Mary was eating a slice. She told Jeannette she shouldn’t be so picky and to just cut around the maggots. This is one of the most striking examples of bad parenting in The Glass Castle .

When the money ran out, they’d go without food for lengthy periods. Jeannette and Brian foraged whatever they could find, like fruit from trees, but it wasn’t enough. The children were so thin, the kids at school made fun of them. Jeannette hid in the bathroom at lunch and waited for girls to throw their lunch bags away. She rifled through the garbage, amazed at how much food other kids wasted, and took her spoils into the stall to eat. She was sure Brian was subsisting in the same way, but they never spoke of it. 

On the contrary, Maureen was well fed. She had made a number of neighborhood friends and often wandered to their house for dinner. Somehow, Rose Mary seemed to be gaining weight. 

One night, Rose Mary and the children were in the main room trying not to think about how hungry they were. Rose Mary was on the sofa bed and kept dipping below the blankets. When Brian caught her chewing, she said she was just moving her jaw around because her teeth hurt. Brian pulled back the blankets to find a family-sized chocolate bar half-eaten. 

Rose Mary pleaded for forgiveness. She said she was addicted to sugar like Rex was addicted to alcohol. They always forgave Rex, so they should forgive her. Brian separated the remaining chocolate into equal pieces for the four kids, and they ate it in front of Rose Mary. 

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• The author's unbelievable childhood as her absent parents went on alcoholic binges
• How Jeannette and her siblings escaped their parents to strike out on their own
• The complicated relationship Jeannette had with her parents before they died
• ← AA Rules: Basic Requirements for AA
• Nudge Economics: Humans Aren’t Always Rational →

Carrie Cabral

Carrie has been reading and writing for as long as she can remember, and has always been open to reading anything put in front of her. She wrote her first short story at the age of six, about a lost dog who meets animal friends on his journey home. Surprisingly, it was never picked up by any major publishers, but did spark her passion for books. Carrie worked in book publishing for several years before getting an MFA in Creative Writing. She especially loves literary fiction, historical fiction, and social, cultural, and historical nonfiction that gets into the weeds of daily life.

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The Glass Castle Parenting Style Analysis

Show More In Jeanette Walls’ memoir, The Glass Castle the parenting style most apparent is permissive style. Both Rex and Rosemary have unique qualities that they imply on their children. When available Rex goes plays with the children, like they are friends (Cherry, “Four Styles of Parenting”). In the memoir Jeanette said, “My dad was not only a wimp, he came to play with the gang…” (59). Rex being so involved with the kids, he can be seen almost as a bigger friend rather than their father. In permissive parenting since there’s so much communication between Rex and his children he goes plays with them. After having a huge argument, Rosemary got a job as a teacher. Her nontraditional style of teaching represents how free she is to her children. In the

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The Glass Castle

By jeannette walls, the glass castle quotes and analysis.

Until then, when I thought of writers, what first came to mind was Mom, hunched over her typewriter, clattering away on her novels and plays and philosophies of life and occasionally receiving a personalized rejection letter. But a newspaper reporter, instead of holing up in isolation, was in touch with the rest of the world. What the reporter wrote influenced what people thought about and talked about the next day; he knew what was really going on. I decided I wanted to be one of the people who knew what was really going on. 204

In seventh grade Jeannette is the first person her age to work for the school newspaper, The Maroon Wave . She seeks it out as a place where she can belong and have an identity without worrying about people teasing her for being poor or dirty or criticizing her parents. During her work with the school newspaper Jeannette discovers what she wants to do with her life and what she later ends up doing: journalism. It is important that she not keep her work to herself or experience it alone, like her mother, but rather that it exist as a dialogue between her and the rest of the world.

If you don't want to sink, you better figure out how to swim. 66

Rex teaches Jeannette how to swim by literally forcing her to sink or swim. He repeatedly throws her into a sulfur spring in the desert, rescuing her when she sinks only to throw her back in again. Using these methods, Rex is able to train Jeannette to paddle and swim in order to avoid being thrown back into the water. This strategy is representative of Rose Mary and Rex's general approach to parenting. Refusing to coddle their children, they often present them with challenges, some life threatening, that the children are forced to handle.

I wondered if the fire had been out to get me. I wondered if all fire was related, like dad said all humans were related, if the fire that had burned me that day while I cooked hot dogs was somehow connected to the fire I had flushed down the toilet and the fire burning at the hotel. I didn't have the answers to those questions, but what I did know was that I lived in a world that at any moment could erupt into fire. It was the sort of knowledge that kept you on your toes. 34

After the hotel where they are staying burns down, a young Jeannette begins to think that fire is a recurring part of her life. She believes that her encounters with fire are all connected and impacted by each other. Most importantly, she realizes that her life is unpredictable and her status transient. Fire is sudden and damaging and capable of changing the trajectory of one's life in an instant. Jeannette's early experiences with fire foreshadow the combustive events to follow in her life.

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'. 38

When Jeannette devises a plan to aright the Joshua tree which has grown sideways in the direction of the constant wind that passes over it, her mother quickly dismisses the idea. Rose Mary claims that the tree is beautiful not because it grows straight like the other trees, but rather because its struggle defines it and makes it unique. Rose Mary is typically unwilling to tamper with nature and she is particularly drawn to the unique form of the Joshua Tree. Through the figure of the tree a young Jeannette learns an important lesson about non-conformity.

After dinner the whole family stretched out on the benches and the floor of the depot and read, with the dictionary in the middle of the room so we kids could look up words we didn't know...Occasionally, on those nights when we were all reading together, a train would thunder by, shaking the house and rattling the windows. The noise was thunderous, but after we'd been there a while, we didn't even hear it. 56-57

This scene depicts one of the few peaceful, bonding moments shared between members of the Wells family. Not coincidentally, the family bonds around literature and reading. The importance of this scene is two-fold. Firstly, it debunks stereotypes about the homeless being uneducated or dumb and shows that even those without means can be learned. Secondly, it shows how Jeannette becomes influenced at a young age by the written word and is a possible explanation for her later interest in journalism. It is the parents' literary bent that ultimately saves the children, by giving them the education that allows them to escape their parents' life.

We're not poor. 121

When the Walls receive a ride from a stranger after their vehicle breaks down on the highway, Jeannette is annoyed by the tone of the woman who offers to drive them home. She is particularly put off by the woman's frequent use of the word 'poor' to describe the family. Attempting to defend the dignity of her parents and siblings, Jeannette firmly asserts that the family is not poor and the woman quickly apologizes. Following this incident, Jeannette begins to define herself apart from her and her family's situation and she refuses to accept the disdain presented to her by some members of society.

Situations like these, I realized, were what turned people into hypocrites 144

Jeannette stands up to her grandmother, Erma when she questions Jeannette's friendship with a African American classmate. When Erma gets angry, Jeannette is surprised that her parents aren't more supportive of her bravery in countering authority. Rex and Rose Mary are less concerned about Jeannette learning non-conformist practices as they are afraid that they will be kicked out of Erma's home. As a result, they chastise their daughter for angering her grandmother. After this incident, Jeannette realizes that even her parents can be forced to conform if the consequences of rebelling are severe enough.

'Oh Yeah?' I said. 'How about Hitler?What was his redeeming quality?' 'Hitler loved dogs,' Mom said without hesitation. 144

Rose Mary tries to teach Jeannette a lesson in compassion. She explains that even the worst of people have good qualities. Jeannette is frustrated with the prejudice of her grandmother towards Blacks but Rose Mary encourages Jeannette to instead find her grandmother's positive traits and understand the upbringing that indoctrinated her with such hateful ideas. She wants Jeannette to understand, not judge.

Later that night, Dad stopped the car out in the middle of the desert, and we slept under the stars. We had no pillows, but Dad said that was part of his plan. He was teaching us to have good posture. The Indians didn't use pillows, either, he explained, and look how straight they stood. We did have our scratchy army-surplus blankets, so we spread them out and lay there, looking up at the field of stars. I told Lori how lucky we were to be sleeping out under the sky like Indians. 'We could live like this forever,' I said. 'I think we're going to,' she said. 18

This passage illustrates a number of important characterizations in the memoir. Rex, is always dreaming up fantastic alternatives to reality to make life more adventurous for his children. Rex communicates serious situations as privileges and excitement. Jeannette is the only one who plays along with these fantasies of her father's. She believes the words he says, or at least, at a later age, the intent behind them. Though this is early in the memoir, already Lori shows signs of cynicism. She has already stopped believing fully in her father's fantasies and instead sees the reality of their circumstances.

Mom pointed her chopsticks at me. 'You see?' she said. 'Right there. That's exactly what I'm saying. You're way too easily embarrassed. Your father and I are who we are. Accept it.' 'And what am I supposed to tell people about my parents?' 'Just tell the truth,' Mom said. 'That's simple enough.' 5

This conversation takes place immediately before Jeannette's description of her childhood. Her mother behaves almost like a muse invoking Jeannette's story and giving her the confidence to tell it. This quote also reveals some of Jeannette's apprehensions about letting her colleagues and friends know the truth about her life growing up. Even in adulthood, she has a hard time accepting the truth of her upbringing and fears that the past will somehow damage her present happiness.

The Glass Castle Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for The Glass Castle is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

What is the family's life like in Battle Creek?

The answer to your question is readily available in GradeSaver's detailed summary and analysis for Part II of the novel.

Euphemism for getting out of town quickly.

Let's scadaddle!

What does Jeannette’s father claim he will one day find?

He says that he will find a lot of gold.

Study Guide for The Glass Castle

The Glass Castle study guide contains a biography of Jeannette Walls, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

• About The Glass Castle
• The Glass Castle Summary
• Character List

Essays for The Glass Castle

The Glass Castle essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls.

• Adventures First, Explanations Take Such a Dreadful Time
• The Glass Prison
• The Effect of Parenting Style on Childhood Development: A Reading of The Glass Castle
• Throwing Stones-Resilience and Forgiveness in The Glass Castle
• Alcoholism in the Walls Family

Lesson Plan for The Glass Castle

• About the Author
• Study Objectives
• Common Core Standards
• Introduction to The Glass Castle
• Relationship to Other Books
• Bringing in Technology
• Notes to the Teacher
• Related Links
• The Glass Castle Bibliography

Wikipedia Entries for The Glass Castle

• Introduction
• Film adaptation

The Glass Castle Essay

Bad Parenting is the act of not showing the responsibilities that should be taken as a mother or father. In The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls reveals the faults of parenting through the use of symbolism , imagery and characterization. Rosemary and Rex’s Struggles to show their children (Jeannette, Lori, Brian) the importance of the appearance and guidance of being by their side as a parent. Jeannette and Rex show their faults by destroying everything the children try to accomplish because of their personal bad habits. Again the danger of parenting is depicted through walls’ use of symbolism. Jeannette being a child (three years old) and having to cook and take care of herself is substandard. Having to be surrounded by hardship and …show more content…

With no limits or boundaries, Walls is thrown in a big body of water without knowing how to swim. Rex and Rosemary has a sense of doing it by yourself or not at all asserting “But the Hot Pot didn’t have any ehat edges like that swimming pool. There was nothing to cling to. I waded up in my shoulders. The water above my chest is warm and the rocks i was standing on felt so hot [...] Dad who watched me unsmiling[..] “you’re going to learn today”(65). Rex, in athrows Jeanette in water with no edges, knowing she can’t swim.He puts Jeannette in a live or die situation. Rex shows the faults of parenting because the parents have no regards on Jeannette’s safety or life and wall states”You’re going to learn today’ declaring “Dad pried my fingers from around his neck and pushed me away. My arms flailed around and i sank into the hot smelly water. Water surged in my nose and down my throat. My lungs burned[...] He pulled back and did it again” (65-66).Putting a child in a dangerous situation to show them a lesson shows bad parenting.Rex and Rosemary causes the reader to reflect on their lack of responsibility as being a parent so that they can understand from both sides of view of the poverty situation. Finally, Rosemary and Rex show the faults of parenting throughout Walls use of characterization .For example, When “Lori heard about a scholarship sponsored by a Literary society for the student with the best work of art. Dad came home drunk” and

The Glass Castle Quotes

Jeanette Walls had a sense of responsibility when her parents didn’t have any. When it came down to Walls’ younger sister she says, “At times I felt like I was failing Maureen, like I wasn’t keeping my promise that I’d protect her.” (Walls 206) Structure. Through misguided trials with the family the children picked up on things they knew or at least felt what a family should be and act like. She strives for protection.

A Child's Themes In The Glass Castle By Jeannette Walls

The Glass Castle's Themes Everybody has someone who has raised them, and the results of how someone was raised whether it be good or bad can result in how the child ends up as an adult. In The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls has to deal with a lot of things growing up such as Peculiar Parenting Styles, alcoholism, and living in poverty. Because of the things she had to go through growing up, it made her self-reliant and very independent. Sometimes though, many kids dealing with such harsh living conditions may have an opposite effect on people such as Jeanette's sister, Maureen.

The Importance Of Selfishness In The Glass Castle

The novel, The Glass Castle, exhibits the human tendency to be selfish. This is manifested in both Rex and Rose Mary. Rex is characterized as a selfish father throughout the novel, and his paternal image is consistently skewed because of his actions. His addiction to alcohol ruins countless family events. One year the family’s Christmas is ruined when Rex drinks a great deal of alcohol and burns their tree and presents. Jeanette remembers, “Dad sat on the sofa [...] telling mom he was doing her a favor [...] no one tried to wring dad’s neck [...] or even point out that he’d ruined the Christmas his family has spent weeks planning” (115). Jeanette and her family are always left cleaning up their father’s drunken mess. Even when Rex is sober he does not apologize for ruining sentimental family events and continues to put alcohol before his family. Selfishness can also be seen in Rex’s relationship with money. He takes Jeanette into a bar in order to get money from his friend, Robbie. When Robbie asks if he can take Jeanette upstairs, Jeanette recollects, “So, with Dad’s blessing, I went upstairs” (212). Rex is so self-absorbed that he allows his daughter to go into a strange man's apartment, fully knowing his intentions. During Jeanette and her siblings’ childhood, they experience dangerous situations with their parents’ knowledge and approval. While Rex’s selfish nature is typically derived from his addiction, Rose Mary’s selfishness is simply a reflection of her personality.

Parenting In The Glass Castle By Jeannette Walls

In society, there is no “normal” but there is often a certain expectation from the member in it like holding down a job, raising children, and many other. Yet Jeannette's parents do none of these things, instead they consider it to be positive that they live outside of society. To begin with the opening of the novel Jeanette is all grown up and a full member society and a complete opposite of her younger self. Jeannette illustrates ,“ I was sitting in a taxi, wondering if I had overdressed for the evening when I looked out the window and saw Mom rooting through a dumpster” (1). This is the opener of the memoir and is setting up a large class difference between two characters. Jeanette may never have been supported in her childhood but she has made her way to a high place in society, unlike her mother who never changed in her ways. Here Walls is creating a vivid picture of what society deems as correct and incorrect drawing the reader in to find out the cause of two members of the same family being so far apart from each other in society. In the same way when Jeannette is young and, is explaining how she receives her education. Jeannette admits, “ We might enroll into school, but not always. Mom and Dad did most of our teaching” (20). Most children in society have an education from some sort of school, but since the Walls family exists outside of society in many ways. Including how they receive their education, early on in life, the children are not inside a school system. Instead they are taught how to live outside of society like their parents even if they do not want to live that way. Later on, Jeanette has moved away from her parents and has the proper schooling she is a full member of society which is everything her mother did not want. Her mother argues, ‘ Look at the way you live. You’ve sold out. Next thing I know you’ll be a Republican.’ She shook her head. ‘Where are the

Turbulence In The Glass Castle

Before the Walls children are even conceived, Rosemary finds her mother overbearing and controlling. Consider that her mother, Grandma Smith, is a force of order herself. She made Rosemary get herself a teaching degree in case her artistic career didn’t succeed, which Rosemary had to fall back on eventually during their times in Battle

Child Neglect In The Glass Castle, By Jeannette Walls

A child can end up with a troubled future if they were neglected in the past. This can be seen in The Glass Castle and in multiple other cases today. Jeannette Walls’s youngest sibling Maureen is an exquisite example of what can happen if a child is neglected during childhood. When the Walls family had been living in New York, a disastrous event happened. Jeannette says, “Six months later, Maureen stabbed Mom. It happened after Mom decided it was time for Maureen to develop a little self-sufficiency by moving out and finding a place of her own” (Walls 274-275). Maureen stabbing her mother seems like the effect of drugs and alcohol at first, but it is indeed the product of neglect. Maureen always practically lived with different families during her childhood because her neighbors felt responsible to raise her correct because they knew her parents would not be able to. This led to Maureen becoming reliant on other people while the rest of the Walls family were learning how to be self sufficient. This self sufficiency immensely helped the other Walls kids when they moved to New York, but Maureen was under a lot of new found stress because she could not fend for herself in a city full of people that do not care about you. This stress led to her taking drugs, smoking cigarettes and ultimately stabbing her mother. Maureen is not the only case of this happening. In

Analysis Of The Glass Castle By Jeannette Walls

Jeanette Walls and her out of the ordinary family live their lives surrounded in pure craziness and poverty. Jeanette has been raised to be as independent as her age allows her. At age three she could make herself a hot dog and by the age of eighteen she had started a new life in New York away from the craziness that followed her parents throughout the kids nomadic childhood. Jeanette and her siblings Lori, Brian and Maureen live their childhoods with almost nothing. They were always wondering where their next meal would come from and where there parents had mysteriously disappeared to. Rex Walls, the father and husband was a severe alcoholic who spent most of his money on gambling or a beer from a local bar. Rose Mary Walls, the mother and wife was not better, never being to hold onto a job for long enough to get paid and support her family caused many problems for Rose Mary, Rex and most importantly… the kids. The kids all had the dream of escaping the prison their parents called home and heading to New York or California where they could feel endless happiness. The kids grow up with almost no parents, which forces them to become independent from the day they were born. In The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, Jeanette's parents teach her to only rely on herself and never get attached to something you can lose, forcing Jeanette to become strong and independent throughout her childhood.

The Theme Of Chaos In The Glass Castle By Jeannette Walls

Throughout the book there is an underlying theme of chaos. Jeannette’s first memory is of her, at the age of three, cooking hot dogs and catching on fire. As the book continues, fire persists as an important theme. Jeannette Walls is fascinated by fire and continues to push the boundaries of it. When her and her brother set off their own explosive device and almost kill themselves, Rex explains to them that the boundary between turbulence and chaos has no rules. The Walls family seems to live in that boundary

Glass Castle Essay

Rex Walls had grown up in a poverty stricken town of Welch. He grew up in “big worn house” on the “downhill side of the street” (Walls 130). It smelled of “mold and cigarettes and unwashed laundry” (Walls 131). However Rose Mary Walls grew up in a very structured home in Texas where her mother made her follow

Analysis Of Jeannette Walls Uses Imagery

Jeannette Walls uses juxtaposition to exaggerate her point of her family’s view on life. They are not the typical family that would live in a home with the parents working. Their living situation involved living in their car and in many crippled housing till they were wanted and had to escape or got kicked out for not paying rent. The juxtapositions show her life. The quote, “If you don 't want to sink, you better figure out how to swim.” (66) shows the comparison of “sink” and “swim”. Rex, her father, teaches Jeannette how to swim by literally forcing her to sink or swim. He repeatedly throws her into a sulfur spring in the desert, rescuing her when she sinks only to throw her back in the water again. Using these

The Glass Castle, By Jeannette Walls

To make things more difficult, Rex Walls is an alcoholic who spends what little money they do acquire on alcohol. Rosemary Walls is a free spirited artist who deals with her husband's abusive nature, refusing to leave him. Throughout the

Character Analysis Of Rex Walls In The Glass Castle

Any man that has children has the responsibility to be the best role model they can be. Been the best role model for a child is going to shaped how that child is going to be when they become an adult. But, if they are bad role model to their children, then, the children's future would not turn out to be successful, but very few can be successful. In the novel, The Glass Castle, by Jeannette Walls, Rex, Jeannette’s father, is an unsympathetic character because of his horrible example to his children. This can be viewed throughout the book because he is an alcoholic, uncaring, and selfish person. Rex is a very irresponsible person that only very few can relate.

What Is The Importance Of Living In Jeannette Walls The Glass Castle

Within a short amount of time after moving in, Jeanette's father, Rex, loses his job. This is not uncommon for Rex Walls as he frequently evades being dragged into the “Rat Race”of America. However, this particular instance proves hard on the Walls family. They quickly run out of food and with Rex’s drinking problem,

How Are Rose Mary And Rex Walls Fit Parents

……. . it was rare when the walls parents had jobs, when they did they'd end up spending it on something else other than their needs. Rex would end up going to the bar and spending half his paycheck there and then bringing the very little that was left back. sometimes rose mary and rex walls would be great parents because they are letting their childeren be independent, but simotaneously, that's not good because that one time rosemary let jeannette be independent and cook herself a hot dog at age 3. Jeannette caught herself on fire.

“ Dad turned into an angry-eyed stranger who threw around furniture and threatened to beat up mom or anyone else who got in his way” (Walls 23). #This drinking habit from Rex is the opposite of a good parental role model. This drinking problem later on in the book causes him to leave to go to the bar and not come home for days at a time, leaving the kids on their one to fight for themselves. In most families, the parents try to be the best role models that they can possibly be for their children.

Home — Essay Samples — Literature — Drama — The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls: the Character of Father

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls: The Character of Father

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Research Paper On The Glass Castle By Jeannette Walls

“The Glass Castle” Writing Assignment #7 Jeannette Walls was deeply impacted by both the inadequate living conditions and the rich intellectual world provided by her family in her childhood. Having a safe and healthy living situation as well as a cognitively stimulating environment are vital to a child’s development, and a balance of both would likely be the most beneficial. However, most children do not grow up with the luxury of a perfectly balanced childhood, raising the question, are stable living conditions or a rich intellectual environment more important to childhood development? I believe Jeannette Walls’ experiences in “The Glass Castle” perfectly exemplified the importance a bountiful intellectual world plays in the development of …show more content…

A stimulating cognitive environment helps a child develop passions and talents, a deeply important piece in facing adversity such as an unfit living situation. A life without passion leaves people unmotivated to create a better life for themselves, lacking the desire to chase goals and continue on a journey of curiosity. Jeannette created her future for herself through her own self-sufficiency learned growing up in the conditions she faced, as well as her talents and skills. Her home life gave her even more a desire to participate in activities and actively exercise her mind, allowing her to find an area in which she thrived and thus created a future for herself off of. It is important that developing youth be exposed to many different forms of intellectual stimulus as they grow up in order to help them create a path for themselves and find what they are meant to be following. Jeannette’s understanding and love of deeper and more complex ideas of the world gave her the endurance to thrive in adulthood, despite her troubling

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The Glass Castle

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Jeannette Walls

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Dad (Rex Walls)

Throughout the memoir, Dad reveals himself to be both a creative eccentric and a manipulative abuser. Dad has such a vivid presence in part because of the heroic persona he cultivates. Dad makes himself the center of every bedtime story, presenting himself as a storybook hero to his children instead of allowing them to admire fictional characters. His anger at Mom’s disruption of these stories, then, reveals his deep reliance on his children’s worship. Unfortunately, his desire for admiration also manifests as a need for control, leading to the physical and emotional abuse he inflicts on Mom, particularly when he drinks. As Dad’s alcoholism worsens, the Walls family loses not only his income but his optimism. Throughout Jeannette’s childhood, Dad created hope for the family by promising to build them the titular Glass Castle. By their first winter in Welch, Dad allows the foundation his children dig for the castle to fill with garbage, showing an unwillingness to even pretend to work toward a better life for his family.

While Dad appears to truly love Jeannette, he lacks the emotional tools to provide for her or support her as a parent. We can attribute some of Dad’s shortcomings to the abuse he suffered as a child in Welch. Jeannette deduces that Erma likely molested Dad as a child, leading to his anger at Brian for suffering the same fate. Erma’s disinterest in her grandchildren and anger toward the world suggest that Dad may have had a loveless childhood as the unjust target of Erma’s rage. This revelation could explain his adulthood need for admiration and refusal to take responsibility. Therefore, Dad grew up with no role models for how to be a loving parent or how to show love in a healthy way. Toward the end of his life, Dad attempts reconciliation with Jeannette. He contributes to her college tuition, saving her from dropping out of school and providing for her like a parent. He also shows interest in her journalism career and tries to help with stories, partially recreating their bond. Though he never reaches hero-level status again in Jeannette’s eyes, before his death Jeannette decides that he loved her in his own way.

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5 New Hotels Where the Past Meets the Present

Turrets, towers and tapestries greet guests at these evocative hotels in reimagined historic buildings in London, New York and beyond. (The food’s not bad, either.)

By Stephanie Rosenbloom

When is a hotel more than a place to sleep? When it’s in a building with a storied past, allowing guests to go back in time to the Gilded Age or Edwardian era as easily as they go to the gym or spa.

Nowadays you can check into a 17th-century former soap factory on the French Riviera, or part of the Old War Office in London, or a Renaissance-palazzo-style building that was once a bank in New York. Here are five new hotels in historic spaces where you can experience the past and present, delighting in the architecture of vanished days even as you indulge in the latest luxuries.

Château de Théoule

Théoule-sur-mer, france.

This seaside respite on the Côte d’Azur was once a 17th-century soap factory yet looks like a castle thanks to a Scottish lord who, in the early 1900s, added turrets and crenelated ramparts. Near the Massif de l’Estérel mountain range, the property opened this month with 44 rooms and suites, some in the castle and others in villas. All have an airy feel, thanks to linen curtains, rattan light fixtures, hardwood floors and views of the Bay of Cannes.

While the building begs to be explored, soft sand and sunshine are the order of the day — and the hotel has its own beach, La Plage Blanche, with 90 sun beds. Château de Théoule is about 20 minutes from Cannes, though if you get hungry there’s no need to leave the sand. A beach restaurant and lounge has cocktails — like the Strambery Fields (elderberry-infused gin, vanilla syrup, strawberry purée, tonic and egg white) — and menu items that include salads, pissaladière (think focaccia with confit onions, anchovies and black olives), and grilled octopus with citrus fennel and chimichurri. If you can bear to leave your lounge chair, explore the area’s hiking trails, swim in the pool, or visit the hotel spa for a massage or body treatment.

As evening descends, head to Mareluna on the terrace of the castle overlooking the bay for Mediterranean food and wine with dishes like cuttlefish tagliatelle with avocado and smoked herring eggs. Prices from 360 euros, or about $390 in low season, and from €920 in high season (mid-June to mid-September). The hotel will close for the season in mid-November.

Raffles London at the OWO

The former workplace of government and military officials, including Winston Churchill , the Old War Office (known as the New War Office when it was built in the early 1900s) has long been a place of intrigue. Fans of James Bond may recognize its Edwardian Baroque - style exterior from some of the films, and indeed Ian Fleming , the creator of Bond and a former naval intelligence officer, is said to have visited the building. It’s now open to the public for the first time, with part of it reborn as the 120-room-and-suite Raffles London at the OWO, the first Raffles Hotels & Resorts property in Britain.

Inside the grand space, some of the offices of political and military leaders have become suites, including one named for Churchill. There are also corner suites that take their names from female spies and other women linked to the property’s history, including Viscountess Astor , the first woman to sit in the House of Commons, and World War II operatives such as Vera May Atkins , a spy who recruited British secret agents.

The hotel’s interior design is by Thierry Despont , the French architect and designer known for his work on the Ritz Paris and the centennial restoration of the Statue of Liberty, who died last year.

Strategic planning taking place nowadays involves when to book an appointment at the hotel’s spa, which spans four floors. Historic spaces have new purposes, like a former library that’s been transformed into a restaurant, Saison by Mauro Colagreco , with Mediterranean dishes from the chef, perhaps best known for his Michelin-starred restaurant, Mirazur , in France. At Mauro Colagreco , another of the chef’s restaurants at the hotel, tasting menus highlight seasonal British fruits and vegetables.

Visit the Drawing Room , a wood-paneled lounge with a Steinway piano, for afternoon tea or something stronger, which you can sip while overlooking the Horse Guards at Buckingham Palace. Or slip off for a drink in rooms formerly used by MI5 at the underground Spy Bar . Prices from 922 pounds, or about $1,162.

Hotel Casa Lucia

Buenos aires.

Once one of Latin America’s tallest buildings, the Edificio Mihanovich — commissioned in the 1920s by Nicolas Mihanovich, a shipping businessman — is now home to this new 142-room-and-suite hotel. Inspired by the shape of a lighthouse, the building was among the first things sailors could see when coming into port, according to Casa Lucia, and Mihanovich wanted it to be tall enough so that he could see his own ships.

These days, guests can benefit from his ambitions with bird’s-eye views from some of the soft-hued contemporary rooms and suites. Many have balconies with outdoor showers, and spots overlooking Buenos Aires and the Río de la Plata.

In addition to being near the river, you’re in the midst of all that the chic Recoleta neighborhood has to offer: French-inspired architecture, boutiques, galleries and tourist destinations such as the Recoleta Cemetery , where you can visit the tomb of the former first lady Eva Perón .

Back at the hotel, savor Argentine cuisine and, of course, wine at Cantina Restaurant , then go next door to Le Club Bacan , a moody cocktail bar with a large selection of Argentine wines. Later this spring, you should be able to drop by the completed fitness center or the spa, which will have a heated pool. Prices from $670.

The Fifth Avenue Hotel

Located in a building that’s more than a century old, as well as a new 24-story glass space called the Tower, this 153-room-and-suite hotel in Manhattan’s NoMad neighborhood harks back to the Gilded Age, when it was a home and carriage house. In the early 1900s the building was sold, eventually becoming the Second National Bank , a five-story Renaissance-palazzo-style structure designed by McKim, Mead & White, the architectural firm behind New York’s original Pennsylvania Station and the Brooklyn Museum .

Step inside today and you’ll see a shimmering lobby with chandeliers, walls paneled in antique mirrors, marble flooring and cabinets replete with curiosities. The interior design by Martin Brudnizki Design Studio is at once playful and sumptuous, featuring tapestries and walls saturated with colors and patterns. The guest rooms mix old and new with antiques, Murano glass chandeliers and wardrobes inspired by traditional Chinese cabinets.

Going out to eat in New York is a must. But the chef Andrew Carmellini , a James Beard Award winner known for restaurants like A Voce, Café Boulud and Locanda Verde, tempts guests to stay in. The hotel’s Café Carmellini is his take on modern Italian and French cooking, with a menu that includes dishes like black bass forestière and cannelloni of lobster and golden osetra. Afterward, drop by the art-filled, wood-paneled Portrait Bar , with an atmosphere inspired by Italian villas, for a drink by a fireplace. Prices from $895.

Charleston, S.C.

The 25 rooms, suites and residences in this stylish boutique hotel are spread across three buildings in downtown Charleston, including two from the Victorian era. And they are ideal if you want the amenities of a hotel and the flexibility of a vacation rental. All rooms have full kitchens, as well as washers and dryers. Some have French doors leading to private balconies and terraces. You’ll hardly want to hole up in your room, though. An outdoor terrace off the main lobby has a fireplace that invites you to pause after exploring the neighborhood’s romantic streets dotted with gas lamps, historic architecture, boutiques and restaurants.

Alternatively, wander over to the hotel’s Lequeux-Williams House, a Greek Revival-style building that the hotel says dates to 1834. Formerly a private residence, it has been repurposed into restaurants overseen by the chef Jason Stanhope , the winner of a James Beard Award for Charleston’s popular Fig restaurant. They include the Quinte , an oyster bar and cocktail spot (you can order seafood towers, soups, sandwiches and ice cream, too), named for a 1918 billiards hall that was in the same location. Or try Lowland , a tavern with inviting dining spaces spread over two floors, including an outdoor dining area on cobblestone that’s hundreds of years old. Wherever you sit, you can tuck into comfort food like a biscuit with farmer cheese and pepper jelly, or a burger and fries. Prices from $399.

Follow New York Times Travel on Instagram and sign up for our weekly Travel Dispatch newsletter to get expert tips on traveling smarter and inspiration for your next vacation. Dreaming up a future getaway or just armchair traveling? Check out our 52 Places to Go in 2024 .

Open Up Your World

Considering a trip, or just some armchair traveling here are some ideas..

52 Places:  Why do we travel? For food, culture, adventure, natural beauty? Our 2024 list has all those elements, and more .

Mumbai:  Spend 36 hours in this fast-changing Indian city  by exploring ancient caves, catching a concert in a former textile mill and feasting on mangoes.

Kyoto:  The Japanese city’s dry gardens offer spots for quiet contemplation  in an increasingly overtouristed destination.

Iceland:  The country markets itself as a destination to see the northern lights. But they can be elusive, as one writer recently found .

Texas:  Canoeing the Rio Grande near Big Bend National Park can be magical. But as the river dries, it’s getting harder to find where a boat will actually float .