Jeannette Walls Book Report

In this both heart wrenching and slightly humorous memoir, journalist Jeannette Walls tells the bittersweet story of her rather dysfunctional and poverty stricken upbringing. Walls grows up in a family trailed by the ubiquitous presence of hunger and broken homes. Throughout the memoir she recounts memories of moving from one dilapidated neighborhood to another with her three other siblings, insanely "free sprinted" mother, and incredibly intelligent yet alcoholic father. The author focuses on her unconventional childhood with parents who were too lazy and self-absorbed to obtain decent jobs. Although Walls's childhood gushes with heartbreaking tales of searching through dumpsters for food, she remains as unbitter as possible and

While her father’s dismisses his destructive nature, Jeannette becomes conscious of his actions which motivates her to make amends in hopes of leaving their desolate life. Instead of getting help for his childhood trauma, Rex immerses himself in alcohol causing him to become

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.

Jeannette Walls is a critically-acclaimed author (of both biographies and works of fiction), despite her unorthodox upbringing. Her parents supported giving their children excessive amounts of freedom, even though they were clearly too young to be taking care of themselves, causing Walls to light herself on fire while cooking herself a meal at only 3 years old. Also, they did not believe in proper treatment, hence why they force Jeannette to leave the hospital, although she is not finished with treatment, and still had third-degree burns all over her body. Considering her father would waste all of their money on cigarettes and alcohol, there were periods of her life where she was homeless, and would have to sleep in a cardboard box, that of which she shared with her three other siblings (and this is if they were lucky; otherwise, they would be forced to sleep in their car). However, a young Jeannette’s father would manipulate her into thinking it was “an adventure,” causing her to get

In the detailed story of an impoverished family during the late 1900’s, Jeannette Walls describes her experience from the young age of 3, up until adulthood. The family of 6, with Rex Walls as the father, Rose Mary as the mother, and her three siblings, Lori, Brian and Maureen, were constantly moving throughout the country with little to no food or cash. The memoir shows how dysfunctional the family was, but never seemed to force the reader to condemn the parents. In a life of poverty, the have to move for own to town, and often lived in various mining towns. Although they each found something they learned to love (like Jeannette’s rock collection) in the desert, they had to leave them behind once Rex’s alcoholism only worsened, and they ran

Jeannette Walls lacks the ability to swim through the warm currents of water unlike her siblings, Lori and Brian. In order to teach Jeannette how to swim, Rex Walls decides the best method is to, sink or swim. Once they are standing in the sulfur spring water, Rex throws her in, catching her off-guard and allowing her to thrash restlessly in the water. Before she is able to completely sink, he grabs a strong hold of her, and drags her back only to throw her in once again. Through this method, she quickly learns how to swim away in order to escape the torture Rex is putting her in. I am able to visualize Jeannette panicking and swallowing some of the chlorine and panicking. Trying her best to reach to the surface, and being scared for her life and wondering, why would

[Imagine having irresponsible parents that are constantly moving around the country] That is what Jeannette Walls went through and she tells her story in The Glass Castle. She is abused by her grandparents and is abandoned by her parents. Jeannette and her siblings eventually end up moving to New York City for a new life. *Hardships bring families together by teaching them to help each other out.*

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

In our society, we tend to follow certain many moral principles and if not followed, there could be many negative consequences. Based on the novel, we can tell that Jeannette’s parents were very unethical; in the beginning of the memoir, Jeannette shares

During her cab ride she sees a woman digging through trash only to realize it’s her mother picking through a dumpster. Her mother analyzes through items she finds, and smiles when something strikes her appeal. After watching for a while, Jeannette tells the driver to take her back to her apartment. The first section of Jeannette Walls' memoir establishes the theme of class differences and introduces two very important characters, her parents Rose Mary and Rex Walls. First, in the opening scene in which the author, Jeannette Walls spots her mother digging through a dumpster, the class distinctions between them are immediately apparent.

Hardships are terrible, but they are a normal part of everybody’s life. No matter the hardship, anybody can recover. In her memoir, The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls tells a true story of her unconventional childhood. She journeys the readers through her nomadic and dysfunctional family lifestyle. Her parents—the artistic, inattentive Rose Mary and the intelligent, alcoholic Rex—neglect their children and fail to provide for them adequately. Walls learns how to care for herself at an early age. Growing up in such a dysfunctional family, it would be no surprise if Walls would have turned out just as wrecked as her parents, but Walls was able to rise above and accomplish a successful life. It is through the sharing of her own personal success, that Wall’s demonstrates you don’t have to be a product of your circumstances you can shape your own future.

This nonfiction story entertains and informs the reader about the author’s life and her family. Jeannette Walls lives her childhood short on money and food, while constantly moving across the country finding a new home. The memoir conveys information through the narrator, Jeannette. In spite of narrative purpose and sentimental tone in the book The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls portrays the main point of determination.

In the first 75 pages of Jeannette Wall’s memoir, many insane events occurred. The story begins with Jeannette Walls as an adult in the car, where she sees her mom Rose Mary digging through the trash can. Jeannette talks about how she doesn't associate herself with her parents, because they are homeless. The story goes on to talk about how when Jeannette was three, she was burned while cooking hotdogs in one of her many homes. After being in the hospital for a while, Jeannette’s father Rex takes her out without the consents of the nurses and doctor. A few days after that, the family moves in the middle of the night because the dad is being chased by someone(s). This would frequently happen, and the family wouldn't stay in one place for more than a few

“He told me we were going to check out rex walls style”. Jeannette was always up for an adventure with her father, even if they were so crazy she second guessed it. She would rather be out doing some spontaneous activity then just sitting the car or at their temporary

Jeannette Walls was in a taxi wondering if she had been overdressed for the evening.She was stuck in traffic when she saw her mother Rose 15 feet away. Her mother had tied rags around her shoulder while a black and white terrier mix was beside her. When Rose looked up, Jeannette panicked and thought her mother would see her and shout her name and that someone from the party would spot them together. Jeannette immediately turned her taxi around and went home. She felt ashamed of herself because she was living this nice life,living in Park Avenue and wearing pearls.While her parents were probably huddled on a sidewalk keeping warm and finding something to eat. Jeannette called her mother's friend and left a message, this was the way she would