Analysis Of ' The Glass Castle '

"Mom was cradling a bundle in her arms and giggling sort of guiltily, like she'd stolen a candy bar from a dime store. I figured they had checked out Rex Walls-style." (Walls 46). As their story of a nomadic lifestyle unfolds the intense bond between Jeanette and her father becomes unmistakable. She is the daddy’s little girl and relives the small adventures she takes with her father as well as the fictional tale of the Glass Castle.

Think back to your own childhood. Could you imagine being a child, and not having a care in the world, but then, as quick as the snap of a finger, that all changes because of a thoughtless mistake made by your parents? In The Glass Castle 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 hardships and endured suffering during her childhood, these obstacles formed her into a self-reliant woman who proves that just because you do not have as much money as other families, you can still achieve success in your life.

Jeannette Walls, Shows in the book The Glass Castle that there are a lot of situations that happen in life where people make countless mistakes, but it is very important to forgive her father and her mother for many mistakes. She has to cope with many obstacles without her parent's help. In the author's memoir, we become attracted with Jeannette constant struggle between protecting her family and the pleasure that her family is based on the same hopes and senseless falsehood with her unbelievable storytelling method. The feelings of forgiveness hold the Walls family together. Jeanette was able to describe her family's childhood, relationships with one another. The children of the Walls family are forced to begin the independent life at an

The Glass Castle, a memoir written by Jeannette Walls, is a story that discusses the insights of a dysfunctional, yet vibrant family. The four Walls children have two parents, Rose Mary who was an unconventional artist, and Rex who was an alcoholic father. The family travels constantly across the country, with their parents using their imagination as a distraction from their poverty. Despite the hardships the Walls family has faced, Jeanette writes her truth in order to reconcile with her past. She expresses through her story of how she has reflected upon her childhood, and how it has shaped her character in the present (The glass castle: Jeanette Walls, 2016). The majority of readers may believe that Rex Walls is an irresponsible, neglectful parent. However, Rex’s viewpoint of how he cares for Jeanette and her siblings can be portrayed as supportive, intelligent, and sensible.

“Life is a drama full of tragedy and comedy. You should learn to enjoy the comic episodes a little more.” The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls has very important life lessons that will teach everyone to laugh at tragedies sometimes. In the memoir, one will learn these and accept them. There will be a lot of struggles thrown life’s way, but everyone will find a way to get through it and realize it makes one who they are.

Jeanette Walls memoir, the Glass Castle, illustrates Jeanette’s unusual childhood caused by constant poverty and chaos of her dysfunctional parents. This memoir teaches you to be thankful for what you have and to never give up no matter how hard things get.

They set the stage for the rest of the memoir; finding out really how Jeannette seems fond yet disappointed in them. “...he’d ruined the Christmas his family had spent weeks planning-the Christmas that was supposed to be the best we’d ever had” (115). This shows how far Rex became submerged himself into drinking, easily ruining a possibly good day at the Walls household. Unfortunately, Jeannette suffered from sexual abuse/harassment during her childhood. Her parents were unconcerned when finding out. “One night when I was almost ten, I was awakened by someone running his hands over my private parts. At first it was confusing…’I just want to play a game with you,’ a man’s voice said” (103). Jeannette asked her parents to close the doors and windows, but they would not consider it. It was essential that they refuse to surrender to fear. “I felt Stanley’s hand creeping onto my thigh...I looked down and saw that Uncle Stanley’s pants were unzipped and he was playing with himself” (183-184). Rose Mary showed no concern when Jeannette told her that Uncle Stanley touched her inappropriately. She felt bad for Uncle Stanley, knowing he is just lonely. Jeannette was most disappointed in her father when she and Brian began digging a foundation for the home that Rex designed for the family. The hole later became a garbage pit; perhaps not affording for the trash to

Through The Glass Castle, Jeannette shows the world how an impoverished, neglected girl grows into a successful author and wife. Jeanette, herself, is a living proof of ultimate success showing the world that no matter what situation you come from, ultimate success is completely possible. She starts out with memories from the time when she was as young as three along with the rest of her family, constantly on the move, deserted towns in the middle of the night "Rex Walls ' style” and lived in numerous places, all the way up to her present-day. Throughout her life, Jeanette dealt with poverty, hunger, malnourishment, along with an alcoholic father and an unstable mother. But for Jeanette, the

Jeannette Walls is an American writer in journalist who found success in New York City, most notably writing a gossip column for MSNBC in which she details the effects of gossip in politics. She published her memoir, The Glass Castle, in 2005. The book spent 261 weeks on the New York Times Best Seller list. In it, Walls recounts her childhood while growing up in an unstable family with her father and mother, Rex and Rose Mary Walls, her older sister Lori, and her younger brother and sister, Brian and Maureen. Rex and Rose Mary could not settle down and constantly uprooted their family of six to different locations in the southwest region of America. Neither parent could keep a job and struggled to feed and put a roof over their heads. In the novel, Walls views her parents as irresponsible because it rarely seems as though Rex and Rose Mary genuinely want to work and make money to support the family. They thrive off their sense of adventure, as they drive all over the country in a rundown car, looking for their latest shack to pile their family into, usually without running water, heat, or indoor plumbing. Walls will tell the story of her childhood through a series of pivotal moments that ultimately shape her opinion of her parents and lead her to a successful career in New York City.

The Glass Castle, a story about Jeannette Walls and her more than dysfunctional family. Jeannette and her family move around from town to town throughout America's west coast. Eventually, Jeanette’s begins to run out of money because of this they decide to move in with Jeanette’s grandmother in Welch, West Virginia. Jeanette and her siblings eventually decide to start saving up money to move to New York. Jeanette’s parents follow her and her siblings to new york after a while and end up on the streets. Rex, Jeanette's dad dies of a heart attack in New York City and her mother sticks to her life on the streets. The memoir comes to a close as Jeanette is able to reconcile with her past and all the adversity that she has gone through. The author uses literary devices such as imagery, irony, and foreshadowing to captivate the reader. The literary devices imagery. The irony and foreshadowing make the story worth telling because they make her story interesting.

In the memoir, The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, it is clear that the clash of religious cultures effects Jeannette’s ideas on life and God. Though it is never mentioned, it is assumed that Jeannette does not have a strong belief in God, or religion in general. This is because of her lack of religious stability as a child. During the Christmas mass, Rex exclaims, “Virgin my ass!... Mary was a sweet Jewish broad who got herself knocked up”(114)! This could be confusing for Jeannette because of her mother’s Catholic predisposition. Rose Mary further complicates Jeannette’s religious beliefs and understandings when she urges the children to chant hail mary’s while cleaning. Rose Mary tells the children, “It’s a way of cleansing our souls while

In almost every memory Jeannette Walls includes in her book, The Glass Castle, there are signs of extreme emotional detachment coming from each character. At one point she recalls her mother telling her that “suffering is good for you,” and goes further by saying that it “immunized your body and soul” (Walls 28). Walls’s use of the word “immunized” and the extreme cleansing connotations that come along with it, combined with the concept of suffering make a broader statement about the emotional normalcy of the entire family. This specific word shows how her mother sees suffering as a condition, a comparison to a disease, and that exposure is necessary when you’re young so that you won’t be affected when you’re older. The passage goes on

American writer and journalist, Jeannette Walls, in her memoir, The Glass Castle(2005), narrates her personal history. She tells the good, bad, and ugly of her childhood. Walls’ purpose is to encourage her readers that anyone can overcome adversity and be great. She kept her positivity and humor even in the roughest of times and kept her family together even through all their movement from place to place. Walls’ pushed herself through her challenges and hardships to become prosperous and happy.

“I was on fire” is one out of many memorable phrases used in The Glass Castle. The Glass Castle is a memoir written by Jeannette Walls about the trials and tribulations she and her siblings had to deal with while growing up. Though not all of her childhood was a struggle, she did experience some joyous moments too. Walls later on grew up to be an author and a journalist. Her memoir, The Glass Castle, should be required as summer reading for the Class of 2019 because Walls's life is very interesting and the memoir is relatable to different aspects of our lives.

Not having a place to call home or a job to go to everyday to provide for your family can put a tremendous amount of stress on an entire family. However, there are many ways to succeed in life illustrated in two texts: The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck and The Glass Castle, by Jeannette Walls. The Grapes of Wrath, a novel of the Joad family moving westward during the Dust Bowl, and The Glass Castle, a novel of the Walls family and their struggles with modern day poverty, both show the reader the struggles they face and how hard it was for them to get through just one day at a time. The Walls and Joad families pushed through the hardships life threw at them because they never lost sight of their goal and what was important to them and they kept hope that they would find a permanent home.