The good in life comes with the bad. In Walls' book, The Glass Castle, the Walls family seems to go through a lot more bad things. Rosemary often tries to lift spirits, saying that “life is a drama, full of tragedy and comedy. You should learn to enjoy comic book episodes a little more.” Rex and Rosemary harbor incredible childhood optimism, which blocks their path to a better life. This shockingly challenging mindset is reiterated throughout the memoir as their way of parenting. Children, despite their parents' mentality, are able to thrive in the adult world from an early age. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay In their short childhoods, the Walls children experience poverty, abuse, hunger, and many poor living conditions. Despite all these difficulties, Rex and Rosemary teach them that everything will be okay; they have to look on the bright side. The glass castle perfectly symbolizes this optimism. Rex often lays out plans for the castle to his children, demonstrating his childlike imagination. The children stare at Rex as if he were a genius among mere men. Young children can be easily influenced especially by their parents. At this stage of life, children represent almost exact copies of Rex and his opinions and points of view. Not knowing any better, Jeanette gives her father complete support, both emotional and financial. When Rex needs money for alcohol, the mountain goat gives in to his wishes, handing him the food budget. Even when she is angry and disappointed by his behavior, such as when he took the piggy bank, her anger quickly subsides; When did Rex ever disappoint her? Children also sacrifice a normal life of friends and a stable family to follow their parents' dreams. Of course they don't have much say in the matter, but nevertheless family dysfunction affects children profoundly. They never complain because Rex taught them to accept difficulties. Later in life, the children realize that Rex lied, cheated, and deceived them. As Jeanette and Lori become young adults, the childhood optimism they once had transforms, as a result of endless disappointments, into a realistic view of poverty and hardship. By the time Jeanette enters high school in Welch (and perhaps before), she recognizes that the Glass Castle is an elaborate lie by her father in an attempt to obtain alcohol. The “research money” invested by the Walls was used for nothing other than gambling and alcohol. It becomes difficult to focus on the positives when a father reduces his family to poverty. Out of work and with a hungry family, Rex and Rosemary choose, instead of solving the problem, to focus on the advantages of living in a small shack. Contrary to the request for social assistance, Rosemary is proud of her independence. She would rather suffer alone than succeed with the help of others, especially the government. Lori and Jeanette find jobs, make budget plans, and save resources, all to no avail due to their parents' failure to mature. Rosemary's five-week journey expresses the maturity of children. Rex takes Jeanette's carefully planned food budget and spends it on alcohol and gambling. Jeanette and Lori in many ways have better parenting skills than Rex and Rosemary ever had. The greatest symbol of this maturity is the escape fund, created by Lori, Jeanette and Brian. They spend so much time working towards a better life, thinking about the future.