Jeanette Wall's explains her father's description of his 'wondrous' plans:
"Like build the Glass Castle. All of Dad’s engineering skills and mathematical genius were coming together in one special project: a great big house he was going to build for us in the desert. It would have a glass ceiling and thick glass walls and even a glass staircase. The Glass Castle would have solar cells on the top that would catch the sun’s rays and convert them into electricity for heating and cooling and running all the appliances. It would even have its own water-purification system. Dad had worked out the architecture and the floor plans and most of the mathematical calculations. He carried around the blueprints for the Glass Castle wherever we went, and sometimes he’d pull them out and let us work on the design for our rooms.
All we had to do was find gold, Dad said, and we were on the verge of that. Once he finished the Prospector and we struck it rich, he’d start work on our Glass Castle." (Walls 25).
Use this description and FIND AN IMAGE OF YOUR OWN, and consider what this passage represents about the Walls family and what they value. Your image should help you to take this description out of the book and into the real world. What does this image of the Glass Castle mean beyond the Walls family? Beyond family? How can you connect between this image and one of your own?
Remember, your response should be a paragraph or two and use SPECIFIC WORDS AND PHRASES from the quotation above.
The glass castle is what Rex had always been chasing for and he would spare no effort to build that, with all his "engineering skills" and "mathematical genius"(Walls 25). And he even "carried blueprints around wherever they went"(Walls 17). To the whole family it was a place where everything was automatic, with "electricity for heating and cooling and running all the appliances" and its "own water-purification system"(Walls 25). It was a dream and immortal belief.
ReplyDeleteThe whole image of the glass castle was like a paradise which was cut off from the realistic society and enabled the family to live with little concern about secular and materialistic issues. While such a place where enable people to hide from all kinds of problems in the realistic world, just like the Peach Garden in one of Chinese traditional tales, seems to be unreal. And the glass castle, as vulnerable as it was, was like a daydream which might never come true. Which reminds me of the role of Quixote created by Cervantes, who was dreaming of becoming the strongest knight and pretended the surroundings around him were characters in an adventurous novel. However, similar to these crazy people, inside of our hearts there once existed or still exist dreams we hold on, just like wishing to be the president when we are small or own a forest and living in the caves. Some of the ideas are too crazy to be realized, while others only need efforts and deserve errors and trials. It's up to us to make the decision what kind of life we really need and such a decision of whether to put dreams into reality can really decide our life tracks.
Peach Garden..... Ha ha ha ......very cute translation..
DeleteBelieve me I've tried my best:(
DeleteThe great glass castle that Jeannette father promise many times represents his hope for a better life for all his families. The glass castle is well-equipped and all family members could live together in this marvelous building without worrying about any hardship exits in the world. Jeannette’s father value the integrity of his whole family a lot, he wanted to create a place suitable for all he loved the most. All the fantastic idea of the glass castle, including the “solar cells on the top”, “water-purification system” both make their life much easier and modern.
ReplyDeleteHowever dad’s paranoia about the society and his alcoholism keep the whole family always moving around which make their life extremely unstable and his dream of building this magnificent shelter impossible to come true. It is just quite similar to those people who in real life always set a big goal before they start and when they really about to get their hands dirty they will just be distracted by so many business in the world. And they keep making excuses for themselves that attribute no help to fulfill what they have dreamed about before. What you dreamed will never come true if you don't really mean it and put heart to it. And if Jeannette's father doesn't change this kind of life attitude, he will definitely fail to build the glass castle for his family.
It's great to have dreams! Without dreams, without hopes. But what kind of dreams should we put all of our hearts in and spare no effort in chasing for them? And what kind of dreams would be thought crazy? Since sometimes crazy ideas are the sources of amazing discoveries or inventions.
DeleteI agree with you that Jeannette father wanted to created a place suitable for his families he loved. But considering his magnificent "blueprint", was the Glass Castle in his mind really a good place for his children to grow up in. No schools, no enough, and no connections with the world outside. Maybe the Glass Castle is just a dream of his own, and one that he imposed on his families.
DeleteIs there any evidence showing that Jeannette's father attributes no help to fulfill what he has dreamed before?I think Glass Castle is just a illusory dream that Jeannette's father gives faith in to live on.It is not a big real goal for him to achieve.
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ReplyDeleteAccording to Jeannette’s father, the glass castle “has solar cells on the top that would catch the sun’s rays and convert them into electricity for heating and cooling and running all the appliances. It would even have its own water-purification system.”(Walls 25) It seems like a utopia. What Walls family values most is this kind of casual lifestyle and a heaven for peace. In other words, it’s living a harmonious, steady and cozy life with self-sufficiency, without any quarrels or vagrant. I think, in reality, everyone depicts their own blueprints for “glass castle” to demonstrate their own hope, belief or ideal. “Glass” is transparent, pure and clear. It’s like a mirror, through which we can see a clear image of ourselves. Besides, “glass Castle” is also a shelter for men where all the secular trifles are cut off, only warmth and sunshine penetrating, just as in the film Frozen, the castle created by Elsa’s magic keeps her away from all the troubles.
ReplyDeleteIn my childhood, I also dream of living in a fairytale “glass castle”, where I can get rid of parents’ chattering and restrictions, where I can follow my heart and do whatever I want. When I grow up, its meaning enlarges. I expect there are no grades, stress and competitions. While for refugees, the answer will change. They may expect somewhere without wars and poverty. It’s evident that glass castle exists in everyone’s inner heart. Everyone has an ideal, sometimes virtual but powerful. It can illuminate us and give us motivation to keep advancing. What matters isn’t whether it can come true, but how it will influence our deed and shape our life.
According to the "cozy" life Vicki mentioned, I just wondering why Rex hated the cozy life in the realistic world, while sought for another kind of cozy life like in the glass castle? What was a "cozy" life meant to him after all?
DeleteYes, the Glass Castle may be kind of a lifestyle that you don't face the life in reality.
DeleteIn the mind of the Walls family, there was a blueprint for the Glass Castle. The Glass Castle will be totally made of glass and built in the desert. The glass may be an image of being pure and without pollution. The desert may refer to someplace that is peaceful and has not been cultivated and without noise and disturbance from the outside world. I think the Walls family value a peaceful, pure and simple life. They want to be themselves, depend on themselves and enjoy the natural beauty and wild happiness of life. However, it is just their ideal life style, they are just on the way of pursuing such a way of life. The Glass Castle may be kind of something you are seeking for but it is also unrealistic and unreachable at the same time.
ReplyDeleteWe may all have a dream in our mind. But due to various limitations, we cannot realize the dream we conceive of. What come to my mind is a magnificent mountain standing before us. We want to conquer it step by step with the desire to catch a sight of the whole world above the top of the mountain. Time and time again, we imagine how amazing it is to appreciate the most beautiful scenery. Therefore we have a blueprint in mind just as the Walls family and somehow we make effort to make it true. There is no denying that it is a wonderful dream, but can we really make it? Perhaps no matter how hard we try, we can not climb to the top of the mountain. Dream is something complex. Sometimes we can achieve what we want with our effort, but sometimes it is only a dream that you cannot reach. It is sad to admit this, but it is a fact of life.
I just doubt whether they were seeking for a really simple and pure life. Since all they wanted since now were full of excitement and craziness. And I'm wondering what if Rex could find the gold and build the glass castle? Would him be satisfied about that? Or was he just searching for things that made his life extraordinary? And would such kind life be ended?
DeleteThe blueprints for the Glass Castle make me think of Jeanette’s father sent the stars as presents to his children. It seems that Jeanette’s father try to build up an ideal place for their family, the place is far away the normal like, do not have pollution and it is as wonderful as Utopia that describe in Plato’s book. In Plato’s book, he thought that the existed political system was bad, only the philosopher could save the world.
ReplyDeleteAt the same way, Jeanette’s father thought that the life in the city was not good since although they “lived in fancy apartment, but their air was so polluted they could not even see the stars”. The city life is just like the political system described in Plato’s book, the Glass Castle is the Utopia that the father built in his philosophy for his family. He wants to escape from the existing world since it out of his value of freedom.
The Glass Castle will be built on desert and use many clean energies which seemed represent that the ideal world is not easy to be built in the area where have been polluted badly, such as city. However, I wonder that the Glass Castle is so an ideal world that it is really hard to achieve just like the Utopia, it is right for the parents to encourage children like up the sky, own unrealistic fantasy all the time and forget to return to the ground?
Yes, a utopia is a heaven. Heaven May be beautiful, but by its very definition, it cannot exist here on earth. Is this castle actually defined by its impossibility? Like finding gold? What does this say about all out dreams? Are they so intangible that they never truly exist?
DeleteFrom the description, Jeannette’s father, Rex, is talented of engineering and mathematics. Rex promises that he will build a glass castle for the family one day. Jeannette describes that everything in the castle is made by glass, for instance, “a glass ceiling”, “thick glass walls” and “a glass staircase”. For the Wall’s family, the glass castle represents a utopia where they do not have to worry about anything that they may encounter in reality, for example, the expenses or housing problem. Unfortunately, a utopia is never existed in the real world.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was small, I always hope that there is a paradise without schools and academic stress. In my imagination, I do not have to study and compete with other peers. I can live any way I want. Everyone has his/her own dreams and hopes that dream will come true. However, as mentioned earlier, we cannot find the glass castle in reality. Hopes and expectations are sometimes not met. As a result, it is reminded that we should lower our expectations to fulfill part of the hopes. It is important for one to have hopes, however, the hopes have to be reachable. Otherwise, it is just nonsense.
The text makes me notice how Jeanette describes her father's project as if it has been finished already.
ReplyDelete"It would have a glass ceiling and thick glass walls and even a glass staircase. The Glass Castle would have solar cells on the top that would catch the sun’s rays and convert them into electricity for heating and cooling and running all the appliances. It would even have its own water-purification system." (Walls, 25.)
The idea of making the Glass Castle had Jeanette's father so obsessed that his family already new every single detail of the project and they could help their father adjusting details. Father had stuck the Glass Castle in every members's mind.
I think that by making the Glass Castle so fancy and nice was not only a matter to have a "rich man" life and enjoy rich life but I think he also includes things as water purification and solar system, because he wanted to live isolated from society and he didn't want to depend on others, in this case he didm't want that his water and his electrify were in hands of other persons.
Glass castle seemed like a promise and a daydream. One the one hand, it’s a promise. We can see from the paragraph that Dad “carried around the blueprints for the Glass Castle wherever we went”. It shows special meaning because dad did not show any favor to anything before. He can throw away children’s pet. He can also think everything is not vital to him. But he showed constant passion and patience to glass castle which explains that he do want to built glass castle. At the same time, glass castle is also a string that connects family members tightly with an ideal home. But on the other hand, glass castle is also a daydream which can never be achieved. A castle which was made up of glasses sounds romantic but fragile. The blueprints are good but the reality is tough. Dad keep planning their fantastic life instead of endeavoring to earn enough money which can make it come true. No matter how extraordinary the glass castle is, it is a building in the dessert where far away from human-beings. This also reflects that dad’s ideal life is still in an abnormal way which is unconnected with others. It is interesting that there is a confliction between the dream and the way of achieving the dream. If you want to earn enough money to keep the style of living, you have to give up it first and get involved in other people.
ReplyDeleteIt reminds me of my own dad. He is a fair-minded person who despises something he cannot change, like the system of officialdom. But he also cannot deny that this system makes us living better. There seems an untold glass castle in his heart which others don’t know. It only turns out that we keep living peaceful. Although I did not get through many “adventures” as little Jeanette, I can hardly say that I hate normal or even ordinary life.
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ReplyDeleteThe glass castle that Jeannette father imagines for a long time may represent his desire for a wonderful life. Why he chooses to “build a great big house for his family in the desert” because he wants to stay away from the city and the discrimination and indifference.”The Glass Castle would have solar cells on the top that would catch the sun’s rays and convert them into electricity for heating and cooling and running all the appliances. It would even have its own water-purification system.”means that they no longer need to rely on the outside world and live well by themselves.We can find that the father is negative about the outside world but treasures his family a lot.
ReplyDeleteThis reminds me of one my classmate in my childhood.He had autism and was talent in painting.But he didn’t like talking much with others.Many children played trick on him.Once our teacher read his writing that he wanted to draw a house which was floating in the air and he could live in it with his dog.From my perspective,they(my classmate and the dad) are somehow in the same conditions.They get hurt from the outside world so want to create a new space for themselves and it is a way to escape the real world.
Yes, I think that the example from your experience is good to illustrate the father's sickness to society. However, I am just wondering why Rex is so tired of the city life. Does he also have a kind of autism, like your classmate is diagnosed?
DeleteI don't think he has a kind of autism.Maybe the death of Jeannette's sister gives him some irritation which makes him negative about the world.Losing job and frustration in the city aggravate his negation.
DeleteI also believe that this kind of people may get hurt from ouside world,so they try to choose another way to face the world.I think it can not only protect themselves,but also create their own standards of value.
Deleteurban design. And we need to design a building, a park, a block, or even a city. We always focus on a design for a entire semester. Sometimes, we just sleep 3 hours a day, which lasts a whole week or even longer. We just can’t let go every detail because we regard our works as babies to which we are going to give birth. They contain our great efforts and a part of our dreams. And Jeanette’s Dad had been “pregnant” with this baby for decades! I can see what an indispensable role the Glass Castle played in Dad’s heart. He will spare his whole life chasing this dream without any hesitation.
ReplyDeleteThe most beautiful thing is, Dad “let us work on the design for our rooms” (Walls, 25). I thought Dad is a kind of self-centered, and even a little bit selfish. It’s all his decision to get away from civilization and pursue the unrealistic dream and the kids could do nothing but just follow him. Their opinions had never been taken into consideration. However, by letting children to participate in the design, he showed some respect to his kids and shared the dream together with them. The Glass Castle was no longer something just about Dad, but something about the family. It’s just like we urban designers always cooperate to finish a big design. And every member in the team endows a great meaning to the work.
Last but not least, I think that the Glass Castle is a spirit support of Dad and even the whole family. They led a very poor material life. But they had a dream inside, which made them hopeful and peaceful and strong. I believe that they cared more about the process of chasing the dream than the result. Consequently, not only the Glass Castle represents the ideal life they want to lead, but also it is the symbol of spirit and hope.
Since Jeannette's dad have excellent engineering skills and mathematical genius, why didn't he just use his skills and talent to make his family a better life? Or to him, building a Glass Castle is the best way to have a wonderful life and don't let his kids down. How author describes the Glass Castle is a interesting thing to talk about. She uses lots of details, that she may try to prove that Glass Castle can be real ,at least she once believe in that, may be still have a faith now.
ReplyDeleteGlass Castle is just like a dream. How far is it from reality to your dream? It's an eternal question, and you could never find the right answer. Some dreams can come true, some dreams are just dreams.We have to confess that we are all dreamers. Dreams can give us hope and make us strong.
Actually, I always believe there is a better world,not just for but for all of us. However, if we want a better world and a better life , we have to suffer first, because I think the amount of pain and joy in everyone's life is the same, if you just enjoy only, then there will be more pain in the rest of your life.But if you learn to suffer first, then comes the happiness.I don't know if my belief is true. It just like the Glass Castle, keeping pushing me ahead, or else, I shall be lazier and lazier ,seek easy and comfort,and at last, my life will be in a mess.
Just like that, Glass Castle is a symbol of dream. No matter it can come true or not, What it really affect is you. You believe in it, you are full of hope, you gain the motivation and confidence to realize it.
And maybe it is more like a faith in your mind, Though there are so much temper and so much darkness in the outer world, we can always keep a piece of place peaceful because your Glass Castle.
Why didn't Dad make them a better life? I think the key point is, what kind of life he thought is better? Actually, not only the Dad is a genius, but the Mom is a great person,too. She is good at painting and writing. I am pretty sure that she was well educated and skillful enough to make a wealthy life. However, that kind of life is not what they are eager for.
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ReplyDeleteThe Glass Castle is a symbol that full of metaphors.To some extent,it is a Utopia of the Walls family.The description of this passage reveals many characteristics of this family:
ReplyDeleteFirst,they have excellent personal abilities,such as "engineering skills and mathematical genius"of the Dad,they are intelligent and well-educated,which makes it possible for them to develop the consciousness of independence.
Second,the Glass Castle has "a glass ceiling and thick glass walls and even a glass staircase",which means that almost all things are made of glass.Glass is very pure,it means that they have innocence hearts and souls which are not constrained by the traditions and routines of common society. But it is also trivial and fragile,not something noble like crystal.It means that they still have to fight against the real difficulties.For example,they are not rich,they need to struggle with financial problems.
Third,it has"solar cells on the top that would catch the sun's rays and convert them in to electricity for heating and cooling and running all the appliances",at the same time,it even has"its own water-purification system".On the one hand,the solar cell catching the sun's rays stand for their optimistic nature and positive attitudes toward their lives.Even though they are under hard conditions,they still can keep absorbing the happiness and hope for themselves,like absorbing sunlight for their daily lives.On the other hand,they are far away from modern society,they don't need external help,just like the Glass Castle does not need electricity,sun's rays are enough;and its own water-purification system means that it can support itself and make balance by itself.
Beyond the Walls family,the Glass Castle can also be concluded as a symbol of spirit,it has many meanings,including innocent,independent,optimistic attitudes and the eternal pursuit of the happiness.
As for my own image,I also have such experience.When I was very young, every time I met some unsatisfactory things,I always wanted to get a "eraser", huge and soft, which can erase all of unhappiness from my memory without any trace.However,these efforts never thoroughly succeeded.When I grew up,I recognized that it is impossible for us to erase the unhappiness,but it is also unnecessary.What we need to do is choosing an optimistic attitude toward the life,and keep pursuing the good things.In this way,even though we may live in difficulties,we still can live happy lives.Just like the Glass Castle of the Walls family,which is pure and always absorbs the sun's rays.
As you say, the Glass Castle is full of metaphors and double meanings. By the way Jeanette describes the Glass Castle I think that it had a very big influence in the Wall's lives. I think that the obsession that Jeanette's father has with the Glass Castle has developed into a powerful meaning and importance not just to him but to every member of the family.
DeleteI think that each detail of the Glass Castle has it's importance in the story, but why do each one means?
maybe to dad, it's a place to escape what you really need to face with. However, to his kids, Glass Castle is a symbol of hope, of future. It's Glass Castle that make their life a little special ,meaningful ,and hopeful.
ReplyDeleteI don't think it's bad or un necessary to have your own glass castle, it's your dream and your faith. And it give us strength and motivation. We just need to realize if you have your glass castle,you have to hold it firm.And it definitely will push you forward.
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ReplyDeleteidealglass.studio