The Glass Castle #2

I know I already posted about "The Glass Castle" this week, but I don't think I really did the book justice in the first post. I chose to read this book because my Mom recommended it to me. As I carry it around, lots of people have commented on what a great book it is, but how sad too. I agree that it is sad, but so far I also see lots of happiness, contentedness, in the simplicity of Jeanette's life.

This book is written in short chapters, most of them 2-3 pages long. Each chapter is a different story/incident that happened to Jeanette. In one chapter, when they are living in Phoenix, Jeanette's father decides he is sick of the city and wants to go back to the wilderness. So, he takes his kids- Lori, Brian, Jeanette, and Maureen- to the zoo. Jeanette felt horrible for all the animals in the zoo, she wanted to sneak in some night and let them all free. Her father led them to the cheetah's cage and this is what happened: "Dad squatted outside the fence opposite the cheetah. The animal came closer to the bars and studied him curiously. Dad kept looking at him...The cheetah looked back. Finally, he sat down. Dad stepped over the chain fence and knelt right next to the bars where the cheetah was sitting. The cheetah remained still, looking at Dad." And the next thing you know, the Walls family is petting the cheetah at the Phoenix zoo. The chapter ends with them leaving the zoo, people muttering mean things about them under their breath, but this is Jeanette's thought: "I could hear people around us whispering about the crazy drunk man and his dirty little urchin children, but who cared what they thought? None of them had ever had their hand licked by a cheetah."

I absolutley love this chapter. I think I am drawn to it because of the way Rex Walls connects with the animals and how Jeanette shrugs off other people's comments.  We all care about what other people think of us, but in the end, how many people have had their hand licked by a cheetah?