Essays on The Glass Castle

March 2005

Jeannette Walls

Memoir

Bildungsroman

Jeannette Walls, Dad, Mom, Lori Walls, Brian Walls, Maureen Walls, Grandma Smith, Erma Walls, Dinitia Hewitt, Uncle Stanley, Billy Deel, Grandpa Walls, Eric, John

Fire, animals, hypocrisy, The Glass Castle, stars, Joshua trees

Abuse, compassion vs. boundaries, strength from hardship

“You should never hate anyone, even your worst enemies. Everyone has something good about them. You have to find the redeeming quality and love the person for that.”
“One time I saw a tiny Joshua tree sapling growing not too far from the old tree. I wanted to dig it up and replant it near our house. I told Mom that I would protect it from the wind and water it every day so that it could grow nice and tall and straight. Mom frowned at me. "You'd be destroying what makes it special," she said. "It's the Joshua tree's struggle that gives it its beauty.”
“I lived in a world that at any moment could erupt into fire. It was the sort of knowledge that kept you on your toes.”
as reading.”
“You didn't need a college degree to become one of the people who knew what was really going on. If you paid attention, you could pick things up on your own.”

This book has been used in the elementary school curriculum in North America, causing some controversy as The Glass Castle was ranked 9th on the Intellectual Freedom Office's list of 10 most problematic books in 2012.
The Glass Castle was adapted as a feature film released in the summer of 2017.
He also has been translated into 31 languages.
The Glass Castle was ranked the 17th most banned book in the US in 2010 and 2019, according to the American Library Association.