Erma Walls Character Analysis in The Glass Castle

Dad’s mother, she lives in Welch, West Virginia. Jeannette catches her sexually abusing Brian, leading the kids to question whether Dad suffered the same. Erma is cold and bitter, but Mom asks the kids to have more empathy towards her, since she had a difficult childhood being shuttled around between various relatives.

Erma Walls Quotes in The Glass Castle

The The Glass Castle quotes below are all either spoken by Erma Walls or refer to Erma Walls. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

Growing Up, Illusion, and Disillusion Theme Icon

). Note: all page numbers and citation info for the quotes below refer to the Scribner edition of The Glass Castle published in 2006.

“Erma can’t let go of her misery,” Mom said. “It’s all she knows.” She added that you should never hate anyone, even your worst enemies. “Everyone has something good about them,” she said. “You have to find the redeeming quality and love the person for that.”

Related Characters: (speaker),

Page Number and Citation: 144

Explanation and Analysis:

Erma Walls Character Timeline in The Glass Castle

The timeline below shows where the character Erma Walls appears in The Glass Castle. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

...is Dad’s mother. Jeannette calls her Grandma but she snaps at her to call her Erma. (full context)

Responsibility, Self-Sufficiency, and Non-Conformity Theme Icon

Next to Erma a fragile-looking man with white hair, Ted, tells Jeannette it’s fine if she calls him... (full context)

Jeannette doubts that Erma likes them, but Mom says that she’s had a difficult life, and that they’ll adapt. (full context)

That afternoon, Erma asks how “Niggerville” went. She blames blacks for Welch’s deterioration, and says they are the... (full context)

...not to use that word, and that Mom says black people are just like us. Erma curses at Jeannette and sends her down to the basement without dinner. (full context)

Lori congratulates Jeannette on standing up to Erma, but Mom says that they have to remember to be polite while they’re Erma’s guests—confusing... (full context)

Mom says Erma’s parents died when she was young and she bounced around between relatives, essentially as a... (full context)

...in the house. Mom leaves Lori in charge and tells the kids to listen to Erma. (full context)

A week later, the kids are all watching TV in the living room when Erma tells Brian to follow her into Grandpa’s bedroom, where she can sew up his shorts... (full context)

Jeannette yells at Erma to stop and calls her a pervert. Lori runs in and tells everyone to calm... (full context)

Erma sends the kids down to stay in the basement, where they can’t use the bathroom... (full context)

A week later, a foot of snow falls on Welch. Since Erma won’t give the kids any coal to burn, they all climb into bed every day... (full context)

The night Mom and Dad come back, the kids hear the door open upstairs and Erma begin to complain about all the trouble they’ve caused. Dad heads downstairs to yell at... (full context)

Erma claims she can never forgive the kids and they can no longer stay with her.... (full context)

At the end of their second Welch winter, Erma dies. She had long prepared for her funeral and leaves detailed, intricate instructions. Jeannette is... (full context)

When Mom asks if the kids have something nice to say about Erma, Lori responds, “Ding-dong, the witch is dead.” The others start laughing, but Dad looks furious... (full context)

Not long after Erma’s death, Uncle Stanley falls asleep while smoking a cigarette in the basement, and a fire... (full context)