The Glass Castle is an incredible and very heartwarming true story about the relationship between parents and children. Love and indifference, care and insouciance, sublime topics, and the absolute hopelessness of everyday life are two sides of the same coin. Furthermore, this coin is spinning so fast that it is hard to keep track of which side you are on now. The cruelty of children is an echo from childhood, although Jeannette destroys this stereotype, demonstrating the prosperous future of the main heroine. The purpose of this paper is to identify the factors that influence the successful future of the main character Jeannette.
The heroine of an autobiographical story listens to Vivaldi, relaxes in a comfortably furnished house, wears pearls, and lives on Park Avenue. Meanwhile, her parents are worried about searching for food and a place to sleep. An intriguing start for a novel, taking into consideration that the next page is devoted to her mother. She washes her face for a visit to a restaurant and tells her adult daughter about Picasso’s works, the pink period, cubism, and life values. A series of memories of Jeannette dwells on her childhood, wandering with parents, a brother and a sister in the desert and small towns. On the one hand, a feeling of hunger, cardboard boxes instead of a bed, father’s frequent drinking periods, painted spots to hide holes in pants, and food from garbage cans seem terrifying. On the other hand, upbringing and education, love for the family, for parents who refuse the benefits of civilization and perceive life as a great adventure.
The heroine and her family’s life changes at a time when they are forced to flee the city. This time they move to a huge mansion in Phoenix, which the deceased grandmother rented out. Besides, children are enrolled in a literature study group for gifted children at school, dad gets a job, and mom opens an art studio. She also dances with her dad to a wide variety of music. There are many social problems that children face behind this seemingly optimistic picture of survival. Staying in grandmother Erma’s house, dad’s mother becomes a painful experience for children who are trying to justify their father.
Moving into adulthood and independent choice lead Jeannette to the position of editor-in-chief. All the children of the family move to New York, as well as their parents who consciously become homeless. Anyway, it does not prevent Jeannette’s father from getting the required amount of money so that his daughter can continue her college education. The world that Janette, her sisters, and a brother escaped from does not turn into the Glass Castle promised by his father. The matured children, being always ready to help each other, are able to happily arrange their life, reminiscent of a glass castle that can crash from a rough touch at any moment.
Parents cannot be chosen; children perceive the world as an absolute givenness and learn to live with any parents, love them unconditionally. Generally, such children fight for their families more than their parents. Even more remarkable is the fact that under the current conditions, Jeannette could become successful in her career. The primary factor is her incredible desire to accompany all her life, to break out of the existing reality, hopeless poverty, and the absence of any possibility for a happy future. The second factor relates to the personal qualities of the main character, and she is capable of maintaining her priorities and following the dream, despite any difficulties.
It is possible to say that The Glass Castle is consonant with the present time. Indeed, even today, one can often see how a good idea, the right message of upbringing, turns into its antipode over time. It is difficult to determine the secret of success of the main character. On the one hand, an echo from childhood makes Jeannette be steady on her purpose and achieve goals; on the other hand, hard work and the help of relatives allow her to overcome the troubles that arise on the path to success.