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Perseverance And Forgiving In The Glass Castle By Jeannette Walls

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Maya Angelou once stated, “You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated.” In the novel The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls the family faces many defeats but, the only way to overcome them is to persevere and be resilient. The Walls children are forced to do things that a traditional child would not have to. This causes the children to gain the ability to be strong and learn valuable life lessons from the hard times. Being independent, truthful and forgiving will help the Walls family persevere and be resilient through the struggles that will lead them to future success.
Throughout the novel, perseverance and resilience can be shown through the families struggles. When the family lived in Welch, it was a very rough and cold winter. …show more content…

During the summer, Brian and Lori wanted to go swimming with Rex but, Jeannette did not know how. She was never taught how to swim between all the moving they did and the fight for their lives through the winter and the summer. So, when they arrived at the Hot Pot, Rex grabbed Jeannette and took her out into the middle of the water. He proceeded with yelling, “‘Sink or Swim!’ For the second time I sank… He did it again and again.” (Walls 66). Jeannette was continuously thrown into the pool only to sink. This triggered a fire in her to, “try and get away from his hands. I kicked at him and pushed away through the water with my arms, and finally, I was able to propel myself beyond his grasp.” (Walls 66). Jeannette is very resilient during this section. She was able to overcome the tough challenge that Rex forced her take on. This grew Jeannette into not only a stronger swimmer but, a more developed independent person in every way. Jeannette wants what everyone else has but, the one thing she wants the most was something the family could definitely not afford. Jeannette longed for braces. She would see kids at school with perfect teeth and then see her own set of teeth in the mirror noticing every little flaw. She knew if she ever wanted at chance at having straighter teeth she needs to create her own unique set of braces. Her technique started like this, “I simply used a rubber band. Stretching it all the way around my …show more content…

During spring, when Lori moved to New York. Jeannette saved up her money so she could move to New York too. Jeannette and Lori had a foolproof plan for them both to live in New York together as long as Jeannette helped pay bills and rent. One night before Jeannette was leaving, Rex stopped into her room wondering if she could look at something. That something was the Glass Castle blueprints. Jeannette responded to Rex’s master plan like this, “‘Dad,’ I said, ‘you’ll never build the glass castle’... ‘Even if you do, I'll be gone. In less than three months, I’m leaving for New York City.’... ‘Go ahead and build the glass castle, but don't do it for me.’” (Walls 238). Rex tries so keep Jeannette to stay in Welch with him by bribing her with the statement of building the glass castle. Jeannette is being very honest with Rex. Jeannette has always wanted the Glass Castle built ever since the idea came to mind but, she knows she is moving on to a better life in New York City and she wants to let the disappointments from her family and the Glass Castle

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