In the memoir, The Glass Castle, by Jeannette Walls, she looks back on her life as destitute and malnourished. Due to unfortunate circumstances, Jeannette never had a real childhood and was forced to mature at a very young age. Constantly moving from town to town because of her paranoid father, who is unable to hold down a job, has a drinking problem, and is an abusive husband, her mental health is questionable. Throughout The Glass Castle, the question of why Rex chose this lifestyle and why he is the way he is has been constantly sought after. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay It is mentioned that Rex refuses to believe in the government, putting his children in school and keeping a job. Rex lacks responsibility and views himself as a wild animal just trying to survive without consequences. “You can't kill something just because it's wild” (p. 106), he's talking as much about himself as the mountain lion that was shot. “Dad missed the wilderness. He needed to move freely in the open countryside and live among untamed animals. He thought it was good for your soul to have hawks, coyotes and snakes around. This was how man was supposed to live, he said, in harmony with nature, like the Indians, not this lord of the earth bullshit, trying to rule the whole damn planet, cutting down all the forests and killing . every creature you could not bring to heel” (p. 106), Rex describes himself as one with the wild, an indomitable man, equal to the animals and caring for nothing other than that. He is an unstoppable character who knows everything about survival, he is an intelligent man, almost an evil genius, which can pose a problem. Rex talks about building a "Glass Castle" throughout the story and promises Jeannette that he will build it himself, all out of glass, but Jeannette is fully aware that he is not a man of his word and that she will only be disappointed. He dreams big of being rich one day, but it's obvious that it will never happen. The biggest question in this story is why Rex is an alcoholic and what led him to be so. His alcoholism is his fundamental problem: he is unable to hold down a job or simply be stable. At one point, Jeannette and her family travel to Welch, West Virginia. Rex refused to go, but was forced to follow his family. When Jeannette meets her grandmother, we learn a lot about Rex's upbringing as a child and what his family is like. Rex's mother may have been a potential child molester, which would be the cause of Rex's drinking problem. His mother was also an alcoholic with problems since childhood, she later drank herself to death. Even after her death, Rex never explained the situation and the relationship with his mother. Was she the cause of his problems that Rex never talked about? Whether Rex was a good or bad parent is definitely a debatable topic. He shares the quality of a caring father but neglects the responsibility of being an adult. Rex undoubtedly loves his children and proves that no one can harm him, but he does not have the responsibility to take care of his children when it comes to education, health, and well-being. Although he educates them in reading, writing and mathematics, he always chooses to ignore the functions of being a father. His drinking pushes him to selfishness which forces his children to turn their backs on him, even Jeannette who once had the most confidence in him. He talks a lot about being rich and,.