You may think that one bottle of alcohol can be harmless, but it can cause lifelong problems. The autobiography, The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, took place all over the U.S. Early on, we see that Rex has a major alcohol problem that not only affects him, but also his family. The structure of the Wall’s family consists of Rex being the breadwinner for his family and Rose Mary, his wife, being the caretaker. But with Rex’s alcoholism, he struggles to hold down a job, resulting in the Wall family having no money, leaving the kids hungry for days. Although both Rex and Rose Mary try to make their kids' lives seem like a big adventure, at some point, they do start Rex’s alcoholism. Rex’s alcoholism stems from his rough upbringing and his own
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When Rex and Rose Mary go back to their old house to pick up some things, they leave the kids with Erma. While they were with Erma, she sexually assaulted Brian, and when the kids told Rex, he slashed out and made it seem like it wasn’t a big deal. Afterward, Jeannette got to thinking: "Do you think she ever did something to Dad like what she did to Brian?" I asked. No one said a thing” (Walls 148). From Rex’s reaction to hearing that Brian was sexually assaulted, we can infer that something similar happened to him as well. This may be one of the contributing factors to why Rex has an alcohol problem. Rex’s alcohol problem may have also stemmed from Erma having an alcohol abuse problem. When the Walls family was staying in BLANK, Jeanette noticed that her father could have possibly picked up his drinking habits from Erma. In the book, it says, “Erma, who'd been drinking since before breakfast.” (Walls 146). Apart from Rex’s difficult childhood, he could have inherited his drinking problems from Erma and watched her drink to make her feel better about her difficult upbringing. This might have made Rex, himself, want to drink to feel
When Rex and Rose Mary go back to their old house to pick up some things, they leave the kids with Erma. While they were with Erma, she sexually assaulted Brian, and when the kids told Rex, he slashed out and made it seem like it wasn’t a big deal. Afterward, Jeannette got to thinking: "Do you think she ever did something to Dad like what she did to Brian?" I asked. No one said a thing” (Walls 148). From Rex’s reaction to hearing that Brian was sexually assaulted, we can infer that something similar happened to him as well. This may be one of the contributing factors to why Rex has an alcohol problem. Rex’s alcohol problem may have also stemmed from Erma having an alcohol abuse problem. When the Walls family was staying in BLANK, Jeanette noticed that her father could have possibly picked up his drinking habits from Erma. In the book, it says, “Erma, who'd been drinking since before breakfast.” (Walls 146). Apart from Rex’s difficult childhood, he could have inherited his drinking problems from Erma and watched her drink to make her feel better about her difficult upbringing. This might have made Rex, himself, want to drink to feel