Throughout the memoir, Jeannette Walls and her siblings’ view of the Glass Castle is a symbol of hope. It is the bright light in their future that allows them to continue living life with a better outlook on what is to come. Showing how much they desire…
The Glass Castle is a memoir written by Jeannette Walls, published in 2005. It recounts her…
Big, smooth, shiny, luxurious, polished. Comfortable, serene, extravagant - the glass castle. In the memoir, The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, the image of the glass Castle was Jeannette’s symbol of trust in her dad that he would stop drinking and strike it rich to get them out of poverty, so that the family could live a better life. Jeannette’s father was an alcoholic and her mom was unmotivated. The family moved around frequently while living on their dad’s low paying series of odd jobs. While still believing in the glass castle and her father, Jeannette grapples with the struggles of a lower social class, such as hunger and bullying from other kids and her parents, which implements the mentality of shooting for bigger dreams despite…
Throughout the book The Glass Castle, the author uses specific wording that makes the book unique.…
The book, Glass Castle, by Jeannette Walls, is an unbelievable memoir about a dysfunctional family. The author, Jeannette Walls, is also the main character in the book. Jeannette and each of her unique and interesting family members differ from any other character in a book you can imagine. Jeannette’s father teaches and inspires her each and everyday with new and interesting things. But when Jeannette’s father was not helping them embrace life, he was drinking alcohol, leaving his children with no one to take care of them. “In my mind, Dad was perfect, although he did have what Mom called a bit of a drinking situation.” (page 23). This quote describes how much Jeannette cares for her father, but sometimes his drinking problem got in the way. Jeannette’s mother was a very nice, sweet, and caring woman, but the whole idea of responsibility and being a parent wasn’t her cup of tea. Jeannette and her brother and sister are left to take care of themselves. Throughout the story Jeannette and her family persevere greatly, and prove to each other how…
In addition, The Glass Castle, “Poverty in America Is Mainstream”, and “Number Of Homeless Children In America Surges To All-Time High: Report” all have a similar author’s purpose. Jeannette Walls’s purpose of writing her memoir is to teach readers to achieve their dreams and not let their past hold them back. Especially, she describes her house as a compact residence that is located on a steep hillside. The front of the house includes a drooping porch, which is supported by spindly cinder-block pillars. It has been a long time since someone has painted it (Walls 150). Evidently, Jeannette Walls has had many obstacles while growing, but she does not let them stop her from prospering throughout her life. She decides she would like to move to…
The Glass Castle, written by Jeannette Walls, is a wonderful book full of many different…
The occurrence of many negative situations in Jeanette’s memoir, the Glass Castle, presents Jeanette and her family with many challenges which their actions, often times, results in a positive outcome. When Billy and Jeanette and her siblings get into a gunfight, it results in the Walls “family coming down to the courthouse the next morning and see the magistrate” (Walls 89). However, Jeanette’s father, Rex, makes them move that night, driving to “an older house, made of adobe, in downtown Phoenix” that Jeanette’s mom, Rose Mary, inherits from Jeanette’s Grandma Smith (Walls 92). This reveals that the negative situation was the gunfight, forcing the Walls family to dash at night to avoid going to the courthouse. Jeanette saw Battle Mountain…
The title of the book and a major theme within it, the Glass Castle represents Rex's hope for a magical, fantastic life in which he can provide for his family and please his children. Rex lays out plans for the Glass Castle, including detailed dimensions for each of the children's rooms, but he never actually builds the castle. For a long time Jeannette believes that he will but she gives up on the hope after the hole they dig for the foundation of the Glass Castle is filled with garbage. Though the physical structure is not erected, the symbol the Glass Castle represents remains with Jeannette in her childhood and helps her to believe that her father will do what he promises. When she discovers that this is not always true and realizes that…
It was a very touching story: the Glass Castle, in which author Jeannette Walls tells the world about her greatly influential past. This passage I chose reveals one of the most significant characters in her life, her father; it recalls on the things that he did for her, or his attitudes and ways of life that is very influential in the author’s life. When her father speaks in the book, it can be interpreted that he is someone who has dreams, but could never achieve anything. It’s ironic and displays flawed reasoning in how he kidnaps his daughter from the hospital, but then tells her that “she’s safe” and that she “doesn’t have to worry anymore.”(Walls, 14) She then goes on and talks about her father’s stories. He talks about “stories” of his past, which is inferred that in realty, they’re really just fiction. The way Wall’s dad portrays himself symbolizes his need to have his children believe in him, to prove that he can still be strong and intelligent-not the drunk that he is-, to describe what he wants his life to be. Walls explains to her audience why her childhood was troubled through using parallelism, she said that her and her family didn’t fit in “because they had red hair, because dad was a drunk, because we wore rags and didn’t take baths…..” (Walls, 164) In this passage, Wall’s uses simple words, easy to understand diction, and clearly tells us her story. Even though it may not be the best experiences a child can endure, she doesn’t complain, but simply looks at it as something that she has overcome. Jeannette Walls wrote a story about her life, her parents, her upbringing, and she did so calmly and objective, yet still connecting with her readers on an emotional…
The Glass Castle, a memoir written by Jeannette Walls is an eye-opening look at the world of poverty that touches so many lives within in the United States. There are many reasons for poverty wheather they be out of consequence or one is simply born into it there are many reason for its occurance. The story of Jeannette Walls is not only inspiring but motivating as her climb from the depths poverty allow her to become the successful journalist and novelist she is today. Throughout her life there have been many struggles including her own father, Rex Walls, the finicial instability their family faces together, and the bullies Jeannette must face alone. She clearly outlines her own growth with her father throughout the novel and proves that with…
Traveling as a family should be one of the safest and most worry free times you experience as a child. You bestow all your trust upon your parents without even realizing it and you expect to be in good hands. You expect your family to keep you away from bad situations and keep you out of harm’s way. This is quite typical for most families, but for Jeannette she experiences things much different. In The Glass Castle, by Jeannette Walls, the moving and traveling that her family partakes in on pages 48-50 reveals how irresponsible the parents are when it comes to their children and also how accustomed the children have become to a life full of bad situations.…
The Glass Castle is a chilling memoir written by the writer Jeannette Walls. The memoir is about her unfortunate childhood, which involved constantly being on the move due to her father Rex’s drinking problems getting them into debt or losing him a job. The author has a way of describing things that leaves readers emotionally connected, sympathetic, grateful, wanting more and many other reactions. Overall, The Glass Castle was an excellent life affirming and inspiring memoir.…
No two childhoods are exactly alike. Some children are lucky to be born into wealthy families, while other families struggle to make ends meet. In the memoir, The Glass Castle, by Jeannette Walls she described the events in her childhood which lead her to become independent at a very young age, made an effort to make the most of the education offered to her, and learned to appreciate what she had. Her unusual upbringing and lifestyle as a young child shaped her into the successful woman she is today.…
A. Jeannette Walls, in her memoir The Glass Castle, demonstrates Erikson’s eight stages of development. Through the carefully recounted stories of her childhood and adolescence, we are able to trace her development from one stage to the next. While Walls struggles through some of the early developmental stages, she inevitably succeeds and has positive outcomes through adulthood. The memoir itself is not only the proof that she is successful and productive in middle adulthood, but the memoir may also have been part of her healing process. Writing is often a release and in writing her memoir and remembering her history, she may have been able to come to terms with her sad past. The memoir embodies both the proof that she has successfully graduated through Erickson’s stages of development while also being the reason that she is able to do so.…