David Zukowski
Education
Parenting
Jeannette’s parents obviously should’ve lost their parental rights. Rex is an alcoholic, and Rose Mary is not always there for her children. Parents can lose their parental rights because of abandonment. Rex is always abandoning his children when he suddenly disappears and is found at bars, and both parents leave their kids in Welch to go all the way back to Phoenix.
Rebellion
Civil disobedience is the refusal to comply with certain laws. In the Glass Castle, Billy Deel showed a lot of civil disobedience. He was already a juvenile delinquent before he met Jeanette. It was not long after he met Jeannette that he raped her. Not only that, but later in the book, he found a gun and starting shooting at the Walls family. He showed a lot of civil disobedience at a very young age.
Mental Illness
“A person’s thinking, feeling, or mood may affect and disrupt his ability to relate to others and function in daily life.” This quote applies to Rose Mary because some days, when she’s mad, she won’t even get in the car to go to school. As much as the kids try to drag her out of bed, sometimes she just doesn’t budge. In these instances, she doesn’t want to be near anyone and she can’t teach.
Alcoholism
“Addiction is based in the brain.” This relates to Rex because he thinks about alcohol more than he thinks about his family. When he tries to stop drinking, all he does is think about drinking, and after a while he starts drinking again. Whenever he leaves, he is always drinking alcohol in a bar. It’s like his brain is controlling him and he’s not trying to stop it from doing bad things.