The Glass Castle is a memoir by Jeanette Walls which recounts the bad experiences that the author and her siblings had to contend with in the growth process. Mainly, the author details the dysfunctional nature of the parent-child relationship in her family. Living in poverty, the author and her siblings are compelled to devise ways of survival given the neglect that is projected by their parents towards them. In the ensuing events, her father, Rex, is projected to have been irresponsible, inebriated and restless individual. Given his inability to provide for the family, the mantle of provision is assumed by the character’s mother. In the film, the reader is allowed insight on the negative implications of irresponsibility, denial and a sense of carelessness that is projected by the parents in the film towards their children. While the author’s mother is presented to have been a responsible party, her blind commitment to her dysfunctional husband leads to the disintegration of the family. Overall, Rose Mary and Rex Walls were unfit parents. Based on the analogy in The Glass Castle, the children would have been better off removed from the home.
Safety and Supervision
The Walls parents failed to provide safety and supervision for their children. The absence of safety and supervision is manifested at the beginning of the story, where the narrator explains that her memories of childhood are enshrouded in the event where she caught fire. The experience shapes the character’s interpretation of the world around her. Notably, Jeanette was only three years old when she caught fire. At that age, it was irresponsible of her parents to let her near a source of fire. With regards to the onset of the fire, Jeanette contends that “when I stood up and started stirring the hot dogs again, I felt a blaze of heat on my right side. I turned to see where it was coming from and realized my dress was on fire” (Walls 5). The statement is a reflection of the negligence that was manifested by the author’s parents towards their children.
The element of absence of care for the safety and security is also manifested when Brian is molested by their grandmother. Such an action would have been averted if Rex and Rose Mary had assumed responsibility for the safety and security of their children. Additionally, Rex’s inability to sustain employment was a source of financial insecurity in the family. Subsequently, the family was compelled to move repeatedly within short periods of time. The need for security in the development process is highlighted in Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs (Poston 351). The theory suggests that childhood abuse and the absence of financial security inspires post-traumatic stress disorder. The absence of security can be used to explain the sense of drifting that was witnessed in Jeanette – from one occupation to the next. The scenarios highlighted above cause anxiety and fear in children. Such anxiety may continue for a long time. The absence of security, safety and supervision attests to Mary and Rex’s poor parenting skills, which inspires restlessness in the family.
Stimulation & Education
Rex and Rose Mary failed to provide stimulation and education to their children. Such an action is a mark of poor parenting. The absence of stimulation and education hinders Jeanette’s and her siblings’ initiative and autonomy. For instance, while Jeanette and her siblings are committed to a class for the challenged because their mother forgot their school records and birth certificates which would have proven their learning accomplishments. Notably, “the principal looked at mom over his black-rimmed glasses but remained seated behind his desk. Mom explained that we’d left Phoenix in a teensy bit of a hurry, you know how that goes, and unfortunately, in all the commotion, she forgot to pack stuff like school records an birth certificates” (Walls 85). The statement offers insight on the lack of stimulation that surrounded the Walls family as a result of the parents’ lack of care for the welfare of their children.
Based on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, the absence of simulation and education, as projected by Rex and Rose Mary towards their children hinders the realization of the third and fourth stages in the development process (Poston 349). For instance, when Jeanette arrives in her new school in Welch, she is unable to make friends with other students. The act is an indication of lack of stimulation on the part of the student. Thus, “I chewed slowly, staring intently at my bite marks in the bread to delay as long as possible the moment I would have to leave the cafeteria and go out to the playground” (87). Jeanette is unable to fulfil the need to belong and forge intimate friendships with her classmates when she joins the new school. The lack of simulation also affects the children’s esteem. The siblings feel unaccomplished and inadequate when they join the new school. Such hindrances provide an impediment to the realization of individual growth. Rex and Rose Mary were largely responsible for the poor esteem and sense of belongingness that was manifested by their children in the educational journey.
Physical Care
One of the most important influencers in the child development process is provided by the ease of access to physical care. In The Glass Castle, Jeanette and her siblings are deprived of basic necessities such as clothes, food and shelter given their parents’ inability to secure sustained employment. For instance, despite assuming ownership of their grandmother’s house upon her death, Rex and Rose Mary are unable to maintain the house after a while. Subsequently, the family was forced to move again. To try and justify their inability to provide for the family, Rose Mary claims that “you can be hungry every now and then, but once you eat, you’re okay…you can get cold for a while, but you always warm up” (119). The statement was intended to justify the parent’s inability to oversee the physical care of their children. Such hindrances inspire psychological trauma and hinder the realization of the first stage of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs (Poston 348). Overall, the provision of physical care would have played an influential role in improving the children’s psychological situation.
Conclusion
Rex and Rose Mary failed to succinctly provide for their children. Their actions attest to the sense of recklessness and irresponsibility that underlined the interactions with Jeanette and her siblings. Some of the failures of the two parents is manifested in the absence of safety and supervision, lack of physical care and the provision of minimal stimulation and supervision to the children. Consequently, the children should be removed from the home to be placed in foster care. The instances of abuse are discernible. To protect the children, it is imperative to seek out better care for them.
Works Cited
Poston, Bob. "Maslow’s hierarchy of needs." The Surgical Technologist, vol. 41, no. 8, 2009, pp. 347-353.
Walls, Jeanette. The Glass Castle. Scribner, 2005.
