A real Glass Castle
In the book The Glass Castle the meaning of the title of the book is revealed when the author reminisces about her dad's plan. All her life, Jeannette Walls (and her family), moved around quite extensively. One of the main reasons for relocating so often was the feds, and another was because her father, Rex Walls, intended to strike it rich by finding gold. He would often tell the children stories of what would happen once he did find the glorious gold, and how it would change their lives when he did. One of his goals was to build a Glass Castle. Despite her fathers unrealistic goal of finding gold, Rex was a very smart man and worked out all of the engineering and mathematics that would be necessary for building their dream home.
I feel that the author uses the title The Glass Castle because it was a sign for hope. As a child she wasn't quite aware of everything that was going on around her, but as she grew older she was able to get a better understanding. Her dad would use the Glass Castle as an excuse to move and it instilled hope into the children and trust for their dad that he had a plan. Before I read the book I assumed that a Glass Castle served as a metaphor for a fragile life, and now I understand why it was titled that.
