The Role Of Independence In The Glass Castle

Superior Essays
It is often questioned what level of independence one should take in relation to society, government, and the influence or aid of others. Achieving a level of independence, the ability to stand on your own, is a key area of accepting responsibility for oneself. Individuals should have total free will if they are capable of taking care of themselves. Independence is for the ones who can depend on themselves to get by, but the actions of individuals should only be limited to prevent harm to others. In other words, a person should be able to do whatever they want as long as his or her actions do not harm others. If a person’s actions only affect themselves, then society, which includes government, should not be able to stop them from what he or …show more content…
Independence cannot be reached right away and not everybody will become independent. When a baby is young he needs his mother to feed him, but as that baby gets older he learns to feed himself and no longer needs his mother to do that for him. When he becomes older he learns to do more and more on his own. Eventually that individual will get a job, which will show how responsible he is because being independent has to come with responsibility. In the beginning of The Glass Castle, Jeannette’s father was a good parent. He taught his children about the sciences and how to live a fearless life, but it was only after losing all of their money that the family gave up their nomadic lifestyle and settled down in West Virginia. Things went downhill from there as Rex began to drink heavily and his children were forced to learn to fend for themselves. They had to raise themselves because their parents were far too concerned with their own lives; therefore, Rex's parenting skills, while neglectful, forced the children to learn to survive on their own. Their independence, while coming far too early for such young children, was forced upon them given Rex's neglect. In her earlier years, Jeannette Walls evolves from a neglectful childhood into a very well-rounded and savvy adult. This is a direct result of changing and maturing through her living situation as a child. She still loves her family throughout her life, so therefore harbors neither resentment nor anger toward them and the way they raised her. However, as an adult, she no longer gives her parents the free pass she afforded them as a child. In Plato’s, The Allegory of the Cave, it says, “In the knowable realm the form of the good is the last thing to be seen, and it is reached only with difficulty” (Plato 5). Like the prisoner in the story, Jeannette was able to get out of the cave by liberating

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    The Glass Castle The Glass Castle, written by author Jeannette Walls refllects a beautiful memoir of her childhood. The focus of the story includes Jeannette 's struggles as a child and having to grow up in a dysfunctional family. The protagonist of the novel being Jeannette Walls herself , describes the brutal yet honest truth behind growing up within the circumstances of an unstable home of her alcholic father and her mothers rather rustic lifestyle. With the use of theme, symbolism and irony, Jeannette Walls has illustrated and captured the essence of a true story through The Glass Castle.…

    • 1026 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “Independence isn’t doing your own thing it's doing what you know is right” (Unknown). In The Book Thief By Markus Zusak this quote is especially true. The main character in The Book Thief, Liesel, is living with a her foster mother and father Hans and Rosa Hubermann in Nazi Germany. Once Leasil is settled with her foster family, Max, a jew in hiding, comes to live with them she can't tell anyone about max including her neighbor/best friend Rudy. In The Book Thief ,by Markus Zusak, independence and keeping an open mind is a strong influence on the charters in the story and shows readers to think for themselves.…

    • 395 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Jeannette uses pathos to illustrate this theme to her audience. The greatest instance of this occurs when she describes her experience with the school newspaper at Welch High School. Walls begins as a proofreader, but after several years, she becomes a reporter. When reflecting on the experience, Walls writes, “I began going to just about every extracurricular event at the school, and the kids who shunned me before now accepted me and even sought me out” (231). The pride in her voice is clear and well-deserved, given how long the Walls family suffers as the town outcasts.…

    • 759 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Unit 1 Equality, Diversity and Rights in Health and Social Care Task 4.1 Evaluate the role of the health and social care practitioner in meeting individuals’ needs through inclusive practice What is inclusive practice? Inclusive practices ensure that all individuals are included in all parts of life and are not discriminated against or ruled out because of unique differences. It includes approaches and attitudes to be taken to make sure that all individuals are included and not isolated. This means supporting diversity and embracing any differences people may have.…

    • 1099 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    While this provides the reader with a lot of information on the negative affects of parental negligence, this story may not be suitable for all viewers. This story is certainly dark compared to other memoirs. Sadly, this story is not fiction and is a true recollection of Jeannette Walls childhood. I personally would not recommend this for future book lists. Only because it may put a negative stigma on any type of “free-thinking” parenting…

    • 1630 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Jeannette and her three siblings Lori, Brian, and Maureen have been through so much in their lives from birth to a young adult. Jeannette Walls in her memoir of The Glass Castle shows that she went through almost all eights stages of Erickson’s Psychosocial Development. The memoir of Jeannette shows that she is a very strong individual and even though she has been through a lot of her early development she still over comes her struggles. The memoir of The Glass Castle shows that Jeanette goes through almost all of Erickson’s stages of Psychosocial Development. According to Snowman & McCown (2013), “Erikson described theses crises in terms of opposing qualities that individual typically develop.…

    • 2153 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The father of Jeannette Walls. I think that Rex is a fairly skilled electrician, and also engineer. He usually spends his time trying to invent tools that can make his family wealthy. Rex Walls had suffered from sexual abuse when he was a child, which is most likely the cause of his alcoholism, and destructive behaviour he displays throughout the memoir. Although Rex had a troubled childhood, and was an alcoholic who could not be a good role model for his children.…

    • 544 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “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.…

    • 853 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Does adversity bring out the best in people? Throughout history there have been many people who have overcome many difficult adversities at the worst possible moments. Roman poet Horace claims that adversity brings out traits and qualities that wouldn't be seen otherwise. Everyone grows up in a different manner. In her narrative The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, her family including herself go through so many adversities.…

    • 548 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Jeannette and her siblings were all very intelligent, even though their home life and the observations of others said otherwise. Jeannette writes about her family’s struggle for food, clothing, and shelter. Throughout The Glass Castle, Jeannette overcomes many hardships and adversity in her life. I, too, am trying to fight through adversity in my life as well.…

    • 1703 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The Glass Castle Essay

    • 1409 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Her family was very poor. So poor, that the kids had to sleep in cardboard boxes till they outgrew them. I really didn’t have a rough childhood, so I can’t relate to Jeannette…

    • 1409 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Great Essays

    Through hard work and determination, Jeannette discover her true passion in life, which results in her decision to leave the small town of Welch and follow her sister to New York…

    • 2011 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Despite the continuous struggles that the Walls family faced with Rex in attendance or not, their sanguinity and hopes of a better…

    • 994 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Glass Castle - Choice 2 Just because the past is dark that doesn’t mean the future cannot be bright and the American can not be reached. The American dream is a term used for people who put in hard work to escape the difficult lives they are living for a more successful one. The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls is a good example of how a family overcomes poverty by working hard for a better future. Jeanette Walls and her siblings must escape poverty by getting jobs at a young age, working hard and going to school at the same time, so they can get a better life.…

    • 752 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Where the child learns to make their own decisions and discover that their actions have consequences. I can say that based on the type of life I was living with my parents my sense of independence came at a very early age. Instead of me being nurtured to develop self-confidence and not have self-esteem issues, I would nurture my mother and try to lift her up during our difficult time. By that time, my mother had already given birth to my middle sister, things in my household appeared to be somewhat normal but, months passed and my father continued being abusive towards my mother. Nine months passed and my mother gave birth again to another little girl and even though I was happy to have another sister, I didn’t wish the life that I was living upon my worst enemy.…

    • 2220 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Superior Essays