Title
The Glass Castle
Author
Jeannette Walls
Date Published
2005
Meaning of the Title
It refers to the dream that Dad had once his family is financially
solvent - to build a glass home. He designs blueprints and swears that
someday he will build the house. Everyone knows it will never happen.
Setting
The Places: Nevada, Arizona, California, West Virginia, and New York.
The time: 1957 through 2005
Protagonist
Jeannette Walls
Antagonists
Rex and Rose Mary Walls
Mood
The mood is at times troubling and even quite sad, but for the most
part is continuously hopeful and uplifting.
Point of View
The point of view is first person
Tense
The story is told in the past tense as a part of Jeannette's flashback
on her life.
Rising Action
The rising action begins with Jeannette seeing her mother searching
through a dumpster and then begins a series of flashbacks to being raised
by the homeless woman she now sees. It ends with the mental breakdown
of her sister and the temporary breakup of her family.
Exposition
The author tells us the story of the Walls family, which is extremely
dysfunctional, and yet the members love each other deeply.
Climax
The climax occurs when Maureen is committed to a mental institution
and the family blames each other for their failure to help her.
Outcome
Dad dies and for five years the family barely sees each other. Then
all but Maureen meet for Thanksgiving with no recriminations
Major Themes
Forgiveness, sometimes the most mature and responsible people in
a family are the children, not the parents, fearlessness and loyalty,
and lost dreams.
Clapsaddle, Diane. "TheBestNotes on A Long Way Gone".
TheBestNotes.com.
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