The Glass Castle Analytical Paragraph

In The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, the stars she receives from her father symbolize the family’s strong connection through their non-material values. Due to the limited resources the family had access to, Jeannette’s parents weren’t able to provide their children with everything other children would consider normal. On one Christmas, Rex Walls, Jeannette’s father decides that he’d pass on his love for stars to his children and give each of them a star as a present as opposed to toys wrapped by Santa Claus that “had labels on them saying MADE IN JAPAN” (39). Jeannette’s parents imposed the other children as “brainwashed” in order to make their children feel less bad about not having as much. Rex mentions, “Years from now, when all the junk they got is broken and long forgotten, you’ll still have your stars.” (41). SImilarly to those stars, Rex’s love for his children will be there forever and when his children look up into the night sky, they would be reminded of their parents. That love would still shine brightly and even time wouldn’t erode it. Consequently, the stars, although may be a small part of the story, encapsulates the Wall’s universal love for each other, through the use of non-materials.

Through their bond, there were also holes caused by distrust which were represented by the stars as deceit and lies. Although the children were already aware of their parent’s financial situation, the parents, like any other parents, didn’t want to admit that as the reason for not having anything for their children. Despite not having much for his children, Rex appears to feel bad about it so instead, he creates a narrative about stars. He tells them about how “‘like that dago fellow Columbus claimed America for Queen Isabella. Claiming a star as your own has every bit as much logic to it’” (40). Rex Walls stole the stars which belong to the sky like Columbus stole America which belonged to the Native American people. There were so many kinds of lies such as these that Rex and his wife constantly told their children, so much so that the numbers could only be counted by digits of stars. As Jeannette was talking to her father about the stars, she said, “‘I want that one’”. And her father replied, ”‘That’s venus.’” (40). However, in reality Venus is actually a planet disguised as a star but its brightness fools us into believing it’s a star. This resembles all of the lies the parents had fed their children coming to light and revealing themselves. And as these truths are making an appearance, distrust in the family also arose. As a result, these stars Rex Walls has shown his children weren't just a symbol of love, but also of deception.