Entry 4: Title Significance  

       The title of Jeanette Walls Glass Castle has one literal meaning. When Jeanette was a young child her father always told her one day they would live in a glass castle. Jeanette Walls describes that “it will have a glass ceiling and thick glass walls and even a glass staircase” (25). Walls father had many dreams and hopes for the future and with all his intelligence he really hoped those would lead to success. But he never followed through with his promises and the kids started to lose faith in him. The Glass Castle is a fantasy of Rex Walls dreams and is a goal in life for him and the family. Jeanette would love for this to happen but she can’t count on him anymore because although he doesn’t realize he lets his family down all the time. Rex Walls asks his children “have I ever let you down?” and under Brian’s breathe he said “yes” (78).  The repetition of glass castle throughout the story is almost a slight case of anaphora repeating something over and over again to make a point.  The title Glass Castle almost foreshadows the desirable life everyone hopes to have but just can’t reach it. It seems like every time the Walls are in a state of panic Rex Walls talks about the glass castle to brighten the tone of the story. At the end of the book Rex says, “never did build that glass castle. Those were some damn fine plans”(229). This is where he is about to die and he never did pursue his plans of the glass castle. But he always left the littlest bit of courage with Jeanette rather than anyone else because she counted on him. The title Glass Castle can’t always be looked at as an invention of a materialistic glass castle. It can also be said that the glass castle is metaphorical for a place to count on when life bites you in the back and a place when all else fails to keep you going.

                                                                                          Word Count: 339 words