Effects of Poverty and Selfishness in The Glass Castle Essay Sample

📌Category: Books, The Glass Castle
📌Words: 888
📌Pages: 4
📌Published: 19 February 2022

Studies have shown humans to be inherently selfish in the name of personal gain. A means of getting what one wants, often sacrificing something else in the process. Desires that often have to be kept at bay and resisted, especially if there are others who could get hurt. In today’s society parents often defy this inherent instinct in favor of the care of a child. They sacrifice their own desires and wants to provide for their child. However, in The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls, this narrative is flipped. The parents, Rex and Rose Mary Walls, often put their “wants” over the “needs” of their children, causing Jeanette and her siblings to suffer. Especially whenever the Walls family moved to Welch, West Virginia, Rex and Rose Mary began to explicitly show their self-centered personalities. Jeanette Walls recounts her memories of her and her siblings suffering from poverty as a result of Rex and Rose Mary’s selfish desires in her memoir, The Glass Castle.

One of the first instances of one of the parents’ selfishness in Welch occurred when Jeanette and Brian found a diamond ring on the family’s property. Prior to this, the kids were constantly hungry. Jeanette, along with Brian, were always scavenging through garbages and stealing the remains of their classmates’ lunches to find what little sustenance they can muster to feed themselves. Maureen was practically always at one of her friends’ homes whenever it was supper time. So when Jeanette and Brian came across a diamond ring, they were filled with excitement and hope at the prospect the family can afford some food. However, after telling Rose Mary about the diamond ring and how it could afford nutrition for the family, Rose Mary responds by telling Jeanette, “… but it could also improve my self, esteem. And at times like these, self esteem is even more vital than food” (186). In this scene, Rose Mary puts on full display her value of her own ego and self-esteem over her children’s nutritional needs. The ecstasy Jeanette and Brian experienced was quashed in an instant by Rose Mary’s nonchalant response. According to her, her self-image trumps the dire need for food from her children. Rose Mary focuses only on what she wants and what she gets out of the situation. She was given the chance to provide for her children, yet she chooses the option that benefits her and solely her, unaware of the potential good she could have done. As a result of her decision, her kids are forced to continue what they have been doing and remain persistently famished.

Another instance of parental selfishness happened when Lori and Rose Mary were away. Lori went to a government sponsored summer camp while Rose Mary was in Charleston to renew her teaching certificates. Rose Mary put Jeanette in charge and gave her two hundred dollars to take care of the bills and food. Two hundred dollars to last the family eight weeks. Jeanette calculated it to be roughly twenty five dollars a week. Despite the financial limitations Jeanette has to support the family, Rex still tells Jeanette, “Hon, I need some money.” Jeanette responds by asking, “For what?” “Beer and cigarettes,” answers Rex. In this scene, despite knowing about the little money Rose Mary left for Jeanette was meant to go to food and bills, he still asks Jeanette for money. Money he said was going to go to “beer and cigarettes.” Neither of which helps the kids out whatsoever. In Rex’s logic, the prospect of beer and cigarettes to satisfy himself reigns supreme of the his children’s nourishment. Rex’ priorities are shown clearly to not only Jeanette but also the audience reading this scene. The audience can see that Jeanette’s deep rooted loyalty towards Rex mixed with Rex’s selfish, ego-driven character creates a concoction that hurts everyone involved except Rex.

As time progressed in Jeanette’s teenage years, Rex’s selfish antics progressively became more evident. Take for instance the time the kids were stashing money to fund Lori’s escape from Welch to New York City. Jeanette has been babysitting. Lori has been making and selling posters. Brian has been preforming laborious tasks. The trio has been working incredibly hard to earn little amounts of money they can stash in their piggy bank, Oz. All this to help send Lori to New York. However, one day Jeanette goes to check Oz, she discovers that the piggy bank had been slashed open and the money taken out. All the hard work put into saving the money, gone in a moment. Jeanette knew immediately who took the money: Rex. When Lori and Jeanette confronted Rex, Rex responded by saying, “What the goddamn hell are you talking about?” After feigning to be unaware of what happened to Oz, he even asked Jeanette ‘half grinning,’ “…do you know what happened?” Not only did Rex reject the idea of him stealing the money, he also asked Jeanette if she had any idea of what happened. In this scene, Rex shows that he is not only willing to sacrifice the opportunities for Lori but also the hard work the kids had put into earning the money. All in favor of his self-centered cravings. 

In The Glass Castle, the self absorbed parental figures and their desires cause their children to suffer at the hands of poverty. Throughout Jeanette’s childhood and teenage years, there are ample amounts of examples supporting this, especially when the family settled in Welch. As time went on, Rex and Rose Mary Walls changed very little in that they still valued their “wants” over their children’s needs. The parents essentially chose to have to kids suffer from the effects of poverty just so that they could enjoy their own inclinations.

Works Cited

Walls, Jeanette, The Glass Castle, Scribner, 2005.

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