Jeannette Walls takes us on a journey through her memoir The Glass Castle and explains her struggles throughout life. Jeanette grew up with a set of neglecting parents who never tried to provide for her siblings or herself like they should’ve. Jeannette begins to see just how bad her living situation is and so do those around her. Bullying and struggles with her self image start to play a factor in Jeanette’s life. Some struggles she has throughout the whole book is being belittled, made fun of, not understood, and…
In the memoir The Glass Castle written by Jeannette Walls, Jeannette endures many events that have shaped her childhood and made her the woman she is today. One day when Jeannette was cooking hot dogs at just the age of three she caught on fire and was burned badly, later being rushed to the hospital. After being in the hospital, this life threatening event turned out not to be the worst thing that could have happened to her. In fact she turned out to enjoy the time she spent during her stay there. Being a part of the Wall’s family you quickly learn to fend for yourself when it comes to education, food, clothes and survival in general.…
Individual vs. Society In our society today, what is considered good parenting includes showing love and compassion to children, making sure to provide for their needs and to teach them good moral standards to live by. On the contrary, not loving a child, making choices that lead to not being capable to provide, and not teaching them socially acceptable behavior is considered irresponsible parenting and even neglect. In The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls retells the story of her childhood growing up with nonconformist parents who, according to society, were irresponsible. Her parents create their own society that justifies their way of living, ignoring how it might affect their children.…
The memoir, The Glass Castle, by Jeannette Walls brings the reader back in time to when she was very young and recalls her life experiences that deal with poverty, dysfunctional parents, and the choice between family first or herself. The Glass Castle reveals that Wall lived a large portion of her life on the run due to her adventurous, yet troublesome parents. Overtime, Walls discovers that life has more to offer if she gives herself a chance to experience the real world. Because of her parents’ influence, Walls grew up assuming that her parents’ views on society and the way life should go was inspiring, but now that she is grown and she makes choices for her own good. The memoir gives off a deep, meaningful feel to the reader.…
The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls is a memoir depicting her life growing up in poverty with her siblings and neglectful parents. Her and her siblings weren’t through many traumatic experiences due to the neglect and ignorance of their parents. One of Jeanette’s earliest memories is that of a traumatic one. While left alone at three years old Jeanette is cooking and while wearing a tutu it catches fire and badly burns her, this lands her in the hospital which her father later reveals he was against doing. This shows how neglectful and uncaring her parents are and is just one of many ways that Jeanette is hurt throughout the years and the ways he parents purposefully put her in harm’s way.…
In literature characters often demonstrate a lack of responsibility. Multiple instances take place in The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls. In this book Jeannette’s father, Rex Walls, demonstrates a lack of responsibility. This is especially proven with Rex’s alcoholism. One example of this is when he got into a drunken argument with his wife, Jeannette’s mom.…
“If you don’t want to sink, you better figure out how to swim.” Jeannette Walls and Liz Murray learned this throughout the struggles in their life. In the book ‘The Glass Castle’ Jeannette Walls learned that you have to see the better things in life. For example, when she was burned by scalding hot water at the age of 3 and had to go to the hospital, she used it to her advantage by getting delicious food and gum. Similarly, in the movie ‘Homeless to Harvard,’ Liz Murray did this by taking extra classes to stay after school and learn when she was homeless and lived on the streets.…
When Jeanette was only three years old, Rose Mary applauded her for cooking hot dogs. Jeanette and her siblings had to find food on their own when their mom and dad were out of town. When there was not food during the school year, Jeanette had to pick up untouched food from the trash cans just to eat. These types of examples show what Jeanette and her other siblings had to go through at a young age on their own just to survive. Taking the example of Jeanette cooking at a young age showed the lack of commitment from the mother but at the same time she wanted to her children to learn the value of being independent.…
How much did you depend on your parents growing up? The guidance and assistance-or lack thereof-provided by parents for their child can affect the child’s morals, values, and what they do with their life. In The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls and her siblings grew up surrounded by alcoholism, poverty, and abuse-physical, sexual, and emotional-while their parents were unhelpful when it came to providing for the needs of their children. The way a child thinks and acts depends greatly on how well the parents provide for their child’s physical and mental needs.…
In the beginning of her memoir, Wall’s writes about her lifestyle in positive light, using words such as “adventure.” and “love.” On page 18 she writes, “We could live like this forever”(18), to describe her excitement towards sleeping under stars without any pillows. Another quote describe her bright outlook on living in the dessert is, “I loved the desert, too. When the sun was in the sky, the sand would be so hot that it would burn your feet if you were the kind of kid who wore shoes, but since we always went barefoot, our soles were as tough and thick as cowhide”(21).…
In the memoir of Jeanette Walls’ “The Glass Castle”, there are many themes to explore. Jeanette tells the tales of growing up in continued poverty with dysfunctional parents who find pleasure moving frequently in the dead of night. The Walls family was extremely poor and often there was no food, electricity or indoor plumbing in the multitude of places that the children called home. Jeanette grew up as the second oldest daughter in a family of six. Her father, Rex Walls, was a glorified entrepreneur who was rather bright, but always seemed down on his luck with a bottle of booze in his hand.…
In the book, The Glass Castle, the author named Jeannette Walls opens up about the hardships her family was forced to experience. Main factors in those hardships were poverty and Jeannette’s father’s drinking habit. Through these issues, Jeannette along with her siblings managed to tackle the parental role and take care of themselves, as well as each other. Although Jeannette’s parents were at times negligent, they had undoubtedly taught their children long-lasting morals and values. These lessons have proven to play a significant role on the children and brought them together, even in the worst of situations.…
Do you ever ponder the idea of why every family is so diverse and why people act the way they act? This family studies class offers an exploration of unique families, how to manage resources, environmental influences, and the important steps in the decision making process. All of these factors come in play when answering why people are the way they are and the varying traits within families. The Glass Castle, written by Jeannette Walls is a memoir that expresses the hardships and obstacles she faced while growing up.…
The book the Glass Castle represents how a person can achieve the American dream. It shows how someone born and raised in poverty can still make the american dream a reality just like the Walls children did. Despite her past, Jeanette Walls was able to forgive her parents, and achieve her dream. The memoir can inspire people no matter who and where they came from, they still have the possibility of achieving their dreams and…
“Things always have a way of figuring themselves out.” That’s what my dad always would tell me when I was younger which, in a way, relates my life to Jeannette Walls’ in The Glass Castle. He told me that whether or not things had problems over time or in a matter of seconds, they would always figure themselves out. I carry those words with me as a reminder that things for me were really hard at one point, but in the end they figured themselves out. My parents divorced when I was twelve years old, and just headed into 7th grade.…