Theme of Poverty in The Glass Castle Essay Example

INTRODUCTION 

The Glass Castle, written by Jeanette Walls, is a memoir written in remembrance of her father, Rex Walls. Jeanette Walls gives the story of her childhood and details the effects that poverty and neglect had on her adolescence. Different from many stories of poverty in the US, Jeanette shows another, less viewed side – that in which a family chooses to remain in poverty and refuses to try and pull themselves up out of it. From Rex’s substance abuse to Rose Mary’s lack of concern in supporting her children, Jeanette faced many obstacles that might try and entrap her in this cyclical lifestyle, yet she broke free. The Glass Castle is an excellent telling of personal stories that display the cyclical role poverty can play in lower socioeconomic families’ lives.  

MEMORABLE SCENES  

While reading The Glass Castle many scenes were memorable, to say the least, to me. Many times, I had to close my jaw after reading some of the true accounts of Jeannette Walls's life. Although there are the major moments of the story that stick out, such as Jeannette catching fire, Rex’s drunk Christmas rampage, and gunfire exchanged between Jeannette and the problematic classmate from school, these do not stick out as dramatically to me as the other scenes in which Jeanette describes with eerie nonchalance.  

The first of these scenes begins on page 68, in which Wall’s describes eating margarine because there is no other food in the house. “I made some. It didn’t taste like frosting... it was greasy and left a filmy coat in my mouth. But I ate it all anyway” (2005, p. 68). After this, Rose Mary gets angry at the girls for being selfish and eating the margarine, to which Jeanette finally breaks and admits she was just hungry. The most concerning thing about this scene is not even the fact the girls rationalized themselves into eating margarine; it is that they were yelled at for ‘blaming’ their mother for making them go hungry. Rose Mary clearly displays in this scene that, according to Erikson’s theory of cognitive development, she has not yet successfully navigated the generativity vs. Stagnation stage and is thus far unable to have an appropriate amount of empathy towards individuals other than herself.  

Shortly after this scene, Wall’s describes how her father Rex held her mother out of a second-story window during a fight about their financial situation. Throughout the memoir, Jeanette describes many circumstances or events that would fall into the category of “adverse childhood experiences;” however, this scene is shocking because it happens in front of so many other people. Neighbors, having heard the loud altercation and screams of Rose Mary, came outside of their homes, and saw the physical abuse occurring. Despite this, there is no mention of an adult taking the kids to make sure they are okay or calling social workers or authorities. This is a scene that should have resulted in the children getting help.  

Lastly a short scene, but important nonetheless, can be found on pages 190 and 191. Jeanette describes going to the pool with her Black classmate, Dinitia. Two things about this scene stuck out to me. First, the way the pool was segregated without having a segregation policy. Wall’s writes “...but the fact was that all the black people swam in the morning when the pool was free, and all the white people swam in the afternoon, when admission was fifty cents... That was just the way it was” (2005, pg. 190). Second, Jeanette did not claim to care about race and may say that she was taught that all people were equal, but in this scene, it is noticeably clear that she still is affected by societal norms. Even though Jeanette swam in the morning, and had fun, she would choose to not swim at all than to swim with the Black people in her community repeatedly. At this point, even when considering how young Jeanette is, she still is aware of unofficial racist policies and allows these zero-sum theories to continue.  

REX WELLS AS A FATHER FIGURE 

It is hard to describe Rex Walls as a father figure, and it is much easier to list the ways in which he was simply not a father figure and a friend. In viewing Rex Wells as an individual, it is easy to feel sympathetic for him. He is an alcoholic and tries as he might get sober, continuously falls back into addiction. His addiction is inferred to be a coping mechanism due to trauma, and Rex has PTSD from his past traumas. Jeanette shares little of his story as a veteran or what his war experience was like, and briefly mentions the tragic death of one of his daughters. Rex’s attitude towards Rose Mary suggests that he may blame her for the death of the child, and certainly cannot comprehend how she so easily moved past that loss. Rex also likely experienced many adverse childhood experiences of his own, as his mother is very clearly verbally abusive, and it is assumed he experienced sexual assault from his family as well.  

The results of all this trauma and hardship going unaided and undiagnosed, paired with an aversion to authority and an addiction to alcohol, make the reader feel less sympathetic toward Rex as a father figure. Rex is a textbook indulgent parent. He is incredibly involved in his children's lives but does it to seek approval and friendship instead of maintaining a parental status. The only time Rex is not an indulgent parent is when he is on a bender, and then he behaves in a neglectful parenting style. Jeanette, along with her siblings, behaved as though they formed insecure attachments with their parents. Rex’s inability to perform as a parent resulted in many issues, such as Jeanette burning herself when cooking hot dogs unattended at age three to Jeanette trying to support her family by hiding the money she earned from her father.  

AN ATYPICAL TAKE ON POVERTY 

While most writings about poverty in the United States make an attempt to show how difficult breaking the cycle of poverty is, Jeanette takes a different approach. Jeanette argues throughout the book that her family had the ability to bring themselves out of poverty, but instead, they chose not to. Walls includes how her mother has a degree and can easily find work, and constantly talks about how smart her dad is. Rather, Jeanette argues that the issue is that Rex and Rose Mary are unmotivated to live differently. Throughout the story, it is clear that a life where one has plenty of money and a stable job is of no interest to Rex and Rose Mary. Things we take as a societal given, they reject, which results in them falling into the cracks of that society. Jeanette writes about Rex and Rose Mary as though Maslov’s Hierarchy of needs is in reverse – although for the rest of the family eating is more important, freedom and the ability to explore outweigh dinner for Rex and Rose Mary. Jeanette writes about their situation in poverty as though Rex and Rose Mary actively chose to live in poverty.  

CONCLUSION 

Overall, The Glass Castle is an excellent memoir that describes a side of poverty less commonly seen. Rex and Rose Mary actively choose to remain in a cycle of poverty rather than struggle against it to try and pull themselves out. Jeanette's childhood experiences, and her ability to pull herself out of the hole her parents had created, show how despite trauma and ACES people have the ability to choose to fight to better their situation. Social workers could have intervened and made this process occur sooner. After clear physical and verbal altercations between Rex and Rose Mary, a social worker could have been called to evaluate the living circumstances of the children. When Jeanette was in the hospital after her severe burns, a social worker could have met with Rex and Rose Mary and explained to them ways to ensure their child's safety that allowed for independence but also supervision that would prevent further accidents. A social worker could have also potentially flagged Rex as a flight risk after meeting with him, which might have prevented Rex from running out with Jeanette and them hitting the road before services could have been called. If a teacher was noticing that Jeanette was constantly not eating lunch at school or seemed to continue to have health and hygiene problems, a school social worker could have stepped in and started to meet with Jeanette to evaluate what steps should have been taken. There are dozens of other instances in which a social worker could have helped give the Walls resources that would have been beneficial. The Glass Castle is an important read for anyone going into the field of social work because it shows how important noticing these signs is to provide families with aid.