The Glass Castle characters
She is the narrator and main character of the story. She retells the events of her life living with her careless and yet loving parents. Jeannette is a daughter of Rex and Rose Mary Walls, the second oldest of four siblings in the Walls family. She is practical, intelligent and attentive. She...
Husband to Rose Mary, and father of Lori, Jeannette, Brian, and Maureen. He is referred to as Dad in the narrative. Drinker and slacker Rex and unrecognized artist Rose Marie brought up their children in the atmosphere of dreams and romance of travel. They always were in search of the ideal place...
Mother to Jeannette and her siblings, and the daughter of Grandma Smith from Phoenix. From childhood, she originally wanted to be an artist, but her mother convinced her to get a teaching certificate. She spends much of her time working on various artistic projects, though never ones that can...
Jeannette's youngest sister. Maureen is beautiful but never learns how to care for herself; she relies on her friends' parents for food, shelter, and support. She is the most fragile of the children and spends all her life looking for someone to take care of her. She worked from time to...
He is the boy of the Walls siblings and learns very young how to protect his sisters. He grows up to be a protector as well when he becomes a police officer. Brian is the closest to Jeannette for much of their childhood: they play together, forage for food together, and defend themselves from...
She is the oldest child of the family but isn’t the one who dominates. She's closer to her mother, Rose Mary, as she shares her interests in art. Lori is particularly intelligent and loves reading fantasy novels as a form of escape. She often sympathizes with Mom while blaming Dad for...
These characters are Rex Walls’ mother and father. They lived in Welch, West Virginia. Erma is a racist, ignorant, envious woman who sexually abuses Brian and may have provoked her own son as well. "An old woman who's had a tough life." Erma did not like when children called...
He is Rex Wall1s brother. He lives in Welch, West Virginia with Erma and Ted Walls. He collected hundreds of dog-eared comic books over the years - Little Lulu, Richie Rich, Beetle Bailey, Archie, and Jughead. One time while Jeanette and her family were living in Welch...
She is the young black girl from Welch. Initially, she was the leader of a group that bullied Jeannette at school in Welch. She allowed her gang to beat up Jeannette and then called them off when she saw Jeannette in a different light, and later they became her friend. The two later visit the...
She is a high school English teacher, and the faculty adviser for the school newspaper, The Maroon Wave. She convinced Rex to earn his diploma, and he named Jeannette after her. She is Jeannette’s favorite teacher who not only encouraged her dad to be a writer but also supports and guides...
She is the mother of Rose Walls and Jim. She is a tall, strict and broad-shouldered woman with green eyes and a strong chin. She became a teacher because she didn’t trust anyone else to educate her children. She taught in a one-room schoolhouse in a town called Yampi. Grandma Smith had...
She is the town whore in Welch and the mother of nine children. Jeannette visited her house one day and picked a chicken clean in exchange for some chicken rolls. Her visit caused her to realize that whoring puts food on the table. Ginnie taught Jeannette a great deal in one visit to her home...
He is Jeannette’s second husband. He is a writer. He has a 15-year-old daughter Jessica, from his previous marriage. John helped Jeannette to find her real place in life and readily accepts her family with all their imperfections. John and Jeannette was a good couple. They did all the...