The narrator and protagonist of the book, Jeannette Walls is an American author and journalist. Born in 1960 in Phoenix, Arizona, Walls is the second of four children raised by Rex and Rose Mary Walls, whom she refers to throughout the book as Mom and Dad. Her earliest memory is of suffering severe burns at the age of three after being left alone to cook hot dogs unsupervised. She has red hair, and she describes herself as having been nearly six feet tall as a teenager with a massive overbite that she attempted to correct with homemade braces.

Jeannette’s primary psychological arc in the book involves a process of letting go of her childhood illusions about Dad, which are represented symbolically by his plans to build a sustainable Glass Castle where the family will live. These illusions erode bit by bit as the family’s situation deteriorates. Even after their move to the dilapidated house on Little Hobart Street, Jeannette continues to have faith in the Glass Castle and, by extension, her father. This faith suffers a serious blow when Dad insists that Jeannette use the foundation she and Brian dug for the Glass Castle as a hole for the family’s garbage.