Personal Narrative: 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.

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.

At one point in the memoir, Jeannette’s mother, Rose Mary Walls, told Jeannette to expect a check in the mail, but her father, Rex Walls, got to it before she did and denied the fact that he had the check. This money was for the food that they were desperately trying to buy. Instead of Jeannette saying a word to her dad, she knew that saying something would not get the money back, so she took initiative while her mother was gone and did her best to find a job and make up the “lost”

As a child, Jeannette doesn’t realize that she’s not actually getting what she should be getting. She thinks this is how she should be living. Jeannette doesn’t understand her parents have been neglecting her all this time. Jeannette first noticed that some things were a lot nicer than what she had when she had to be hospitalized because of her fire accident. She was just so amazed about how neat and organized everything was. For instance, “The hospital was clean and shiny. Everything was

Her father's rampant drinking and inability to hold a job, coupled with her mother's lack of responsibility causes Jeannette to inwardly question her role in society.

In Jeannette Wall’s memoir, The Glass Castle, she displays various types of relationships with her siblings, from strained to unconditionally loving. Her parents, Rex and Rose Mary, may have had an effect on how the children’s relationships develop, but ultimately the siblings bond, especially Jeannette and her brother, Brian, through the situations they find themselves in. While staying at their grandmother Erma’s house, the Walls children’s relationships, especially that of Brian and Jeannette, becomes evident: “Then they flew at each other, tussling and flailing and pulling hair, locked together, with Brian and me cheering on Lori…” (147). Lori and her grandmother were in a fierce brawl, yet Brian and Jeannette were showing their support

Could living a miserable childhood actually beneficial? The Glass Castle is a novel written about the life of the narrator and author, Jeanette Walls. The story illustrates the hardships and experiences of an alcoholic father and delusional mother attempting to raise four children. Jeanette Walls owes her success to her hardships and became the women she is today because of her parents and childhood.

My Glass Castle essay is a flashback to the beginning of my adventures in Honors English. As such, it is the most suitable candidate for revision, as I will be able to observe my hopefully positive progression made over the course of the entire school year.

I never thought I would be labeled an outsider, a misfit even. As I trudged my way through the halls of my small town high school, I would endure the gazing pairs of eyes, that belonged to my peers, followed by whispering and often times some laughter. I always used zone out during those repetitive speeches and commercials about the effects of gossiping and rumors; never did I imagine that one day I would be on the receiving end of of the everyday potshot. Growing up I was always the center of attention, the one everyone yearned to be friends with, never was I the antisocial child in the corner with nowhere to turn… not until high school. They say high school changes you. They say high school accounts for some of the greatest years of

The day was August 1st, 2013. Summer was coming to an end and fall was close at hand. However, on this particular day, I paid no mind to the changing season. Hundreds of people strolled the hospital hallway, their voices echoing the long pale corridors like distant hums. Despite the outside chatter, my room encompassed a certain stillness. I had always associated stillness with serenity, but this stillness was made up of apprehension, hopefulness, and most notably, fear. As I sat on a bed meant for sick patients, I looked around the small confines of the white room to my family. Within each of them I saw panic; I saw the fear of losing me. After what seemed like a lifetime suspended within a cruel dream, the doctor finally entered the room.

Have you ever felt as if you were standing at the very beginning of something & yet had no actual idea of what it was? The only point of reference we have while met with this intersection of sorts, is an unexplainable feeling, one anchored deep within our bellies. We owe it to ourselves to honor this feeling as an indication that there is something more to be explored, to be experienced. I recognize this deep-belly tug as “The Surface”. A sort of starting point of whatever occupies our most guarded thoughts at the most random moments of the day; leaving a trail of lingering curiosities and “what if’s," birthing the seeds of our passions. When we “Break Through” the surfaces of culture, gender, sexuality, trending talking points, and other

Half an hour later, we all walked to the gathering point for the hike, a shed near the visitors center. There was one other group of three on the hike with us, all adults. My brother and I were the only kids.

“Why did you try to kill yourself?” “You told me to be happy.” Have you ever wanted to jump off the cliff? To feel like you are flying for that one split second until you hit the ground. Then the darkness would finally swallow you and claim you as its own. The darkness has been watching me. Listening to me. Waiting to come make me its own. I’ve been scared about leaving the light and going to the darkness but I’m not scared anymore. One day it will fully take me and I will be happy to leave this world where no one will know I’m gone…

My father grew up in one of the poorest neighborhoods in Buffalo, New York. He shared a miniscule home with his two brothers, one sister, and their parents who were rarely around. His father was undiagnosed bipolar schizophrenic and his mother didn't have the means to take care of four children while their father resided in what they referred to as "The Enchanted Kingdom." Eventually, all four of them were sent to an orphanage and subsequently kicked around the foster care system, rarely getting the chance to see each other. Most people would see this as a set up for failure. Who could blame these kids if they fell in with a bad crowd or turned to destructive habits? In a strangely wonderful twist of fate, however, all four of them are now content and successful people. When I hear Malcolm Gladwell say that "… if you work hard enough and assert yourself, and use your mind and imagination, you can shape the world to your

My pulchritudinous, tenth-grade girlfriend smiled with her lustrous smile when we saw each other. I remember the way she looked at me every time we hung out with each other knowing that we are more than just in a relationship we were each other's best friend. What happened next stunned me in a way that can’t be explained, she pulls out this glass heart and hands it over to me and tells me it’s mine to keep and that it’ll mean something someday. I didn’t understand at the time what the point of the glass heart was so I kindly just told her “thank you” and gave her a hug, but in all honesty, I was confused at what she was meaning when she handed it to me and told me it would mean something someday. I still remember everything we did that day