Movie Connection

Blue Valentine is a movie about two people who fall in love and have a child together. As years go by they start to fall out of love, he starts drinking, and she refuses to show compassion. This is like The Glass Castle because Rex Walls is a drunk and Rose Mary Walls shows little compassion to her husband and children. There are several scenes in the book and the movie where the couples declare their love and hatred for each other. Here is a clip of the movie showing the husband showing up to his wife's workplace drunk. Her co-worker thinks he is mentally and physical abusive.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1ZxwaKA1V8

Song Connections

The Glass Castle is all about a dysfunctional family that is a topic a lot of people can relate to so, there are a number of connections to the book from the world around us. Here is a list of songs that relate the novel, The Glass Castle.

1. Concrete Angel by Martina McBride – This song is about a mother who was abusive towards her daughter both physical and neglect. Some could say that he Walls just had a different way of raising their children but others could argue that by neglecting the children and their needs in times of need, they performed serious abuse.

2. The Climb by Miley Cyrus - Jeannette Walls certainly had a few obstacles (to say the least) in her lifetime to overcome; a drunken father, a selfish mother, several occurrences of potential rape. But it was the memories of hard times and the lessons she learned along the way that allowed her to get so far. The lyrics to this song say, “ It’s not about how fast I get there. It ain’t about what’s waiting on the other side. It’s the climb.” Despite all odds, this brave little girl kept her head high the whole journey up the colossal mountain and turned her life around, becoming a strong and successful women.

3. Blown Away by Carrie Underwood - The story behind this song is about a child who has grown up in a dysfunctional family and wants to leave it all behind… wants it to just get “blown away” by the twisters in Oklahoma where she lives. This is the same way Jeanette and her sibling felt when they left Welch to go live out their dreams in New York City. They knew they would not get anywhere in Welch and had to leave even if it meant leaving their parents behind. After all, it was Rose Mary and Rex Walls who were responsible for the rut the children were stuck in.

Mountain Goat

In the beginning of the book, Rex Walls starts calling his daughter, Jeanette,  “Mountain Goat”. The nickname symbolizes her character traits, foreshadows events in the end of the novel, and expresses their strong father – daughter relationship.

        Jeannette Walls is a strong woman because of her tough childhood. Throughout her youth she endured through any struggle she came across and never lost sight of herself. She could climb life’s mountains without losing her footing, like a mountain goat. This persistence and endurance foreshadows the realization that her and her siblings need a fresh start to live full and stable, even if it means not living with or near their parents. The last meaning to the goat is to highlight the bond between Rex and Jeanette. Mr. Walls gave no other child a nickname. This shows his favoritism towards his middle daughter. He never got into huge screaming matches with her until she was punished for back talking her mother. Memories of demon hunting, Venus, and the Glass Castle all made Rex’s death extremely hard for Jeannette Walls. He had always loved her and she had always loved him no matter how plastered he got. Their bond was something truly irreplaceable.

Rose Mary Walls

The mother of Jeanette Walls and her siblings can be described in one word. Selfish. Rose has four children that she would disown in a heartbeat if it meant pursuing her own dreams. Being an advocate of family strength and togetherness, she decided it would be best to keep the Texas land in the family rather than sell it and raise the kids up properly. She highly believes in self-sufficiency and ignores the needs of her children. Although this belief taught the children not to be dependent on other people or things and eventually led to their success later in life, Mrs. Walls hypocritically relied on her other family members to pursue her art dream. By using her deceased mother’s money and house, she bought art supply and created her own painting/writing space. She only worked two teaching jobs in Jeanette’s lifetime yet she painted all those years (She wasn’t buying the paint with her own money). And even then she still never got her career off the ground.