The Significance of Rex Walls in the Life of Jeannette Walls in “The Glass Castle”

Ordinarily, when kids were not well treated during their childhood, when they grew up, they would feel embarrassed for themselves and blamed on their parents. However, sometimes it just took a little aspect of the father or the mother could be able to retain a significant influenced to the kids and they would love their parents unconditionally. It was happened to Jeannette Walls. In The Glass Castle, she was narrated her childhood memories spent with her father, Rex Walls, as a life full of misery but she always believed in him.

Jeannette described some of the best moments when she was young, despite of the irresponsible and destructive that her father brought into her life. Jeannette still loved him until the day he died because to her, Rex was the hero, he had the ability to make her feel special and because he was an inspiration that never ends.

Sometimes during the Christmas night, Rex gave Jeannette Venus as a present. He knew how to make her feel unique, he knew how to change daily stories into some significant memorable moments that she would never forget. "And he gave me Venus," short but transmitting multiple meanings, emphasizing the actions of her father gave the special present to her and the word "me" referring the fact that she was differenced, she was unique, she could receive a whole planet while her siblings just received the stars instead. Jeannette consecutive mentioned Rex as a perfect, loving father. She couldn't hide the admiration, pride and satisfaction in her voice whenever she talked about him.

It was continued, when Jeannette played matches with her brother, Brian, and accidentally setting fire to the house. If that was happened to a normal father, then the child would be kicked out on the street for a few days. But Rex didn't do that, as I said before, he turned that accident into a memorable experience for his daughter. "Snapping yellow flame," "dissolving into an invisibleshimmery heat" he even told her "the boundary between turbulence and order", obviously, he tried to demonstrate the ability of himself to make her feel special, as she was one of the only girl who "got a little too close to the flames. He also helped defuse tensions of the situation at that time and used it as an inspiration for Jeannette, ending of an emotional memoir.

In another chapter, while Jeannette tried to learn how to swim, Rex had deliberately threw her into the water, he said "you can't cling to the sink your whole life," and "if you don't want to sink, you better figure out how to swim”. She insisted believed that he just wanted to inspire her to learn.

Jeannette tried to justify for her father's action that he was teaching her the lessons of life. Though, still difficult to accept, if a normal father or a mother nearly let their kids drowned just to teach them how to swim, it was probably too extreme and intolerable. But completely beyond of the reader imaginations, Jeannette agreed happily with the absurd explanations from him with all her heart. His influenced continued on when she said "I figured he must be right because there was no other way to explain it". She didn't even need to think about it before she forgave him, it proved the power of his influenced on her. Even though what he had caused to make her suffered, she always found a way to convince herself and others that he just wanted to do what was best for her.

There was a time when he led the children to the zoo, Jeannette was not worried or afraid when she touch the cheetah. Because she totally believed her father when he said it wasn't dangerous. When the security and visitors saw it, they had threatened to kick them out, but Rex once again reaffirmed his position in Jeannette's heart when he clearly distinguish the difference between "his kids" and "these fools,". What he said made her feel all the way special because she had dared to do the things that no one else would, "none of them had ever had their hand licked by a cheetah”.

I found this was the most emotional passage when Jeannette visited Rex because he was dying, despite all of the sad stories had happened before to both of them, she had to admit that he was always a source of inspiration for her life. She wrapped her thoughts in two sentences "but despite all the hell-raising and destruction and chaos he had created in our lives, I could not imagine what my life would be like what the world would be like without him in it...As awful as he could be, I always knew he loved me in a way no one else had". But also, ironically, he was the only one who loved her and she was the only who responded to that love with all of her heart, even though he had brought somuch pain into her life. As opposed to a long sentences full of mood, she simply said "just smiled" and "and then she closed the door". Maybe it was because she finally became completed herself, sufficient to reassess the education she received from Rex and realized that she would never be able to get out of his influenced, even when he was about to leave her forever.

Finally, throughout many challenges, collapses led to Jeannette success. It seemed that she had changed from an innocent girl into a more mature and stronger in both mind and personality. Whenever she recalled the memorable moments full of smiles and tears in her life, she always referred to her father, the one who taught her so many lessons in his own way and spent every time he had to help her overcome the moments of weakness. However, still couldn't deny some horrible actions of him to the kids, he failed to protect them, refused to take responsibility for them and even stole from them. Those thing was directly or indirectly hurt them so much, but except "Mountain Goat" – his affectionately named for her, the only kid still kept faith and love for him. Despite the bad things he had done, she still loved him unconditionally, loved him because he made her feel special, loved him because he was an inspiration for her life, and loved him because he made her to believe in him when no one else would.

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