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Similes
Part 3: Welch
Explanation and Analysis—Glass Castle as Dump:
Throughout the memoir, Dad creates and revises plans for “the Glass Castle,” an elaborate palace that represents his idealistic hopes and dreams for his family. For a long time, the Walls children maintain faith in Dad’s vision, so much so that in Welch, Brian and Jeannette spend their spare time digging a hole for the Glass Castle’s foundation outside their ramshackle house on Little Hobart Street. However, in a moment of situational irony, Dad assigns the pit a new purpose:
But since we couldn’t afford to pay the town’s trash-collection fee, our garbage was really piling up. One day Dad told us to dump it in the hole.
“But that’s for the Glass Castle,” I said.
“It’s a temporary measure,” Dad told me. He explained that he was going to hire a truck to cart the garbage to the dump all at once. But he never got around to that, either, and as Brian and I watched, the hole for the Glass Castle’s foundation slowly filled with garbage.
Devastatingly, the space meant for the Glass Castle becomes a space filled with trash. This moment represents the dissolution of the family’s dreams. Brian and Jeannette begin to see the Glass Castle as simply a story, rather than a real possibility, and as a result, they lose faith in Dad and his ability to improve their lives by creating a permanent, stable home. In a moment of irony, Dad crushes the dream he cultivated in his children.
Related Themes:
