Perhaps the most prominent theme of the novel, The Glass Castle, by Jeannette Walls is the idea of self-sufficiency. Starting from the early beginnings of their childhood, the Walls children were left to survive by their parents in almost every legal (and, in some cases, illegal) circumstance. Even as times grew tough along the way, the Walls parents still believed that the idea of being self-sufficient was more valuable than any other characteristic in facing the real world, and this philosophy played a major role in determining the outcome of the novel. The parents of the Walls children, Rex and Rose Mary, began their life of extreme self-sufficiency even before their children were born. Rex, coming from a relatively unfortunate home life, …show more content…
While they may have been convinced their own provided rations were enough on which to survive, the majority of their lives were spent well below the poverty line. To make up for their lack of physical belongings, the Walls parents resorted to provisional beliefs and values, e.g. pride in not taking charity and being eccentric. Still, while the idea of raising children on principles of self-reliance is not uncommon, Rose Mary and Rex seem to take the method to an extreme level; the fine line between self-reliance and a carelessness for the needs of others is often …show more content…
First, the way Jeannette and her siblings prevailed over an unfortunate childhood proves that any obstacle in life is conquerable with the right mindset and amount of work. I have learned that life is short, yet it is also long enough to be worth overcoming any setback that it might entail. On the other hand, the way Rex and Rose Mary apply self-sufficiency in bringing up their children gives me a new and more cautious outlook on the limited extents of self-independence. While I definitely believe it is important to be able to rely on myself, I now understand that everyone needs help from others from time to time. The point at which self-sufficiency overcomes the extent of human interaction in society is seriously overdone; a balance between the two I believe is more beneficial towards a genuinely healthy
Earlier this year, I read Jeannette Walls’ memoir The Glass Castle. The Glass Castle tells the story of Walls and her siblings as they experience an impoverished childhood and attempt to escape the poverty-stricken lives of their parents. In her descriptions of her life and the lives of her family members, Walls influenced my ideas about poverty, homelessness, and escaping hard lives.
It still holds true that man is most uniquely human when he turns obstacles into opportunities. This is evident in Jeannette Walls’ memoir, The Glass Castle, which reiterates the story of Jeannette who is raised within a family that is both deeply dysfunctional and distinctively vibrant. Jeannette is faced with numerous barriers throughout her life. Despite the many obstacles set forth by her parents during her childhood, Jeannette develops into a successful adult later in life. One of these obstacles is the lack of a stable home base moulds her into the woman she grows up to be. Throughout her life, Jeannette must cope with the carelessness of her
The Glass Castle, a both heart throbbing and emotional story written by Jeanette Walls shares her life through her child eyes. Walls grew with a different lifestyle than what we would normally see today. A family that isn’t much of a family but is a sense of stability and security to her. Throughout her life her family has been through hunger, unstable homes, a drunk father and very little of outer family relationships. She struggled along with her brother and sister but with free-spirited parents for her that is all she needed.
Everyone has some kind of hope for the future, something that they want to achieve or experience. “The Glass Castle” by Jeannette Walls, is the real life story of Jeannette growing up in poverty and her experiences as a child. Jeannette’s father was an alcoholic man, he was very irresponsible when it came to taking care of his children. Rex still managed to keep an emotional connection with his children, and this helped shape the Walls kids into who they became and kept their family together. Throughout Jeanette's childhood, she was always moving from place to place, and was constantly struggling to keep her family together. Throughout the book, “The Glass Castle” was mentioned a multitude of times. “The Glass Castle” was representative
As a child, Jeannette’s sense of wonder and curiosity in the world undermine the need for money. During her young adult years, a new wave of insecurity associated with her poor past infects her. Finally, as an experienced and aged woman, Jeannette finds joy and nostalgia in cherishing her poverty- stricken past. It must be noted that no story goes without a couple twists and turns, especiallydefinitely not Jeannette Walls’. The fact of the matter is that growing up in poverty effectively craftsed, and transformsed her into the person she becomeshas become. While statistics and research show that living in poverty can be detrimental to a child’s self-esteem, Jeannette Walls encourages children living in poverty to have ownership over their temporary situation, and never to feel inferior because of past or present socio-economic
The Walls family, like many in America, is dysfunctional. The father is an alcoholic and the mother simply does not want to grow up. The Walls children have proven to be survivors and that they can take care of themselves, but that doesn’t mean that they should take care of themselves. One might ask, how can nurses help children such as the Walls? How can society help the parents? The answer is not simple or easy.
Earlier this year, I read Jeanette Walls’ memoir The Glass Castle. The Glass Castle tells the story of Walls and her siblings as they experience and attempt to escape the poverty-stricken lives of their parents. In her descriptions of her life and the lives of her family members, Walls influenced my ideas about poverty, homelessness, and escaping hard lives.
In the novel The Glass Castle, by Jeannette Walls, the uncertain future of the Walls’ children was questionable from the start. From a drunk father, to never having a steady home, the author tells of her idiosyncratic youth to describe the bitterness and longing for an ordinary childhood.
Secondly, self-sufficiency is illustrated through motivation. One afternoon when Jeannette was at home by herself child services came to talk to her about her living conditions and her parents. Jeannette told the man to come back when her parents were home. When Jeannette’s mom came home she told her what happened and that she needed to do something so child services wouldn't take them away, Jeannette’s mom then said, “Jeannette, you're so focused it's scary.”(195) Rosemary says when Jeannette is focused she can get intimidating. Jeannette is motivated by the need to protect her family, which shows her self sufficiency because it's up to her to keep the family together, because she knows her parents are unreliable. Additionally, Rosemary has been known to feel sorry for herself and expresses how she hates her life. When Jeannette sees her mom wallowing she stands there in disgust watching her mother give up on life when she
The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls is a perfect example of selfishness and neglect brought upon by the parents and how influences their children through life. The Glass Castle isn’t just a story, but it is someone’s actual life and how it was affected by selfish/neglectful her parents. This is a memoir of her life and all that she went through as a child with troubled parents and how it affected her life and the life of her siblings. Jeannette is the middle child out of four children. There is Lori who is the oldest sister, Brian who is Jeannette’s younger brother, a their
However, with her alcoholic dad who rarely kept a job and her mother who suffered mood swings, they had to find food from her school garbage or eat expired food they had previously when they had the slightest bit of money. In addition, when bills and mortgage piled up, they would pack their bags and look for a new home to live in, if they could even call it a stable home, since they would be on the move so often. Jeanette needed a dad who wouldn’t disappear for days at a time, and a mom that was emotionally stable, but because she didn’t have that, she grew up in an environment where she would get teased or harassed for it. Jeanette suffered so much, that even at one point, she tried convincing her mother to leave her father because of the trouble he had caused the family already. A child should be able to depend on their parents for food and to be there for them when they need it, and when that part of a child’s security is taken away, it leaves them lost and on their own, free and confused about what to do next.
The parenting styles of Rex and Rose Mary were significantly different from the norm. While many parents believed in “setting rules and punishments for breaking the rules” (Walls 91), the Walls believed that “the best way to let children fulfill their potential was by providing freedom” (Walls 73). In fact, Rose Mary had her children “suffer when [they were] young”, believing that it helped “immunized [their] body and [their] soul” (Walls 28). In addition, Rex and
In Jeannette Walls’ The Glass Castle, there are many important themes that pop throughout the book. Although there are many themes, the most essential one is how a hard past forces people to learn to rely on themselves to make their life better by pushing through their struggles, this changes how a person thinks and acts ultimately defining their identity. This theme is the most prominent throughout the book.
There are many, arguably, different types of means to raise children. According to The Center of Parenting Education, out of the three parenting styles of assertive, aggressive, and permissive, the assertive parenting style is the most fruitful as it uses an equilibrium of both nurture and structure. In spite of the popularity of these parenting styles, Rose Mary and Rex Walls are significantly different as parents as they use a combination of all three main parenting styles. Many may argue that the children of Rose Mary and Rex Walls were better off in a foster care home instead of living with their actual parents in such a grating domain. However, that may not be the case because Rose Mary and Rex Walls have developed numerous hardships for their children to overcome so that they may be able to be successful and thrive in society in the near future. Rose Mary and Rex Walls were not “unfit” parents but rather unique ones.
Writer, Jeannette Walls, in her memoir, The Glass Castle, provides an insight into the fanciful and shocking life of growing up poor and nomadic with faux-grandiose parents in America. With her memoir, Wall's purpose was to acknowledge and overcome the difficulties that came with her unusual upbringing. Her nostalgic but bitter tone leaves the reader with an odd taste in their mouth. In some memories, the author invites her audience to look back on with fondness; others are viewed through bulletproof glass and outrage.