When Mom and Dad arrive in Phoenix, they discover the house has been systematically looted, but it doesn't matter that most of their belongings are gone, because the car breaks down for good outside of Nashville, and they have to abandon the trailer that held what little they had left. Once they return, Erma informs them that they all must leave her house, which, of course, Dad blames on the kids. Mom and Dad won't even consider returning to Phoenix, because they're convinced there are plenty of opportunities in Welch.
Now, they begin searching for a new place to live. They end up buying a house for $1000. Unfortunately, it doesn't have indoor plumbing, the kitchen roof leaks, and it's shabbier than any of the houses lower down in the valley. Dad says, It's good we raised you young 'uns to be tough, because this is not a house for the faint of heart. Lori comments sarcastically, It's hard to believe that one day this will be all ours. Dad likes the place a lot, because it comes with plenty of acreage where he can build his fantasy Glass Castle.
They move in that very afternoon. Mom and Dad take over the room with the stove and make it the combined living room, master bedroom, art studio, and writer's study. The kids sleep in the middle room, and eventually, Dad builds rickety bunk beds with no mattresses so they no longer have to sleep in one bed together. Of course, there's seldom electricity, because they don't pay their bill, but when there is, they have to be very careful how they move in the kitchen, because the stove can give them a wicked electric shock.
At first, Mom tries to make living at this dump an adventure. She and
the girls try to make their own clothes with an oldfashioned foot treadle
sewing machine. Unfortunately, they're not very good at it and return
to shopping in the thrift shop. She also places her paintings up everywhere
in the house to make the walls more cheery. Jeannette says, I believe
she thought of her paintings as children and she wants them to feel that
they are all being treated equally. Jeannette, however, wants to know
if they are ever going home to which Dad answers, This is home.
Once again, the children must accept living in a dangerous situation,
because their parents aren't willing to do what's necessary to protect
them. There is also a sense of secrecy about why Mom and Dad returned
to Phoenix. Dad hates his childhood home and yet refuses to go back to
Arizona where they have a decent house to live in. Why is there such a
change?
Jeannette relates in this section how she and Brian try to make the best of living in the dingy house. Dad has marked off the foundation for the Glass Castle, but never seems to be home long enough to begin digging. So, Jeannette and Brian begin to dig and after a month have dug a hole big enough for them to disappear into. They are very proud of themselves, but once again, Dad dashes their dreams when he orders them to throw their accumulating garbage in the hole. Also, around the same time, a big, nasty river rat takes up residence in the house. They first see it in the punch bowl filled with sugar, and when they try to scare it away, it stands up and hisses at them. That night, Maureen, who is now five, wakes up from a nightmare insisting that the rat is in her bed. The other kids scoff, but when Jeannette turns on their light, there sits the big rat on Maureen's lavender blanket. Brian grabs a baseball bat, and Jeannette grabs the broom handle, and they trap the beast in the corner. Then, the little part Jack Russell dog, who has lived with them since following Brian home, grabs the rat and shakes it until he kills it. Ironically, Mom feels sorry for the rat which she says needs to eat, too. After that, Jeannette and Brian sleep with weapons in their beds while Maureen uses every excuse she can think of to sleep at a friend's house.
Mom continues to not care what other people think and tells the kids
to enlarge the garbage whole. Jeannette, however, wants to stop living
in a dump and take the time to fix up the house a little. One day, Dad
brings home a gallon of paint from somewhere and Jeannette is determined
that if they all worked together, they can transform the house by painting
the outside walls. None of the family is willing to help, so Jeannette
decides to do it all herself. In a few hours, she covers everything that
can be reached from the porch. None of the rest is impressed by her accomplishment
and will not help her finish it. Then, there's a cold snap and the can
of paint freezes, making it useless for finishing the house when the weather
warms. Now they have a weird-looking half-finished patch job - one that
announces to the world that the people inside the house want to fix it
up but lack the gumption to get the work done.
The metaphorical aspects of this chapter are evident: the garbage, the rat, and the frozen paint all represent the realities of Jeannette's life that she just can't seem to overcome.
Clapsaddle, Diane. "TheBestNotes on A Long Way Gone".
TheBestNotes.com.
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