Unfit Parents In The Glass Castle By Jeannette Walls

A parents first priority should always be their children. In the memoir The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls wrote about her daily struggles growing up with her parents. Rex and Rose Mary were unfit parents because they were inadequate role models, made selfish acts and failed to be concerned about their children’s safety.
Rex and Rose Mary Walls were unfit parents because they were inadequate role models. Jeannette’s parents were giving the wrong examples like using inappropriate language and setting bad examples. Rex and Rose Mary had a dispute that caused Rose to get out of the car: “Dad stuck his head out of the window as he drove, hollering at mom, calling her a ‘stupid whore’ and a ‘stinking cunt’” (43). Dad’s action is showing Jeannette and her siblings that using inappropriate language is okay to say. Rex calling Rose these …show more content…
She thought of herself and not her own kids. While sitting around the living room Jeannette and her siblings tried not to think of food, but Brian noticed his mom kept hiding under the sheets: “Lying on the mattress next to mom was one of those huge family sized Hersey chocolate bars” (174). Rose Mary chose to eat a chocolate bar that was big enough to share with her starving kids. Parents who care about their kids would think of themselves last, but Rose Mary is selfish because she put herself first and didn’t want to share. Jeannette and Brian discover a diamond ring their mom decides not to sell: “She was keeping it, she explained, to replace the wedding ring her mother had given her, the one dad pawned… ‘But mom, ' I said, ‘that ring could get us a lot of food.’ ‘That’s true,’ Mom said. ‘But it can also improve my self-esteem’” (186). Jeannette’s mom was selfish because she didn’t care about selling the ring to buy food or a better house for her kids. Rose Mary keeping the ring shows she prioritizes her self-esteem first than her starving kids. Jeanette’s mother chose to make a selfish