The Importance Of Ambitious Desires In The Glass Castle

Ambitious Desires

In The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls and “The Other MIller” by Tobias Wolff the main characters struggle with their families poor decisions that impact them tremendously. This proving that often times, resentment toward one's parents fuels a desire to establish his/her importance in the world. They refuse to live in the identity of their parent, and leave to create their own. As these stories continue they become less dependent on their parents and desire their parents to depend on them instead.

Both of these characters have a good relationship with parents that ultimately is ruined by resentment. Rex, Jeanette's dad often asks if he has ever let the down and Jeanette's brother tells him the truth. "'Have I ever let

Miller is so loyal to his mother and he depends on her for everything. He doesn’t plan on ever leaving his mother but his mother telling him “‘You'll be leaving anyway,’ […] showed how wrong she was about Miller, because he would never have left her, not ever, not for anything[...] He was serious when he promised he’s stay.” (Wolff,93-94) Miller’s mother assumes that he would leave her, but Miller has a strong loyalty to his mother. When his mother takes his loyalty for granted and betrays him, it fuels him to want to leave even more. He aspires to prove his mother wrong, much like Jeanette wants too in The Glass Castle. Jeanette’s mother telling her that “No one expected you to amount to much," she told me. "Lori was the smart one, Maureen the pretty one, and Brian the brave one. You never had much going for you except that you always worked hard.” (Walls, 270). She succeeds in proving her mother wrong. Though this is said after, her actions do in fact speak louder than words. This false assumption makes Jeanette strive to be superior to her family and their lousy life goals. Both of their mother’s false assumptions create their eager aspiration to rise to the