Glass Castle Family Tree

Hard Working

“I was afraid that Mr. Becker wouldn't give me the job if he knew I was only thirteen, so I told him I was seventeen. He hired me on the spot for forty dollars a week, in cash.”

This quote shows how hard Jeannette will work for money and how she needs to support herself at the age of thirteen.

“It was my first real job. Babysitting and tutoring and doing other kid's homework and mowing lawns and redeeming bottles and selling scrap metal didn't count. Forty dollars a week was serious money.”

Jeannette has had many different ways of income and it shows how hard she has worked just to make money, because her parents don’t support her.

Hard Working

Determined

“I went back to G. C. Murphy the next day and stared at the shelf of piggy banks...We started saving again, but Lori felt too defeated to paint much, and the money didn't come as quickly. A week before school was out, we had only $37.20 in the sock.”

Even after Rex supposedly stole the money they had been saving for almost 9 months. Jeannette is still determined to save money for Lori to go to New York.

Intelligent

“Before Mom left, she gave me two hundred dollars. That was plenty, she said, to buy food for Brian and Maureen and me for two months and pay the water and electricity bills. I did the math. It came out to twenty five dollars a week, or a little over three­fifty a day. I worked up a budget and calculated that we could indeed squeak by if I made extra money babysitting.”

Jeannette is smart enough to know how much she can spend a week and how much per day when she is left $200. With her intelligence, she seems more trustworthy with money than her parents.

Responsible

Responsible

”For the first week, everything went according to plan. I bought food and made meals for Brian, Maureen, and me. It had been almost a year since the welfare man had scared us into cleaning the house, and it was once again an unholy mess. Mom would have had a fit if I had thrown anything out, but I spent hours straightening up and trying to organize the huge stacks of junk.”

Jeannette is responsible enough to follow her calculations of how much she can spend on food, buy and make meals for her siblings and tidy up her house at such a young age, which her parents can’t seem to do.

Aggressive

Aggressive

“‘You crazy bitch!’ Dad hollered. ‘Get your goddamn ass back in this car!’

‘You make me, Mr. Tough Guy!’ she screamed as she ran away.

Dad jerked the steering wheel to one side and drove off the road into the desert after her”

Rex yells at Rosemary as she runs away from their car, and chases after her. He uses strong language and almost hits her with the car, as well as cornering her and refusing to stop. This shows the aggressive part of Rex.

Selfish

“Dad insisted he hadn't exactly lost his job. He had arranged to have himself fired because he wanted to spend more time looking for gold.”

Rex claims he lost his job on purpose so he could spend more time looking for gold, instead of having a real steady job and providing for his family. He says he wants to spend more time finding gold, one more of his plans to make money.

Selfish

Hopeful

"All we had to do was find gold, Dad said, and we were on the verge of that"

Rex is saying all he has to do is find gold, which makes it sound like it is easy for him to. Rex claiming “we were on the verge of that” makes it sound like he think they still can

Hopeful

Ruthless

"What the goddamn hell are you talking about?" Dad asked. "And watch your language." He leaned against the door and lit a cigarette.

After Rex stole the money the kids had been saving up for Lori to go to New York, he shows no emotion and says it wasn't him.

Ruthless

Selfish

Selfish

“Why should I cook a meal that will be gone in an hour when I can do a painting that will last forever”

Rosemary would rather paint, than cook for her 3 year old daughter, who then tries to cook by herself and almost dies.

"She was keeping [the wedding ring], she explained, to replace the wedding ring her mother had given her, the one Dad had pawned shortly after they got married.

“But Mom,” I said, “that ring could get us a lot of food.”

“That’s true,” Mom said, “but it could also improve my self-esteem. And at times like these, self-esteem is even more vital than food.”

Rosemary would rather keep a wedding ring for her self-esteem, than sell it to provide food for her family.

Careless

She thought rules and discipline held people back and felt that the best way to let children fulfill their potential was by providing freedom. She didn't care if her students were late or didn't do their homework. If they wanted to act out, that was fine with her, as long as they didn't hurt anyone else.

Rosemary didn't care if her students did their work and let them do whatever they want, which is completely the opposite of what she is supposed to tell them to do, showing she doesn't care.

Careless

Foolish

"You mean you own land worth a million dollars?" I was thunderstruck. All those years in Welch with no food, no coal, no plumbing, and Mom had been sitting on land worth a million dollars?

Rosemary has had land worth a million dollars, which could have solved all of the money problems their family has had but she decided to do nothing about it.

Foolish

Hysterical

“...Mom lay wrapped up in blankets on the sofa bed, sobbing about how much she hated her life”

Rosemary is complaining about how bad her life is, when she is the one stopping herself from having a successful life, while ruining other peoples lives too.

"I'm not upset because I'll miss you," Mom said. "I'm upset because you get to go to New York and I'm stuck here. It's not fair."

Rosemary is saying life's not fair because she doesn't get to go to New York. She could go to New York if she had enough money and would stop complaining about her life and do something about it.

Hysterical

Intelligent

Lori also helped Mom with her lesson plans. She'd make sure Mom filled them in accurately, and she'd correct Mom's spelling and math.

Lori helps her mother, a teacher, with her spelling and math as well as planning her lessons. This proves how intelligent and smart she is.

Intelligent

Caring

Then [Lori] came down again. She had Dad's pistol, and she pointed it dead at Billy. "That's just a toy," Billy said, but his voice was a little shaky. "It's real, all right!" I shouted. "It's my dad's gun!"

Lori defends her siblings from Billy Deel, who showed up with a BB gun, showing she cares about them even when it isn't her problem.

Caring

Courageous

Erma jerked her hand out of Lori's grasp and slapped her so hard that Lori's glasses went flying across the room. Lori, who had turned thirteen, slapped her back. Erma hit Lori again, and this time Lori struck Erma a blow in the jaw.

Erma and Lori get into a fight after Jeannette calls her a pervert, and she stands up for them and slaps Erma after she was slapped.

Courageous

Kind-hearted

"We told Brian about the escape fund, and he pitched in, even though we hadn't included him in our

plans because he was only in the seventh grade. He mowed lawns or chopped wood or cut hillside

weeds with a scythe. He worked after school until the sun went down and all day Saturday and Sunday

and came home with his arms and face scratched from the brush he'd cleared"

Brian contributed the money he made doing different jobs to the escape fund so Lori could go to New York. He put his money in even though he was apart of the plan

Protective

"Just back off now, and everyone can walk away with all their limbs still attached,"

Brian yells this line at the Mexian girls who were waiting to attack Jeannette. Even though he was shorter than Jeannette, he was still trying to protect her.

Protective

Curious

Brian and I would hide behind the sagebrush across the highway trying to peer inside the front door when someone went in or out.

Brian and Jeannette would try to peek inside of the Green Lantern because it seemed so mysterious to them, and they were young and curious.

Curious

Unstable

Six months later, Maureen stabbed Mom. It happened after Mom decided it was time for Maureen to develop a little self sufficiency by moving out and finding a place of her own

Maureen stabs Rosemary after she thought it was time for her to move out and be on her own. Maureen stabbing her shows how she needs help after she snapped and how her mental health was unstable.

Unstable