Which factor matters more in achieving a mentally prosperous life? Money or people themselves? In Jeannette Walls’ The Glass Castle, she portrays how her family struggles for an enriched life against the lack of material satisfaction. The poverty never hinders the Walls figuring out a rewarding way of living; instead they devise their methods to decorate life.

Throughout the adventure, no matter how hard the living condition is, the Walls always seek for intellectual beauties to enrich their mental life. When their family arrives at the Battle Mountain, they live among furniture made of wooden spools, and the kids have to sleeps in beds of card board boxes. Yet Mom insists that “what they really needed is a piano”. From her perspective, “Most pianists never get the chance to play in the great out-of-doors, and now the whole neighborhood can enjoy the music, too”. Despite the undesirable conditions they live in, the music is something they truly long for, especially the one played on their own on a piano. Unlike those material satisfactions such as furniture, toys, food, the music brings back joy, and costs nothing, as long as one knows how to play. Mom does not merely keep this form of accessible pleasure to her family. Instead she shares it with the whole neighborhood, which is even more rewarding than just playing and listening to music. This decision not only decorates their life, but also the whole community. In addition to entertaining themselves with music, reading is also one of their favorites. For the days during which the Walls live in Welch, the author describes, “Once night came, we kids all lay in rope-and-cardboard beds, reading by flashlight or a candle we’d set on our wooden boxes, each of us creating our own little pools of dim light”. The children’s childhood has already been blended with reading since they are young, which gradually turns into an everyday habit. It follows them to wherever they are, nourishing their seemingly lonely night without an actual light to light up the house. It is the enlightenment of knowledge within books that splits the darkness of night, showing them that the world is not just this tiny dim room they live in, but something much more magnificent. Although each kid has their own preference, the words across the lines all function the same, as they pull them into another world away from the gloomy town. After the kids begin to pursue their college journey, Mom and Dad also follow them into New York. They frequently take the chance to visit libraries. Especially when the days gets colder, “Mom and Dad began spending more time in the libraries, which were warm and comfortable, and some of which remained open will into the evening”. Mom and Dad prefer library, rather than living in a cozy apartment. Although the library may not be as comfortable as staying in one’s own room, they indulge themselves in the endless piles of book, which indicates that the top priority of their living is to fill the void of their mental life. Therefore, the true intellectual life cannot be blocked by poverty. It depends on how eagerly one longs for it.

Moreover, the lack of material pleasure pushes the Walls to entertain themselves in a unique way, which makes their life more meaningful. Due to the lack of money, Mon and Dad never buys expensive toys for their children. However, they still have their own way of celebrating the Christmas. On the Christmas at Midland, Dad let each kid to claim a star as their Christmas present, declaring, “Years from now, when all the junk they got is broken and long forgotten, you will still have your star”. Choosing stars as the Christmas present shows how wise Dad is, because few people will ever think of this idea. By taking this fact in to account, the stars seems to be more special, as it does not resembles to any other Christmas presents. The stars are eternal, and they hardly get broken. Whenever the kids look up at the immortal stars, that meaningful Christmas night will always stand out of their memories. When the Walls move to Battle Mountain, a mining town, the kids start their stone collection to spend their time. As the author describes, Lori and Brain and I not only just collect them, but also “use the stones to decorate graves of our pets that had died or of the dead animals we found and decided should get a proper burial”. To play without actual toys, the kids turn to rock collection, which enables them to be in a closer contact with nature than those who plays at home. The compassion toward death gradually roots in kids’ hearts, as they pass by dead animals that are unable to handle the tough environment. By burying them with delicate rocks, the kids convey their respects to every single life. Meanwhile, they also manage to communicate with the nature, treating animals equally with kindness, which purifies their hearts. The kids all have their own ways of having fun. As for Dad, he bears his dream of building a Glass Castle for his family. As they decide to regard Welch as their new home, Dad begins his construction on the foundation of the Glass Castle with Brian and Jennette. Jennette says, “It was a hard work, but after a month we’d dug a hole deep enough for us to disappear in. Even though we hadn’t squared the edges or smoothed the floor, we were still pretty darn proud of ourselves”. Building the Glass Castel, even part of it, seems to be rewarding to everyone. For Dad and the whole family, the Glass Castle is not just a day dream, but an image of their ideal life, representing their struggle for a more decent life. It is this exact fantasy that leads them to make everything precious out of almost nothing--poverty.

No matter where the Walls live, they can always find a way to fill up the void created by the lack of material. How they enrich their life does not matter, yet these ways all proves the fact that money does not dominate whether one can achieve their own pleasure. One’s will is the true master of life.