In part III, how and why do the children change their feelings for their parents?

93 Little Hobart Street is most symbolic of the depression that accompanies the family's move to Welch. From the outset, the house is shoddy and in desperate need of repair. However, Jeannette is the only one who tries to fix it; all other members have given up fixing or improving the house. Everyone appears hopeless that their conditions will improve and powerless to change them.

Finally, Jeannette begins to recognize that her father continually lets the family down. Once the only child who believed in him, she loses hope in Rex as his drunkenness worsens. When Jeannette asks Rose Mary to leave Rex so that the family can qualify for welfare, Rose Mary is shocked and she admonishes Jeannette for losing hope in her father.

The dream of the Glass Castle is also destroyed during this time. Brian and Lori begin digging a foundation for the home Rex had designed for his family, but the foundation instead becomes a ditch for garbage that the family cannot afford to have picked up. The idea and dream of the Glass Castle as a physical structure is also destroyed when this happens. Jeannette realizes that it will never be built. Yet, the Glass Castle as a symbol and an abstract hope lives on.