Freedom and Confinement Quotes in The Glass Castle

Dad has a distaste for cities because he sees all the buildings as great big concrete cages. He sees himself, on the other hand, as an animal living in the wilderness.

Maybe if Dad loves the wilderness so much, he should get a job as a park ranger. But getting a job is something that's also too confining for Dad. He wants to be so free that he won't even have to live in reality. That's hard to do even under the best circumstances, but it's even harder when you've got a bunch of kids to take care of.

With Dad wanting to be free himself, it's ironic that he thinks he can lay claim and own something as ephemeral as a star.