Within the novel Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, the father-daughter relationship displayed between Rex and Jeannette Walls is a complex one. A large portion of Jeanette’s childhood is represented throughout the novel. During her childhood, Jeanette experiences constant wondering about her father’s presence and accountability. Additionally, a large sum of tragic events is also present. After these tragic events occur, Rex seems to use something such as a positive action or remark in order to counteract them. At these points throughout the novel, the reader can see how Jeanette is able to view Rex. She can see him as compassionate, funny and feels as though he truly does love her. As poet George Hebert wrote, “One father is more than a hundred schoolmasters.” This quote stands true in the sense of Rex and Jeanette. By being both compassionate and unpredictable, this shows how complex Rex and Jeannette’s relationship truly is in the sense that he both lets her down yet assures her that what he is doing is in her best interest.
The earliest noted tragic event that took place was within the first few pages of the novel. it occurred when Jeanette was just three years old. Jeannette had burned herself one day while she herself was making a hot dog. The first wrong in this situation is that Rex was allowing his daughter to use a stove at such a young age. This burn caused Jeannette to have to enter the hospital in order to be healed. She lasted in the hospital for a few days, but during the middle of one night, Rex chose to take Jeannette and escort her out of the hospital without the doctor’s permission. By leaving the hospital, Rex understood that he would not have to pay a large sum of medical bills. When removing Jeannette from the hospital, Rex made the decision to avoid his daughter’s best interest to assure that his own best interest of not having to pay the bills was met. However, when Rex removed Jeannette from this situation he stated, “‘You don’t have to worry anymore, baby…you’re safe now” (Walls 14). By stating this, Rex tries to assure his daughter that she was in an unsafe situation while in the hospital although she was in good hands, and that his decision was best. This specific traumatic event set the scene of the novel and gave the reader an insight into a continued thread of tragic events, made up with a positive act or remark in return from Rex.
Another example of Rex’s unaccountability of being a father is demonstrated through travel. Rex was constantly changing the location of where the family lived due to not being able to keep a job. Therefore, moving from place to place with a family in one small car was not ideal. The children were most often forced to choose just one item to bring with them. The first travel mishap occurred during the family's first move. As stated, when Rex was driving the car away, “He stopped the car, grabbed Quixote by the scruff of the neck, and tossed him out the window. Quixote landed with a screeching meow and a thud, Dad accelerated up the road, and I burst into tears” (Walls 18). This represents that Rex not only had the nerve to throw a living animal out of a moving car window, but he had the nerve to get rid of something that meant so much to his young daughter, Jeannette. However, Rex tried to turn this situation around by singing songs and talking about what was going to come once they got to where Rex decided that they were headed. As stated, “Dad started telling us about all the exciting things we were going to do and how we were going to get rich once we reached the new place where we were going to live” (Walls 18). While this journey was taking place, Jeannette was still a young girl. She was able to believe what her father told her was to come, and that gave her the sense that he was looking out for the best interest of his entire family.
Another example of a travel mishap was when Jeannette herself fell out of her family's moving car. As stated, “Just when we took a sharp turn over some railroad tracks, the door flew open, and I tumbled out…I waited for what seemed like a long time before I decided it was possible Mom and Dad might not come back for me” (Walls 30). This quote shows that at such a young age, Jeannette was open to the idea that it would not be a surprise if her parents did not come back for her. However, it is unsettling to think that her parents even allowed her to be in a situation as unsafe as this one to begin with, never-mind the fact that she was able to fall out of this moving vehicle. Although, after the conclusion of this traumatic event, Jeannette was able to find something positive about this situation. As stated, “‘Damn, honey’, he said. ‘You busted your snot locker pretty good.’ I started laughing really hard. ‘Snot locker’ was the funniest name I’d ever heard for a nose” (Walls 31). By finding this positive, it shows that Jeannette still is a ball to believe that her father cares about her. Rex allowed this situation to happen but seemed to brush it off by making a joke about the situation to make Jeannette laugh about her nose and feel better about the overall situation. Once again, finding a positive to counteract the parenting failure he made.
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One day, Rex was under the influence of alcohol and he decided to take his family to the zoo while they were living in Phoenix. When they purchased the tickets and entered the zoo, Rex decided that he wanted to have an encounter with the cheetah. So, Rex proceeded to climb over the chain link fence near the cheetah enclosure and then signaled for his kids to come over too. Rex gave the cheetah a pat first to show his children that it was okay, and then he allowed Jeannette to pet the cheetah, too. By stepping over the chain link fence himself, he set a bad example for his children to follow. Then, by allowing Jeannette to do it herself, Rex instantly put his daughter into a dangerous situation. As stated, “There was a small crowd around the cage now, and one particularly frantic woman grabbed my shirt and tried to pull me over the chain. ‘It’s alright,’ I told her. ‘My dad does stuff like this all the time’” (Walls 109). This shows that other individuals were aware of the bad parenting skill that Rex was demonstrating. Additionally, it shows how Rex is putting his children into danger although that is not what he believes he is doing. Yet, Rex convinced his children that it was ok, and Jeannette believed him.
As seen throughout the novel, Rex’s drinking problem also caused a multitude of problems within his and Jeannette’s relationship. One year for her birthday Jeannette stated, “He was asking what he could do, now that I was almost a grown-up, to make my last years as a kid everything I hoped they’d be. There was only one thing I truly wanted, something that I knew would change all our lives, but I was afraid to ask for it” (Walls 116). This quote represents the strong wish that Jeannette’s mindset was focused on, only on her tenth birthday. At this point in her life, Jeannette was already able to see that her father’s drinking was a serious problem and it was interfering with their entire family life. This one gift that Jeannette truly wanted was for her father to stop drinking alcohol. Jeannette told Rex this wish of hers, and he instantly felt as though his daughter was ashamed of him. However, he thought about it and decided to work on it. Rex did so by locking himself in his bedroom and trying to detox himself from the alcohol. This detox did not last long, though and Rex ended up letting Jeannette down once again.
Further into the novel, Rex became ill with tuberculosis and was in the hospital. Coincidentally, Rex is staying in this hospital, yet he removed Jeannette from one at the beginning of the novel because he believed that the medical bills were too much money. However, around this time Rex was also beginning to help more in his daughter’s life and do things that truly did benefit her. Eventually, Rex ended up passing from a heart attack. As stated, “I had this crazy urge to scoop him up in my arms and charge through the doors—to check out Rex Walls—style one last time” (Walls 280). This shows that Jennette still has this memory of her father doing this to her when she was younger. With death comes the reflection of one’s life. When Rex passed away from this heart attack, it was clear that Jeannette was able to reflect on their complex relationship. Although Rex did all of these tragic things to him, he always had a way to make it seem better in her eyes. Jeannette wanted to make things better for her father when a tragic accident happened to him.
In conclusion, through the series of these tragic events, it is clear for the reader to see that the relationship that Jeannette and her father Rex have is a complex one. These tragic events that seem to consume Jeannette’s childhood are symbolic of the wondering about her father’s presence and accountability. In addition, the reader can see how Rex used positive actions and comments in order to counteract his wrongdoings. By doing this, it gives the reader an insight into Rex’s mind. It is almost as though Rex had known exactly what he was doing and how it was wrong, but he always tried to convince himself and his children otherwise through these actions and comments. Rex will always be Jeannette’s father and she did care for him, despite the large number of tragic events that occurred under his watch.
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