One of the most prominent symbols in The Glass Castle comes when the children are young, and Rex tells them stories. These stories always feature himself as the hero of the story, always performing death defying feats against all odds.
These stories are exhibited in the life of the Walls’. Rex feels that he needs to be the hero of the family. He is always coming up with potential discoveries that could differentiate him from the rest of the world. He also has an intense desire to keep the admiration and affection of his children, especially Jeannette. When he has no job and cannot be the ‘bread winner,’ Rex becomes very depressed and alcohol takes a stronger hold of him.
I also noticed the significance of his stories throughout the novel. I thought that he told a numerous amount of them as to decieve the kids, by substituting an adventurous father into the lazy failure that he really is. Perhaps because he told so many stories so often that the idea of what he could have been haunted him and pushed him even more to the alcohol addiction.
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