Neglect (and not just of the parents/family towards the kids)
Jeannette's father, Rex, is an addict whose alcoholism makes it impossible for him to hold a job or take care of his family. He has taken part in physical and verbal violence while drinking. Rex drinks while driving. One time, he caused an accident in which Jeannette obviously fell out of a moving car (p. 30) and again when he got into a fight with his pregnant wife and tried to run over her with a car carrying his other children. The waitress offered the children a beer. Rex smoked, and there were repeated instances of his smoking and discussion of him smelling like smoke. Other people smoke too.
Rocks
Rocks are one of the most prominent metaphorical concepts present in The Glass Castle because Jeannette shows a love for rocks her whole life. Rocks, just like her, are heavily influenced and shaped by their environment, or for her, her experiences. The obsession Jeannette shows for these smooth, but sometimes rough creations of nature, also shows her love for her life and the passion she has for all of these so-called 'adventures' and constant 'skedaddling.' This passion is so evident in her style of writing because no matter how bad the circumstances may be, she writes with an intense sense of pride in herself, her family, and where she came from.
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Fire
Fire reappears in Walls' life several times, every time 'burning' her more and more, for example, when she was very young, she caught on fire, almost dying. The appearance of fire in The Glass Castle symbolizes destruction, such as her father's destructive habit of drinking and the effect it has on the family. You can also see this concept of destruction in her writing, especially when she is in Welch, there are several moments when she uses destructive rhetoric to describe tragic experiences.
The Glass Castle
The Glass Castle stands for the constant unfulfilled promises and him giving them hope for nothing. Like how he said that he was going to make the house in Welch the glass castle by making a hole. Rex says, “No point in building a good house unless you put down the right foundation.” It took them a month to dig the hole and they were proud and about to start to make it but the dad lets yet another minor problem get in the way of him helping the family by throwing garbage in there because he spends too much money on booze and doesn’t leave enough for the garbage collection bill. Jeanette says, “But that’s for the Glass Castle,” and Rex said, “It’s a temporary measure”. Rex acts like it was inevitable but he could’ve easily fixed it if he didn’t drink.
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