The motif of fire in this novel is a beautiful literary device. Fire represents the Walls family‘s destructive tendencies, as well as Jeannette‘s tendency to try to “burn” her past and move on from it. I think Jeannette chose to tell these stories about fire because it really encapsulates her childhood experience with her family. At first, the motif kind of confused me, but as the story continued it started to make a lot of sense.

The Glass Castle presents a theme of false hope. Throughout the novel, Jeanette (the narrator and protagonist) is constantly putting her hope in things that let her down. Things like the promises of her father, their temporary homes, and the friends she meets in new places. Jeannette is a very relatable character who‘s emotions are very strong. Because she is the narrator we also get a very in depth description of how she feels in all scenarios

I‘m almost half way through this book and the storyline is now focused on the defence for Carl Lee Hailey, the man who killed his daughters abuser in cold blood. The main idea is the conflict between whether the circumstances justify Carl Lee‘s decision or if murder of any kind is inexcusable. The theme of this part of the book is morality, as the jury start to decide whether Carl Lee‘s actions are punishable.

I‘m about a third of the way through this book and so far, it‘s a good read. The first part describes the abuse of a young African American girl by two white men, and the investigation into the incident. Eventually the young girls father decides to kill the men that abused his daughter. The theme in this story is justice, it‘s shown through the use of the courtroom, and the fathers decision to take revenge on the men.