Mom's Salary Created A Whole New Set Of Problems

Though Jeannette gave her all to support her family, she did the same for herself without anyone’s support. She understood what it was meant to be poverty at a very young age and realised that she could not have what others did. While Jeannette didn’t have money, she was smart and resourceful to achieve whatever she could for herself. When Jeannette was young, she had already decided that if she wanted to do something for herself, she was going to have to do it herself. An example of this was when she herself to have buckteeth, and promptly said, “I decided to make my own braces,” and she did (Wall 200). In spite of Jeannette being underprivilaged and with less money, she found ways time and time again to succeed.

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.

Her dad carried her away from the hospital without payment, and then her mom permitted her to cook again, moreover she said, “ Getting right back into the saddle” ( Glass Castle 47). Jeanette was not angry at such young age and soon the family had to pack their belongings into bags and “do the skedaddle” as her parents always said. The parents were fleeing from bill collectors. Although Jeanette's father was an alcoholic, he could get work almost anywhere, often in small towns. The family was moving because of these things, she never complained when they did not have enough food. Jeanette always forgave her parents, she understood what they were going through.

In society, there is no “normal” but there is often a certain expectation from the member in it like holding down a job, raising children, and many other. Yet Jeannette's parents do none of these things, instead they consider it to be positive that they live outside of society. To begin with the opening of the novel Jeanette is all grown up and a full member society and a complete opposite of her younger self. Jeannette illustrates ,“ I was sitting in a taxi, wondering if I had overdressed for the evening when I looked out the window and saw Mom rooting through a dumpster” (1). This is the opener of the memoir and is setting up a large class difference between two characters. Jeanette may never have been supported in her childhood but she has made her way to a high place in society, unlike her mother who never changed in her ways. Here Walls is creating a vivid picture of what society deems as correct and incorrect drawing the reader in to find out the cause of two members of the same family being so far apart from each other in society. In the same way when Jeannette is young and, is explaining how she receives her education. Jeannette admits, “ We might enroll into school, but not always. Mom and Dad did most of our teaching” (20). Most children in society have an education from some sort of school, but since the Walls family exists outside of society in many ways. Including how they receive their education, early on in life, the children are not inside a school system. Instead they are taught how to live outside of society like their parents even if they do not want to live that way. Later on, Jeanette has moved away from her parents and has the proper schooling she is a full member of society which is everything her mother did not want. Her mother argues, ‘ Look at the way you live. You’ve sold out. Next thing I know you’ll be a Republican.’ She shook her head. ‘Where are the

Jeannette shows that wealth is subjective. Even when she's an adult and has nice things and money, but she is still not happy. She is not happy because she is worried about her parents and she feels guilty living in a nice apartment and having all these nice things when her parents are homeless. Jeannette tries to quench her guilt by offering them help to get a house and food but her parents don't want the help. After Rex received clothes for a gift he says "you must be mighty ashamed of your old man. You think I'm some sort of goddamn charity case" (Walls 263). Jeannette sees her parents struggling to survive homeless but her dad says "Don't you fret a bit have you ever known your old man to get himself in a situation he couldn't handle" (Walls 260)?

Her Mother seemed to be more put together than her father at times, even getting a job at one point helping the family out. Though her mother was a hedonist and did not contain the motherly love and sacrifice for her kids, this job helped Jeanette’s future. She helped grade papers which increased her knowledge of the outside world and “...the world was making a little more sense” as she read the papers and projects of her mother’s students (Walls 205). Her parents had such an opposition to the outside world that she hadn’t gotten every aspect of

Throughout the book, her nomadic family lived in extreme poverty where the children had to scramble for survival. Walls describes her family’s eating habits similar to those of cacti because “we ate irregularly, and when we did, we’d gorge ourselves” (22). Money would provide food for the Walls as rain would provide cacti their nutrients to survive. Jeannette assumed the responsibilities of head of the household when she was at the mere age of thirteen because her parents abandoned their roles as guardians. Looking from Wall’s perspective, money could solve several of the family’s problems such as their perilous living conditions and the constant need to feed their hunger. In addition, Walls’s mother Rose Mary was an artist. Every time the Walls received a paycheck, Rose Mary would sneak some of the funds to fuel her passion for arts. When Rose Mary received her inheritance from her deceased mother, she wanted to forget her responsibilities and spend the money to create more paintings. Abraham Lincoln said, “People are just as happy as they make up their minds to be.” Rose Mary could use money to bring her happiness indirectly by purchasing art supplies. Thus, if money can fuel their passion and needs, then it can indirectly bring the individual

The daughter had a life plan. She wants to be successful even though people will alienate her for the fact that she has the qualities of someone from a low income family. “In pottery class I’m making a jar with a lid. If it comes out all right I think I’ll use it for a jewel box as we don’t ever eat marmalade. Jolley demonstrates that the sister knows she does not have a lot of things that people high up on the social status would normally have. The author uses characterization to provide the reader with an insight of how each individual lives in a low income family.

Parents always deal with the bills, and how to feed the family. Yet how can you do that with no money? Within the novel Miracle's boys by Jacqueline Woodson, their family had a lot of issues dealing with money. Some issues were dealt with severely but some were brushed off. Occasionally, the family loathes having not enough money, it makes them do things they don't want to.

She was fine with having just a few bucks in her pocket and didn’t really mind being poor. Even after growing up middle class, she kept her composure and didn’t break down often even though she didn’t seem like she had much to be positive about. The Faleau’s feel similarly to the Delgado’s in that they don’t need more. Their involvement with the Mormon church gives them fulfillment and satisfaction. All they have to obtain is the bare necessities and when they have those, they feel as if they are lucky to have them. The other families seem to be employing the coping strategy of “expecting and asking for more”. In the case of the Mah’s, they are upper class but still don’t feel like they have enough. They want their children to have the best of the best everything and keep them ahead of the curve so it keeps them feeling in need for more money. Similarly, the Calafato’s also don’t feel like they have enough. They aren’t upper class like the Mah’s but they’re still living a comfortable middle-class life. There reasoning for wanting more is to fund their children’s dreams and take the stress off of the mother who now has to work more often. Lastly, the Jenner’s who spend a lot on big-ticket items- are living paycheck to paycheck. The father has a stable income with great benefits but doesn’t really stop spending and this worries the wife. The wife wants more so she won't have to worry about

More money means an easier and better life, however no matter how much money she has the more money she wants. D.H. Lawrence shows the readers that this family try’s to keep up a certain social status. The family was not poor by any means but they did not have

John and Julie think that the insecurities of families are struggling to pay the bills and not having enough money to provide for their family. Money has always been tight, but somehow they have always made it work. Money has been a struggle for John and Julie but John did not have much of a choice when working so many hours because he needed to provide for his family. Time and money were insecurities because they both had the same view which is to make more money you had to spend less time with the family. Which John didn’t get to spend as much time with the kids because he was putting in so many hours.

In the story, the father of the middle-class family beliefs that all his problems come from the lack of money. The story starts off by the father dropping off his kids at school and the bumper falling of his car. Throughout the story he’s constantly putting himself down: “Note to future generations: Park Avenue = type of car. Ours not new. Ours oldish”. This quote is an example of him telling the reader that he is suffering financially. As the story goes on the father reveals that he feels pressured by society and his own family. Also he one of his problems in the story is that he believes that he does not satisfy his kids enough. This all make him believe that all of his problems will go away if he was upper class, this is actually the reason

Mom values independence. She has little sympathy for people who complain about their position, as she feels that people have the power to make their lives whatever they want it to be. Mom is an artist and spends much of her spare time painting or sketching. She went to college to be a teacher, but resents teaching because she sees it as an indication that she is not a talented artist. Mom resents her children because she sees them as standing between her and her dream life of an artist, while also cherishing them for their companionship, particularly Lori, who shares her interest in

The narrator and his family were considered in the book to be economically disadvantaged. Throughout the book, the family has a hard time making ends meet. The character Ma has to work graveyard shifts and is constantly exhausted. The father also works at night and even brings the children to his job because they do not have anyone to take care of them. For instance, the father in the book decided to buy a truck in which the mother reacts by saying, “How many fucking kids, and a wife, and how much money do you make? How much do you earn, sitting on your all day, to pay for this truck?” (Torres, 64) As the family battles against economic disadvantages in America, the narrator alludes to a feeling of survival: an animalistic style of survival. Animals are worried about what they need which is to: eat, drink, mate, and sleep. They are not preoccupied about others’