Analysis Of The Glass Castle By Jeannette Walls

And despite everything, her love for her father only accumulates for him. Throughout the story Jeannette at times has given up on her father but she somehow always rationalizes his actions and continues to see him as everything but a bad influence. For example, when Rex purposely throws Jeannette into the water forcing her to learn how to swim and saying, “If you don’t want to sink you better learn how to swim.” (Walls 66) Again this just proves that despite how reckless and inconsiderate her parents were at times eventually it taught her to be independent and survive. And in the end they needed this because living in poverty its almost difficult to make sure you will survive the next day. Regardless of Rex’s weaknesses in raising Jeannette soon enough it proved that Jeannette’s love and admiration for her father was impeccable and only proved that Rex played a huge role in her

A few times in the book she would be inappropriately touched, or beaten up, and her father would do nothing to avenge or just protect his daughter. Brian came to her side a couple times and defended her against bullies, but Rex would never be empathetic. She had a little brother, but what she needed, was a preventive father. When Rex came home drunk most of the nights, he was violent and rude to his children. To try and make a difference for the whole family, and to get them to believe in Dad again, her birthday present she wished for was for her father to stop drinking. He lasted a couple months, but the disappointment and betrayal she felt of her father was immense and “...she couldn’t believe Dad had gone back to the booze” (Walls 123). She was the last to believe in him and with the overwhelming dishonesty and deception, at last, she had finally lost faith in her Dad.

Every kid wants to be able to go out whenever they want to, and yet a child wants to come home to a bed to sleep on every night. The question of whether a child wants to have freedom or security is one that someone can contemplate over and over again, and the more you think about it, the more your mind could alternate between the two options. After reading the novel The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, which is a memoir that describes the life of her nomadic family of six who dealt financial, family, social, and emotional issues all the way from her father being an alcoholic or the children at her school bullying her for her dirty clothes. The children had to deal with unusual circumstances in order to survive the ordeal, and while sometimes

In her younger years, Jeannette was an smart and imaginative child. At first, she enjoyed moving around, and had a lot of faith in her father, which created a good relationship between them. “All we had to was find gold, once we’d struck it rich, he’d [Rex] start work on our Glass Castle” (Walls, 25). The tremendous faith that she has in Rex creates a strong bond because she is the only family member who trusts his ideas. Unfortunately, he is a raging alcoholic who can’t hold a job, so most of his promises are broken. As Jeannette gets older, he lets her down more and more. One time he brought her to a bar where she was then sexually violated. When the two had a talk after, he said “I knew you could handle yourself” (Walls, 213,) instead of defending her. It was upsetting to watch their relationship grow apart and to see how poorly he provided for his family, yet they still loved him.

The human experience of an outcast is illustrated by Jeannette Walls in The Glass Castle by the element of chaos expressed throughout the book, the parents’ refusal to conform to social standards, and the poverty that shaped her childhood.

It can be seen that both Rex, and Rose Mary Walls did not like receiving any type of help, even if it would greatly benefit the family. At the beginning of the book, Jeannette burns herself while cooking hotdogs. One sign of negligence from Rose Mary was that she let Jeannette cook by herself at the age of 3, with absolutely no supervision, and this caused Jeannette to accidently burn herself severely. She was in the hospital for a few weeks, and due to the parent’s discontent with receiving help, they decided to steal Jeannette out of the hospital before she was cleared to leave. Jeannette explains, “Dad hurried down the hall with me in his arms. A nurse yelled for us to stop, but Dad broke into a run. He pushed open an emergency exit door and sprinted down the stairs and out to the street” (Walls 9). Firstly, Rex is not being a good role model to his three year old daughter as he is doing something that is completely forbidden. A responsible parent would not be teaching their children that actions such as these are acceptable. Jeannette was only three, and therefore the encouragement to break rules would stick to her mind a lot easier. Also, what was Rex thinking when he decided to steal Jeannette from the hospital prematurely? They brought Jeannette to the hospital for her to recover from her injury (which could have been prevented with parent supervision). Hospitals are there to help patients, and that is exactly how it benefitted Jeannette. If there were a reason for this, it might have been understandable. However, Rex did not have a valid reason for this as it was not like he was going to help Jeannette recover at home. Not only did the parents not like help from other people, but they did not like any type of aid to their family at all. This can be seen when Jeannette explains,” ‘Nosiree,’ Mom said. She didn't approve of glasses. If you had weak eyes, Mom

Growing up the way Walls grew up had its advantages. It helped shape the person she has become. Her mom being occupied with her art and keeping up with an alcoholic husband, Jeannette was forced to raise herself and her siblings. Walls said “…I cooked myself some hot dogs. I was hungry, mom was at work on a painting and no one else was there to fix them for me” (15). This incident happened right after her father, Rex Walls took her out of the hospital after being admitted for six weeks for

In The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, the Walls family is born and raised throughout the country, never settling down in one place. Rex, Jeannette’s father, is an independent thinker, and a highly intelligent man. He spends every second of his spare time inventing odd contraptions that he hopes will make his family rich. Despite his obvious intellect, Rex struggles profusely with alcoholism, making his goal of maintaining a job, and protecting his family very difficult. Jeannette’s dad is best known for “skedaddling”, when things get too hard in one place, or bill collectors come he takes his family, regardless of what they think or want, away from there. They have no say in it, he practically drags them along because they don’t have a choice. Rex asks Jeannette what

Therefore Rex Walls is uninvolved in his children’s lives because of one example when Jeannette has been injured in the hospital for six weeks and her father comes to the room for the first time when she is supposed to stay in the hospital to rest and keep under supervision by the doctors. Most parents would stay at the hospital with their children but instead, Rex takes her out of the hospital. Jeannette is still hurt and is trying to heal, yet he comes in with the smell of alcohol on his breath and leaves without paying the doctors for the safekeeping of Jeannette. Jeannette’s father tells her to trust him when he hasn’t been there for her for what probably seemed like forever to Jeannette, when she needed him the most.

A trauma narrative is a narrative that describes an experience or experiences that cause someone to be destressed and cannot be incorporated into their memory easily. Throughout her own traumatic narrative, Jeannette Wall’s describes different aspects of her everyday life that showcase various levels of significance. She is able to show how certain life events impact her plans for escaping her current socioeconomic status and her plans for the future. The text is also able to tell us about trauma, poverty, ourselves, and our society. Furthermore, the text demonstrates the impact that trauma and poverty can have and how they can have lasting effects. These concepts help us to think about our own life experiences and situations and they also show us how to be analytical about our society. Lastly, this narrative is able to reveal to us the different aspects of a traumatic childhood and how important and impactful this type of upbringing can be. Jeannette Walls uses her own traumatic autobiography to show that despite her adverse upbringing in poverty and passive and unattached parenting she was able to become successful. The Glass Castle, by Jeannette Walls, shows the benefits and the value that can come from having a traumatic narrative. This is significant because it shows that an experience can shape a person, but a person can also shape the experience.

As frigid snow frosts the sun-licked ice, a glacial wind howls against the trees. As a child, one would sip hot chocolate and watch a movie with their family. However, Jeannette Walls would be sitting on a dirty floor, cold with no food. In The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, it is revealed that as Jeannette grew up, she endured hardships inflicted upon her by her own parents. However, if Jeannette had not gone through these things, she never would have gained the characteristics that she values present day. Although Jeannette Walls faced destitution and endured anguish during her childhood, these obstacles formed her into a self-reliant woman who proves that just because she did not have as much money as other families, she can still achieve success in her life.

In the memoir The Glass Castle written by Jeannette Walls, the main character explains her life story and all the struggles she went through. Along with herself, other characters such as her father Rex Walls and her mother Rose Mary Walls played vital roles to the successful memoir. The settings in this story added a deeper meaning and helped readers better understand the context. Lastly, the themes that the memoir conveyed were extremely important life lessons that shaped Jeannette Walls into the person she is today. Without the strong characters, settings, and themes, the story would not be as successful as it has become.

The Glass Castle, by Jeannette Walls, focuses on how a young girl attempts to live a "normal" life, while her own parents struggle to separate themselves from society. The memoir does provide evidence that shows how individualism can be beneficial, but nonetheless, there is also supporting evidence that represents the consequences. In this particular case, the benefits obtaining a sense of individualism don't outweigh the possible consequences, but instead the consequences outweigh the benefits.

“Things usually work out in the end." "What if they don't?" "That just means you haven't come to the end yet.” That small but powerful excerpt comes from the incredible biography “The Glass Castle” by Jeannette Walls. The Glass Castle is a 269 page Memoir about the unconventional, poverty-stricken, and dysfunctional life of Jeannette Walls and her three siblings.

Throughout the novel, the entire Walls family ignored Rex’s alcoholism and violent episodes. This reoccurring theme of negligence impacts The Glass Castle greatly, whether it was from the mother’s carelessness to the father’s alcoholism. In fact, Rose Mary referred to Rex’s addiction as a mere drinking problem when, over the years, it has manifested into a major conflict that affects the Walls’ family’s financial security. This puts the family in danger multiple times, but Rose Mary never tells Rex to control himself or to leave the family. Another example of negligence in the novel happened when Rose Mary glosses over Uncle Stanley’s perverted harassment of Jeannette, the dire condition of the house on Little Hobart Street, and her children’s starvation. Again, as stated formerly, this neglect that these children had experienced all their lives shaped how they were later in