#4
As Jeannette grows up she views life in a different light because her and her family live completely different from other people. Jeanette is stuck making hot dogs by herself in order to eat while the mother is off painting. She ends up catching herself on fire and she spends 6 weeks in the hospital loving it because she receives more attention and care than anyone has every given to her at this point in her life. The dad comes rushing in and they check out Rex Walls style. That night all the children awaken to rushed sounds by the parents and Rex states that their moving onto the next place so pack up and go to the car. At this point in the book The Walls family has stopped in the desert and is sleeping under the stars were Jeanette tells Lori, her bigger sister that she could live like this forever. Lori responds with "I think we're going to" You can start too see Rex Walls (Father) personality starting to show through as well. You can see that he has a fear of debt collectors and that is why he travels his family everywhere but he also makes travelling an adventure. They continue on travelling but Rex and Rose-Mary (mother) do teach their 3 kids how to read before the age of 5 and Rex shares his math knowledge with them. Rex as well teaches them Morse code, how to aim and fire his pistol, how to shoot Rose-Mary's bows and how to throw a knife. This does show that the parents do want to teach their kids sum things but I'm not sure these are the things kids should be learning about at that age. Rex's personality continues to make an appearance and you learn that he is natural genius who is an expert in math,electricity and physics. But Rex starts to have a drinking problem due to his depression. Jeannette states this in the book: “In my mind, dad was perfect, although he did have what Mom called a bit of a drinking situation.” So you can see that Rex has anger problems when he drinks and you know when he's drunk which is almost always, he's not a good role model for his kids and wife. But still spite that Rex and Rose Mary love their children, and even though their lives are bizarre, they really don’t fail them completely. They live more or less in a dream state where Rose-Mary believes she can survive in the desert and Rex is a great hero telling the kids about his crazy adventures at bedtime. This is where the idea of The Glass Castle begins.You learn about how Rex and Rose-Mary met and how they good married. You also learn about the first child, Mary Charlene dieing at a young age. Rex at this point became another person all together. This is perhaps why Rex and Rose-Mary don't want to cling to much to any other of the three kids because she will get hurt to much by the loss again. The family gets a new car named The Green Caboose and the parents go out to the bar were the children are left behind. Lori and Jeanette start talking about if they like moving around and they both agree they do but Lori seems a little more apprehensive about it. They count 11 different places at this point, where they unpacked their things. They can't remember the names of most of the towns or even what the houses they lived in looked like. Jeannette asks Lori what life would be like if they didn't move around. Lori responded with "We'd get caught". They continue their journey and they start driving again. All of sudden the car door flies open and Jeannette falls out. She sits there on the desert sand wondering if her parents will even come back for her. She wonders if she's like the cat that Rex threw out the window and said she had become a wild cat now. The parents finally realised what had happened and Rex goes back for her. Rex exits the car and apologises for them taking so long and gives her sum positive words and they both get back into the car and start driving again. At this point I'm thinking to myself what kind of parent doesn't see that the door is open and that their is one less child in the car? A bad parent. I'm starting to have my doubts about Rex Walls but he does show love towards her. It's apparently a love slash abusive relationship between the parents and the kids. They end up in Las Vegas were Rex goes and gambles wins a little and they carry onto San Francisco where they end up in the Tenderloin District which is one of the worst areas.
They start living in a motel where it ends up catching on fire and burns down while the kids were across the street eating in the diner. Because this is the third time fire is mentioned I'm starting to thing fire is a becoming metaphor for the obstacles Jeannette faces in her life which has made her unstable by her careless parents. The fire would be no threat to her if her parents guarded her like parents should. The family packs up again and starts heading towards the Mojave Desert. Along the way Rose-Mary spots this beautiful Joshua Tree and she starts painting it. Rex saves some kittens but they reproduce quickly so he kills them in order to only have a few cats, Jeannette doesn't understand why he would do that. Their is irony at this point towards Rex because he teaches Jeannette how to stand up against the monsters of the dessert and tells her to show them no fear while he becomes a monster himself by killing the kittens he no longer wants to care for. Rose-Mary becomes pregnant again and the family hopes for another boy. Christmas comes along and Rex and Rose-Mary have no money for gifts what's so ever which shows that they aren't very responsible with their money. But Rex does know he has to do something for his kids so he takes them outside and tells them that they can have any star that they'd like because that's their Christmas present. Jeannette picks Venus which is not a star but Rex says what the heck you can have it because it's Christmas. This shows that Rex really does want to give his kids the best but he can't always do it. The family continues their travel and go they end up in Blythe but Rex and Rose-Mary get into an argument before they arrive about how long Rose-Mary carried Lori before she was born. Rose-Mary ends up getting so mad that she gets out the car and starts running away, Rex follows her in the car almost hitting her. She eventually gets back into the car and they make up the next day when they arrive in Blythe. Jeannette is forced to go to school and she becomes the new teachers pet because she always raises her hand to answer the teachers questions. After the next few days after that Jeannette becomes jumped and beaten by a few Mexican girls. Rex seems unconcerned with Jeannette's fights because he hopes she will eventually stand up for herself. The next day the Mexican girls are waiting for Jeannette after school and before they start fighting Brian appears and he starts helping Jeannette fight but they both get knocked around but they come out of it with a few scratches and bruises. A few weeks later Rose-Mary gives birth to her child and they sign out of the hospital "Rex Walls Style" and the baby goes without a name for weeks. They eventually call her Lily Ruth Maureen after Rex and Rose-Mary's mother's name but they decide her first name would be Maureen. A few days later a police squad car tries to pull over the family and a car chase progresses. They hide and they decide it's time to move away from Blythe and move to Battle Mountain. Rex rents a U-haul and tells the kids including Maureen to get into the back of it while Rex and Rose-Mary drive in the front. They drive for a bit but the U-haul hits a pothole and the back door of the U-haul flies open. A stranger in another car honks and flashes his lights to tell Rex to pull over. He does and he starts to yell at his kids, telling them it was their fault but Jeannette tries to tell him what really happen. Rex wouldn't listen and they continue on their way. Rex and Rose Mary are neglectful and abusive towards their three kids. To put any of the children in the back of a truck that way is dangerous, but to put them in charge of a baby only a few weeks old is almost criminal. They get to Battle Mountain and they start living in an old Railroad Depot. They find an old piano and they put in the backyard of their new place. Rex finally gets a job as an electrician in a barite mine in which he works early in the morning. After he comes home from work he teaches and plays games with the kids. Rex thinks it's a fabulous way of teaching the kids how to analyse and come to specific conclusions about what they hear and learn. Rex also likes to take them out on adventures in the desert to look for rocks and minerals. The family starts to really enjoy Battle Mountain since they can go to the Owl Club to eat and they can go to the mine's grocery store were the food they buy just comes out of Rex's paycheck once he gets it. The family also spends an obscene amount of time reading. Rex would read the book out loud and if one kid didn't understand the word they would look it up in the dictionary. This shows that Rex and Rose-Mary are concerned about their children education. It's an extreme contrast to their actions in the past summary where they neglect their kids needs. Jeannette enrolls in an elementary school and doesn't become the teachers pet, she keeps it safe. Everybody likes Jeannette and Brian so Rex and Rose-Mary let them go out anywhere they want. They don't give them rules or restrictions all they ask is that they come home when the streetlights come on and Rose-Mary warns them to use common sense. One day Brian and Jeannette went out to the dumpster to see what they could find and they found let over chemicals in which they brought to their wooden shack they found. They end mixing them all and lighting it on fire, the shack blows up and they just escape when ironically Rex shows up to save them. That just emphasises how unattended Jeannette and the other kids childhood was. Brian and Jeannette often go and collect cans during the week so that they have a few dollars to go buy candy at the drug store. As they walk to the drug store they pass a house they call the "Green Lantern". Jeannette describes the house as dark
green with ladies always going in and out of it with different guys. The story continues and Rex decides to take the kids to the Hot Pot, a natural sulphur spring in the desert. Jeannette gets scared though because she can't swim but Rex insists that he can teach her. He takes her out into the middle of the Hot Pot and lets her go and every time she tries to grab on to him, he throws her back into the middle again. She finally realises she can’t depend on him and kicks and flails her way away from him. Rex keeps insisting that he
wouldn’t have allowed Jeannette to drown and he states: “If you don’t want to sink, you better figure out how to swim". Rex loses his job after having it for 6 months which has a downfall on the family's life style. They have little food to eat, the only thing left was a stick of margarine which Lori and Jeannette eat because they are so hungry. But when Rose-Mary finds out that they ate it she gets really angry and yells at Jeannette for eating it. Jeannette fights back which she never has before and she says "we were always supposed to pretend our life was one long and incredibly fun adventure.” At this point Rex comes home from the Owl Club. Rex and Rose-Mary begin to have a fight which escalates into a massive fight in which Rose-Mary is thrown out of the second floors window. Rex grabs her and the kids rush over to help pull her up. This shows what happens when hunger enters the picture of a family in crisis. You also begin to see Rose-Mary's selfishness come out because you could see that she wanted the margarine all to herself. The Walls parents carry their children along with them in this strange life which brings with it baggage the children will carry with them the rest of their lives.
They start living in a motel where it ends up catching on fire and burns down while the kids were across the street eating in the diner. Because this is the third time fire is mentioned I'm starting to thing fire is a becoming metaphor for the obstacles Jeannette faces in her life which has made her unstable by her careless parents. The fire would be no threat to her if her parents guarded her like parents should. The family packs up again and starts heading towards the Mojave Desert. Along the way Rose-Mary spots this beautiful Joshua Tree and she starts painting it. Rex saves some kittens but they reproduce quickly so he kills them in order to only have a few cats, Jeannette doesn't understand why he would do that. Their is irony at this point towards Rex because he teaches Jeannette how to stand up against the monsters of the dessert and tells her to show them no fear while he becomes a monster himself by killing the kittens he no longer wants to care for. Rose-Mary becomes pregnant again and the family hopes for another boy. Christmas comes along and Rex and Rose-Mary have no money for gifts what's so ever which shows that they aren't very responsible with their money. But Rex does know he has to do something for his kids so he takes them outside and tells them that they can have any star that they'd like because that's their Christmas present. Jeannette picks Venus which is not a star but Rex says what the heck you can have it because it's Christmas. This shows that Rex really does want to give his kids the best but he can't always do it. The family continues their travel and go they end up in Blythe but Rex and Rose-Mary get into an argument before they arrive about how long Rose-Mary carried Lori before she was born. Rose-Mary ends up getting so mad that she gets out the car and starts running away, Rex follows her in the car almost hitting her. She eventually gets back into the car and they make up the next day when they arrive in Blythe. Jeannette is forced to go to school and she becomes the new teachers pet because she always raises her hand to answer the teachers questions. After the next few days after that Jeannette becomes jumped and beaten by a few Mexican girls. Rex seems unconcerned with Jeannette's fights because he hopes she will eventually stand up for herself. The next day the Mexican girls are waiting for Jeannette after school and before they start fighting Brian appears and he starts helping Jeannette fight but they both get knocked around but they come out of it with a few scratches and bruises. A few weeks later Rose-Mary gives birth to her child and they sign out of the hospital "Rex Walls Style" and the baby goes without a name for weeks. They eventually call her Lily Ruth Maureen after Rex and Rose-Mary's mother's name but they decide her first name would be Maureen. A few days later a police squad car tries to pull over the family and a car chase progresses. They hide and they decide it's time to move away from Blythe and move to Battle Mountain. Rex rents a U-haul and tells the kids including Maureen to get into the back of it while Rex and Rose-Mary drive in the front. They drive for a bit but the U-haul hits a pothole and the back door of the U-haul flies open. A stranger in another car honks and flashes his lights to tell Rex to pull over. He does and he starts to yell at his kids, telling them it was their fault but Jeannette tries to tell him what really happen. Rex wouldn't listen and they continue on their way. Rex and Rose Mary are neglectful and abusive towards their three kids. To put any of the children in the back of a truck that way is dangerous, but to put them in charge of a baby only a few weeks old is almost criminal. They get to Battle Mountain and they start living in an old Railroad Depot. They find an old piano and they put in the backyard of their new place. Rex finally gets a job as an electrician in a barite mine in which he works early in the morning. After he comes home from work he teaches and plays games with the kids. Rex thinks it's a fabulous way of teaching the kids how to analyse and come to specific conclusions about what they hear and learn. Rex also likes to take them out on adventures in the desert to look for rocks and minerals. The family starts to really enjoy Battle Mountain since they can go to the Owl Club to eat and they can go to the mine's grocery store were the food they buy just comes out of Rex's paycheck once he gets it. The family also spends an obscene amount of time reading. Rex would read the book out loud and if one kid didn't understand the word they would look it up in the dictionary. This shows that Rex and Rose-Mary are concerned about their children education. It's an extreme contrast to their actions in the past summary where they neglect their kids needs. Jeannette enrolls in an elementary school and doesn't become the teachers pet, she keeps it safe. Everybody likes Jeannette and Brian so Rex and Rose-Mary let them go out anywhere they want. They don't give them rules or restrictions all they ask is that they come home when the streetlights come on and Rose-Mary warns them to use common sense. One day Brian and Jeannette went out to the dumpster to see what they could find and they found let over chemicals in which they brought to their wooden shack they found. They end mixing them all and lighting it on fire, the shack blows up and they just escape when ironically Rex shows up to save them. That just emphasises how unattended Jeannette and the other kids childhood was. Brian and Jeannette often go and collect cans during the week so that they have a few dollars to go buy candy at the drug store. As they walk to the drug store they pass a house they call the "Green Lantern". Jeannette describes the house as dark |
| Green Latern (2012) |
green with ladies always going in and out of it with different guys. The story continues and Rex decides to take the kids to the Hot Pot, a natural sulphur spring in the desert. Jeannette gets scared though because she can't swim but Rex insists that he can teach her. He takes her out into the middle of the Hot Pot and lets her go and every time she tries to grab on to him, he throws her back into the middle again. She finally realises she can’t depend on him and kicks and flails her way away from him. Rex keeps insisting that he
wouldn’t have allowed Jeannette to drown and he states: “If you don’t want to sink, you better figure out how to swim". Rex loses his job after having it for 6 months which has a downfall on the family's life style. They have little food to eat, the only thing left was a stick of margarine which Lori and Jeannette eat because they are so hungry. But when Rose-Mary finds out that they ate it she gets really angry and yells at Jeannette for eating it. Jeannette fights back which she never has before and she says "we were always supposed to pretend our life was one long and incredibly fun adventure.” At this point Rex comes home from the Owl Club. Rex and Rose-Mary begin to have a fight which escalates into a massive fight in which Rose-Mary is thrown out of the second floors window. Rex grabs her and the kids rush over to help pull her up. This shows what happens when hunger enters the picture of a family in crisis. You also begin to see Rose-Mary's selfishness come out because you could see that she wanted the margarine all to herself. The Walls parents carry their children along with them in this strange life which brings with it baggage the children will carry with them the rest of their lives.
No comments:
Post a Comment