In this world, there’s learning things the hard way and the easy way; in Jeannette Wall’s world, there’s only learning things the hard way. The Glass Castle is an adventurous story that reveals the painfully miserable story of Jeannette Walls. A selfish mother, a careless father, and terrible social encounters- these are some of the elements of a harsh reality Rex and Rose Mary Walls failed to shield their children from. Growing up poor was already difficult, but growing up with a selfish parent, specifically an unfeeling mom, made life hell for the Walls children. The family barely had one source of income from Rex Walls, and instead of helping out with the family’s finance issues, Rose Mary spent her days at home painting. While struggling to life in Welch, Rose Mary quit her teaching job before it started. She proclaimed she was an artist, not a teacher: “She intended to quit her teaching job and devote herself to her art… ‘It’s time I did something for myself …show more content…
After graduating middle school her friend lost touch with her and eventually left her life for good: “By the time she got to Welch High Dinitia changed.” Jeannette was also sexually harassed by one of her friends in Phoenix while playing hide-and-seek: “Billy smushed his face against mine… ‘Guess what?’Billy shouted. ‘I raped you’” Lastly, while going to school in Phoenix Jeannette was bullied for being smart and skinny: “The other students didn’t like me much because I was so tall and pale and skinny and always raised my hand too fast… A few days after I started school, four Mexican girls followed me home and jumped me in an alleyway…” These situation taught Jeannette the harsh reality of outsiders. Not everyone will like you; some will seem like they like you and fake it and even good friends come and
When you first hear the title of “The Glass Castle” written by Jeannette Walls you may think it's a book about fairy tales. However that’s not the case, imagine not being able to experience childhood the way it’s supposed to be with toys, friends to play with, and parents when they come home from work cook a huge family dinner. This is the case for Jeannette Walls. She is the second oldest of four children and grew up needing to take care of freewheeling, creative, but neglecting drunken father Rex who could never keep a job and oblivious mother Rosemary who was an artist. Also while looking after her younger siblings Brian and Maureen with her oldest sister Lori.
Even though she is fairly young in the time the family lives in Battle Mountain, she still can be described as tolerant and understanding in most situations. Her father was really pushing her, making her suffer, and though at first upset with his actions, she quickly analyzed the situation, coming to an understanding as to why he did what he did. For a short time, she resented her family at the sulfur spring because as she was drowning, her own mother floated on her back, unconcerned with what Jeannette thought was a life or death situation. In the end, Jeannette came to the conclusion that maybe her father’s actions were justified. There was no way he would let anything happen to her, and there was no other way to explain why he or her family would let her drown, so she tolerated the
Success: An Escape from Privation Inevitably, the conflicts people face at multiple points in their life is a determining factor in shaping individuals into the person they will eventually become. Namely, these conflicts direct people 's behavior over the course of time; contributing to a person’s ability to achieve success. In particular, Jeannette Walls’ The Glass Castle is an honest depiction of her life and the conflicts that arise throughout her state of impoverishment, as well as the success that stems from her hardships.
Jeannette narrowly escapes rape, but because her father exploits her in a way that makes it seem like she would consent to underage sex, she is abused. The sexual abuse Jeannette suffers results in her having more trust in her own intuition as she
In the memoir, The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, the Walls family is considered homeless and they are constantly moving from place to place. They constantly find themselves either with a somewhat decent amount of money or at times, no money at all. Jeannette, being one of four children always follows along with and listens to her parents and eventually notices that their family does things very differently than most other families. As Jeannette explains her childhood and how she is being raised by her parents, it is clear to see how different Rex and Rosemary’s parenting style is compared to the parenting style of other parents. Since their parenting style is so different, it seems that it affects their children in a negative way throughout their childhood, but in the end it makes Jeannette become a better and more successful person.
When Jeannette tells her mother: “I was too ashamed, Mom. I hid.” (page 5) she means this in two different ways. One being because she is ashamed to say her parents are homeless while she is not. Another is because she realizes that she felt this way during her childhood because there was a way they could have prevented it, but they chose not to.
Jeannette described that this experience made her feel used by her father and gave her a sense of self-worthlessness. Rex knew that Jeannette had a soft spot for him and he took advantage of this. Jeannette has a psychological scar from this for the rest of her life, and it produced long-term effects of distrust and diminished self-worth. As a child she had been through more than most adults, and in one case she even wakes up in the middle of the night with a child molester in her bed. “One night when I was almost ten, I was awakened by someone running his hands over my private parts” (Walls 103).
Jeannette’s father described life’s plan as easy as 1,2,3. First: find gold; Second, get rich; Third: Build the Glass Castle and live happily ever after. Reality was quite different though. In the book memoir The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls shares her memories of her dysfunctional family life’s sorrows and pains. Walls describes undergoing through hunger, instability, homelessness, abuse, molestation, and being told she was a replacement child.
“I was told that this inquiry was being made, and my reaction was the same as when I tried to join the Girl Scouts. I was apologetic for imposing such a burden” (122). At this point, the author has clearly manipulated the reader into feeling indignant at Jeanne’s treatment and the various injustices she is bearing. Again, the sedate tone sparks the reader into wanting to act. However, Jeanne just feels sorry.
Does an individual's role in self-perception play a role in seeking to reconcile the conflict between illusion and reality? In Jeannette Walls "The Glass Castle," Rex displays hidden trauma from when he was a child, which leads him to create a false reality to shield them. In doing this, the false reality will lead them to struggle to find the difference between what is real and what is an illusion. As an adult, Rex displays minimal remorse for anyone in his life when they are harassed. This is most prominently displayed after Rex's mother touches Brian, and when Rex gets back to hear about this, instead of taking his own son's side, he instead tells his kids "Brian's a man, he can take it".
The Glass castle The Glass Castle is a autobiography from Jeannette Wall. Her parents, Rax and Rose Mary were irresponsible, neglectful, and her two sisters and one brother grew up in harsh circumstances. For example, picking up trash to eat, and their dad took them to brothels and bars. But despite the terrible life, they have a good future.
A balance between a enriching intellectual environment and comfortable living conditions is what all families, especially parents want. This is a constant struggle in the Glass Castle because of the Walls poor living condition, but eagerness to explore and adventure the world. Rex and Rosemary Walls, parents of Lori, Jeannette, Brian, and Maureen, obviously take an exploratory and learning environment over a comforting living space. Although living in rough conditions, which leads to bullying, poverty, I believe that it was more important that the Walls created circumstances for most of the children to explore and enjoy learning. Jeannette Walls, the author and the narrator throughout the book, tells a story about her life from when she was
As a child, Jeannette Walls moves around constantly with her family. The Walls family would move to different desert towns and settle as long as Mr. Walls can hold a job. When sober, Mr. Walls represents a charismatic father who loves his children and teaches them important life skills. He encourages imagination inside of the Walls kids and often captures their dream and creativity. Together, the family had planned to build a glass castle that contains all of the family’s hope and inspiration.
They think they can bend the rules and do what they think is necessary. Jeannette is exposed to these understandings, making her the person she grew up to be. Jeanette demonstrates how she struggles with her family throughout numerous portions of the novel: “The Desert,” “Welch,” New York.” These struggles developed and defined who she came to be.
The Glass Castle is the life story of a girl, Jeannette Walls, and her siblings who grew up in poverty unnecessarily because of their parents’ irresponsibility. One of its themes is that strength and perseverance can significantly improve your chance at success and your future. The Walls children did not allow their childhood struggles prevent them from creating better and brighter futures for themselves. They all grew up impressively sane considering their living conditions.