QUOTATIONS - IMPORTANT QUOTES AND ANALYSIS

The following quotations are important at various points of the story (Scribner, New York, 2005):


1. I was sitting in a taxi wondering if I had overdressed for the evening, when I looked out the window and saw Mom rooting through a Dumpster.

(page 3; This is the striking opening line that immediately differentiates between the author's world and that of her parents.)


2. In my mind, Dad was perfect, although he did have what Mom called a bit of a drinking situation.

(pg. 23; Here Jeannette begins her description of the relationship with her father.)

3. She tells them that he wouldn't take no for an answer, and she wanted to get away from her mother. She says, I had no idea your father would be even worse.

(pg. 27; This shows how Rose Mary married to get away from home, but ended up in a worse situation than she already had.

4. That's the thing to remember about all monsters: they love to frighten people, but the minute you stare them down, they turn tail and run.

(pg. 37; This is one of the lessons Dad taught Jeannette that she always remembered and took to heart.)

5. Years from now, when all the junk they got is broken and long forgotten, you'll still have your stars.

(pg. 41; This is how Dad justifies having no Christmas gifts for the kids.)

6. Dad points to the top of the fire where the flames dissolve into an invisible shimmery heat that makes the desert waver like a mirage. He calls it the zone known in physics as the boundary between turbulence and order. Dad says, It's a place where no rules apply, or at least they haven't figured ‘em out yet. You-all got a little too close to it today.

(pg. 61; This idea of the boundary between turbulence and order parallels the lives of the Walls children.)


7. Mom gave me a startled look. I'd broken one of our unspoken rules: We were always supposed to pretend our life was one long and incredibly fun adventure.

(pg. 69; This comment shows how Jeannette's parents do not want their children to ever voice the truth about their lives.)


8. In the pitch-black night, there is nothing to look at but the road ahead, lit by the car's headlights.

(pg. 90; Jeannette makes this observation as they leave Battle Mountain and head for Phoenix.)

9. There's no reason to grieve. We've all got to go someday, and Grandma had a life that was longer and fuller than most. And now we have a place to live.

(pg. 92; This is Mom's observation when she tells Jeannette that Grandma Smith has died.)


10. Who cares what they think? None of them had ever had their hand licked by a cheetah.

(pg. 109; This is Jeannette's observation when people complain about the family jumping the barrier and touching the cheetah.)


11. When Dad goes crazy, we all have our own ways of shutting down and closing off, and that was what we did that night.

(pg. 115; Jeannette makes this comment in response to Dad burning down the Christmas tree.)

12. You know you're down and out when the Okies laugh at you.

(pg. 129; Mom observes this when the poor Oklahomans stare at them sleeping in their car.)


13. I have to believe they'll come back . . . If I don't believe, then they might not return. They might leave us forever.

(pg. 146; Jeannette makes this comment after Mom and Dad decide to ride back to Phoenix and won't let the kids go along.)


14. I got in a fight with the mountain and the mountain won.

(pg. 169; Dad comes home drunk and badly beaten and this is how he explains where he's been and what he's done.)


15. That's true, but it could also improve my self-esteem. And at times like these, self-esteem is even more vital than food.

(pg. 186; This is Mom's comment when she refuses to sell the diamond ring to buy food.)

16. Jeannette believes that a newspaper reporter, instead of being holed up in isolation, is in touch with the rest of the world. What the reporter writes influences what people think about and talk about the next day; he knows what is really going on. She decides she wants to be one of the people who knows what is really going on.

(pg. 204; This is a summary of everything Jeannette wants to do with her life.)


17. If you want to be treated like a mother, you should act like one.

(pg. 219; Jeannette tells her mother this when her mother won't go to work.)


18. Jeannette braces herself, expecting to hear a scream, but there is only silence and then a small, broken whimpering.

(pg, 228; This occurs after Jeannette tells Lori that Dad has stolen all their money.

19. I'm not upset because I'll miss you. I'm upset because you get to go to New York, and I'm stuck here. It's not fair.

(pg. 237; This shows Mom's supreme selfishness.)

20. . . . as soon as I finish classes, I'm getting on the next bus out of here. If the bus stops running, I'll hitchhike. I'll walk if I have to. Go ahead and build the Glass Castle, but don't do it for me.

(pg. 238; This is how Jeannette finally convinces Dad she's leaving for New York.)


21. The homeless sometimes get the lives they want.

(pg. 256; Jeannette makes this observation to her Political Science professor from her own experiences.)


22. All those years in Welch with no food, no coal, no plumbing, and Mom had been sitting on land worth a million dollars.

(pg. 273; Jeannette shows how appalled she is to discover had had this kind of money all along.)

23. After Maureen's arraignment, the entire family becomes enraged with each other, giving vent to all the years of hurt and anger, unloading his or hurt accumulated grievances and blaming the others for allowing the most fragile one of us to break into pieces.

(pg. 276; This occurs after Maureen's trial.)