The relationship between father and daughter, under the right circumstances, should be cherished for eternity. In the memoir The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls recounts the relationships between Rex Walls, her father, and all of his daughters. For the reason that the story is told through the eyes of Jeannette the father-daughter relationship focused on the most is that of herself and her father. Jeannette and her siblings, Lori, Brian and Maureen, had an unorthodox upbringing due to their parents crazy antics and behavior. They had a childhood full of broken down homes, empty stomachs, no money, and the children became parentified as well. Rex was a mean alcoholic who spent all the family’s money on beer or cigarettes. Rosemary, Rex’s wife
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Jeannette quickly became Rex’s favorite child as a result of her fast forgiving nature. Jeannette was nicknamed “mountain goat” by her father and was the only one of Rex’s children that had a nickname. When she was a child she could comprehend that the things her father was doing were bad but her undying love and trust in her father allowed her to see past all his wrongdoings. “ In my mind, Dad was perfect, although he did have what mom called a little bit of a drinking situation.”(23) Jeannette had the ability to mitigate what was actually happening with her father and see him as the best dad in the world even when he very clearly was not even close to deserving title of ‘best dad.’ As Jeannette was maturing and starting to really register reality she became more and more disgusted with her father’s issues. It wasn’t until her junior year in high school that Jeannette had an epiphany and realized what harm Rex was actually doing to the family. She ends up leaving Welch at the end of that school year to go to New York with Lori, who had left previously. In time when the whole family is living in New York, Rex had suffered a heart attack and was placed into a hospital. “An hour later they had turned off the machines.”(278) For anyone losing a parent is an extremely wearisome trauma to overcome. Jeannette had taken it the hardest she usually found herself not wanting to be where she was or doing what she was doing. All in all Jeannette had become lost after her father’s passing. She even left her husband a year after Rex died because she required a change in her life. One of the most well-founded relationships in the entire family was that of Jeannette and
Jeannette quickly became Rex’s favorite child as a result of her fast forgiving nature. Jeannette was nicknamed “mountain goat” by her father and was the only one of Rex’s children that had a nickname. When she was a child she could comprehend that the things her father was doing were bad but her undying love and trust in her father allowed her to see past all his wrongdoings. “ In my mind, Dad was perfect, although he did have what mom called a little bit of a drinking situation.”(23) Jeannette had the ability to mitigate what was actually happening with her father and see him as the best dad in the world even when he very clearly was not even close to deserving title of ‘best dad.’ As Jeannette was maturing and starting to really register reality she became more and more disgusted with her father’s issues. It wasn’t until her junior year in high school that Jeannette had an epiphany and realized what harm Rex was actually doing to the family. She ends up leaving Welch at the end of that school year to go to New York with Lori, who had left previously. In time when the whole family is living in New York, Rex had suffered a heart attack and was placed into a hospital. “An hour later they had turned off the machines.”(278) For anyone losing a parent is an extremely wearisome trauma to overcome. Jeannette had taken it the hardest she usually found herself not wanting to be where she was or doing what she was doing. All in all Jeannette had become lost after her father’s passing. She even left her husband a year after Rex died because she required a change in her life. One of the most well-founded relationships in the entire family was that of Jeannette and