Analyzing The Foreclosure Crisis In Jeannette's Don T Let It

Rex and Rosemary were always arguing about something. This made their relationship unstable and it would always end up with them fighting about something. “‘Help!’ Mom screamed.’he’s trying to kill me!’ ‘Goddammit, Rosemary, get back in here!’ Dad said. ‘Don’t hurt her!’ Lori yelled” (Walls 13). The children run up to the room to find Rosemary crying claiming that Rex tried to kill her. Rex kept saying that he didn’t push her. All of Rosemary’s children took her side and were mad and disappointed in Rex. Another time when Rex was trying to kill Rosemary is when they were having a conversation on why her babies always stay longer in her stomach. This made both of them upset and Rosemary ended up

She said that the medical staff were all treating her nicely, and her father said told her it was because she was his daughter. This quote is important because it shows that Rex Walls is an arrogant character. It shows that he believes he is very important and someone to be held in high regard, and anything or anyone related to him deserves that respect as well.

Towards the end of the memoir, Jeannette was in high school and was getting ready to graduate and get as far away from Welch and her broken family as possible. Jeannette decided to follow in her older sisters footsteps and move to New York. Jeannette is passionate about writing and believed New York was a perfect place to get her career started, along with college. Jeannette’s family was upset that she was leaving them, especially Rex. Rex felt as if he was losing

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.

Jeanette represents Rex as a reasonable and loving father through Christmas time during which he gave the presents stars to them. She describes the memory with admiration and love towards her father. Although Jeanette says “we had no money at all” her family showed no regret, she instead showed how they absolutely admire him, by capitalizing “Dad”. Rex has an ability to brave the cold times because ”the cold never bothered him” as he said ( Glass Castle 39). Jeanette holds onto her father when other people ignore him because he makes her feel unique, as it gives her one of the most important moments of her life. It's clearly obvious that Jeanette admiration is growing as she continues to describe the experience in positive terms. The final quotation at

While her father’s dismisses his destructive nature, Jeannette becomes conscious of his actions which motivates her to make amends in hopes of leaving their desolate life. Instead of getting help for his childhood trauma, Rex immerses himself in alcohol causing him to become

When Jeannette’s mother did come, it was evident that she cared about the safety and well-being of her child: “Mom ran into the room” (9). Seeing as she came running rather than strolling, it can be inferred that her mother is attentive and worried about her daughter; however, once in the hospital, her father has an averse reaction to her injuries and the fact that she’s in the hospital when he says: “You shouldn’t be in this antiseptic joint” (13). Most parents would fret over their child and let the hospital do whatever they saw fit to help their child, but her father Rex doesn’t trust the hospital and potentially jeopardizes his daughter’s health by not adhering to the hospital's recommendations. A parallel episode to this tragic fire incident is when the family is staying at a hotel and are woken up in the middle of the night by a fire. The whole building burns down, similar to how Jeanette's favorite pink dress was completely singed and had to be cut

However, Jeannette still finds a way to rationalize her Father’s actions. Even though Rex purposely dropped her into the water, she felt as though this was his way of inspiring her to learn, and it is not a flawed thought process at all. Her Father’s explanation for these actions aren’t very far out there at all either: “You can’t cling to the side your whole life...if you don’t want to sink then you better figure out how to swim.”(66) This is a strong inspirational quote from Rex, and proves he was not trying to harm Jeannette, despite his harsh

These “may be wide-ranging… [including] anxiety-related, self-destructive behaviors such as alcoholism or drug abuse, anxiety attacks, and insomnia” (Effects). In the memoir (Walls), Rex exhibited almost all of these. Even though it was never stated that Rex was abused by his mother when he was younger, it was implied after Brian was raped. After Jeanette realized what happened to Brian, she started thinking how her father was most likely abused too, and that’s why he behaves the way he does today. Rex Walls shows the long term effects of child sexual assault very well, to the point that Jeannette (even at a young age herself) was able to make the connection. “Depression has been found to be the most common long-term symptom among survivors [of child sexual abuse]... After years of negative self thoughts, survivors have feelings of worthlessness and avoid others because they believe they have nothing to offer” (Hall 2). This specifically applies to Rex’s character in The Glass Castle. Also brought on by his alcoholism and gambling issues, Rex Walls constantly found that he had nothing to provide for his family, and was even embarrassed by that. If something went wrong, Rex would fall into a depressive state and feel worthless (Walls). These hard times are what often led him to start gambling and drinking again, causing

This is exemplified in pages 127-130 where Jeannette and her dad go to gamble and Rex risk Jeannette’s safety. When Rex was gambling with Robbie, Robbie ended up losing all of his money, he felt entitled to something in return which was Jeannette. As he tried to take her upstairs Rex said “Sure, Just don't do anything I wouldn't do. Holler if you need me," he said and winked at me as if to say he knew I could take care of myself, that this was just a part of my job”(Walls). Jeannette felt like it was her job to do what Robbie wanted. Even though nothing really happened between Jeannette and Robbie, Rex put her in a situation that she wasn’t comfortable about for money and alcohol. As stated in the text “The next evening Dad disappeared”(Jeannette). Rex had taken the money and got drunk, he got mad at Jeannette because she didn’t tag

While Rex is driving, he ends up taking a sharp turn causing the door to open and Jeannette to fall out. As she sees the car leave, Jeannette has many thoughts running through her head on whether or not her family would come back for her, and even thinks about trying to get some help. However, she waits for them near the area she had fallen off in hopes that her parents will come back and get her: “I was scraping the dried blood off my legs when I looked up and saw the Green Caboose come back around the bend” (Pg. 30). Even though the actions are clearly unforgivable, Jeanette forgives her parents anyways. Since she’s a little girl, she doesn’t know what’s right from wrong and deems her parents actions as average. A similar incident is when Jennette is taught how to swim. During her stay at Battle Mountain, Jeannette and her family go to the Hot Pot, a natural spring. Her father decides to teach her how to swim through drowning; he uses fear as a tactic. He repeatedly throws Jeannette into the deepest section of the spring until she finally learns how to swim back up. She realizes the reason for her father’s actions and why he kept throwing her back into the

Throughout the Glass Castle, Jeanette Walls reveals every intricacy of her childhood. She spares little to no element from the judgment of the reader, especially the shortcomings of her father. Rex Walls is a highly intelligent man. At first, he is continually encouraging himself and his children to dream. He believes in himself and aspires to be better than he is; which you can tell by the contraptions he continues to spend time building in order to get rich. His major shortfall is his dependence on alcohol. This dependence leads to him lose jobs and subsequently their home, eventually forcing them to move in with his parents. After moving his family to his hometown, Rex is driven to drink more and new revelations have a major impact on his family. Ultimately, his past abuse and troubled childhood leads him into alcoholism, making him incapable of upholding his ideals of autonomy. Despite his ideals of masculinity and fatherhood, he always comes up short due to his alcoholism, which conversely drives him deeper into depression and more drinking.

When Rex asks Jeannette what she wants for her birthday, she asks if he “could maybe stop drinking”(151), leaving Rex in silence. While Rex keeps his promise for several months, he breaks his promise after he and his family is helped by a stranger, who gives a ride home and provides for them. He comes home and gets in a fight with Rose Mary, which within minutes ends with the two of them “falling in love all over again”(158). However, Jeannette says she “didn’t feel like celebrating”(158) and that she “couldn’t believe Dad had gone back to the booze”(158). Through this quote, it is evident that Jeannette’s view on her father has been diminished from a heroic, trustworthy man, to somebody who is incapable of showing self restraint and keeping a

This quote symbolizes Jeannette’s realization of her situation. This quote comes after her visit to the hospital due to catching on fire. In the hospital, nurses tell her about how she has ‘bigger things to worry about’ once meeting her family and they introduce her to chewing gum. These events, along with several others, contrast what Jeanette knows as everyday life. Tinkerbell is a toy she has always had and she was used to her normal face. However, Tinkerbell being burned changed her appearance, similar to how Jeannette being burned altered her mindset. Now Jeanette has knowledge of how others live and she can start to make comparisons to her home life that she had been oblivious to before. Her once picture perfect world has been changed

Rex on the other hand, is harmful and destructive when he is drunk, which makes Jeannette’s mother