The Glass Castle Analysis

On Writing Well by William Zinsser is an informative guide to writing nonfiction. Zinsser clearly explains every aspect that makes the nonfiction writing strong and impressive. After reading the book, The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, I saw that many of the ideas and themes mentioned in the guide were displayed in Walls writing very effectively. Not only Walls develop those ideas in the book but also uses many rhetorical strategies to get her points across through the reader.

The Glass Castle, a memoir written by Jeannette Walls, is a story that discusses the insights of a dysfunctional, yet vibrant family. The four Walls children have two parents, Rose Mary who was an unconventional artist, and Rex who was an alcoholic father. The family travels constantly across the country, with their parents using their imagination as a distraction from their poverty. Despite the hardships the Walls family has faced, Jeanette writes her truth in order to reconcile with her past. She expresses through her story of how she has reflected upon her childhood, and how it has shaped her character in the present (The glass castle: Jeanette Walls, 2016). The majority of readers may believe that Rex Walls is an irresponsible, neglectful parent. However, Rex’s viewpoint of how he cares for Jeanette and her siblings can be portrayed as supportive, intelligent, and sensible.

“By the time I was four, I was pretty good with dad’s pistol” (21). That is just a glance into young Jeannette Walls’s life; she tells her story in her memoir The Glass Castle. When Walls was growing up, her parent’s way of living was normal. Once exposed to life outside her parents, Walls was no longer content in their unfulfilling lifestyle. She had made the decision to leaver her parents behind and nothing would stop her from achieving her goal. Walls’s father’s determination to build this grand glass castle was set on unrealistic ambitions and expectations. The goals set by Walls herself, to leave Welch and make a better life for herself, gives a truer meaning to the word determination. Walls shows just how important determination can be.

In The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls tells the story of her childhood and describes her life in poverty. She had experienced what injustice was first hand. Her father, Rex, was an alcoholic that spent all of their money on booze. Because of this, they never had any money to spend on a house or food. They were always moving because they did not pay their bills and were running away from their problems. Her mother, Rose Mary, was irresponsible and only thought about herself. She refused to get a job and when she did, her kids had to drag her out of bed every morning. She did not watch her children and she let them do whatever they wanted. This caused the children to get into trouble with other kids and even adults. She spent money on useless commodities and could not afford to buy her starving children any food. Every day, the children had to rummage through the trash to find food to eat. When Jeannette finally realized she did not want to live with injustice anymore she left. It was very hard for her father to watch her go but she did not look back. She started focusing on the future and became a successful journalist. This was one of the many ways she gained her justice back. She offered to help her parents by buying them clothes and offering them money. She was trying to make everything just again by giving her parents what they never gave to her. Her parents never took any of her gifts because they saw it as charity and did not appreciate it. The injustice that happened to Jeannette made her who she is today. If she did not go through all of those injustices, she might not have realized that her passion in life was to write. It has made her a better person and she can now help others going through the same thing through her writings.

(Hook)In the memoir, The Glass Castle, by Jeannette Walls, she is constantly faced with food and housing problems in her first world country. In the beginning of the book, Jeannette eats irregularly. But later in Jeanette's childhood, she is unable to eat anything. Later in the book, after Walls moves to Welch she starts to pick through the trash during school for lunch after she is unable to get food for herself. At the same time, she is faced with housing issues as there is no insulation in Wall’s house causing the house to get dangerously cold. After those misfortunes, there is a huge hole that forms in their roof causing a leak, so that when it rains Brian Wall’s, Wall’s brother, has to put up an air mattress to prevent the water from leaking

The Glass Castle was a symbol of hope for all of the children, they counted on it for their future; when it was forgotten about by their dad, the hope of a better future faded away along with the hope they had in their father.

The U.S. is among the richest countries in the world today, yet millions of people in America still live below the poverty level. The number of Americans living in poverty is increasing day by day as well as the number of children. Poverty in America has become a great threat to children’s wellbeing as they are affected emotionally, socially, and even in their school performance (Wood 720). Poverty in America is mainly caused by lack of jobs. Many people who live in poverty in the United States is due to lack of jobs and getting jobs with minimum wage. Another cause of poverty is due to the rise in the cost of living. Poverty exists in America despite the fact that is among the richest nations in the world.

Some of Jeannette Walls's story events from her memoir, The Glass Castle, are a bit hard to believe. An unimaginable past that seems to be fiction created by the author, but in reality, has been fabricated by the cooperating hands of time and chance. Jeannette Walls lived through poverty and recklessness, later to find herself in New York with a stable career and family, much different from what her family had. Going through hardships and trying to survive in her childhood shaped her into the successful individual she is today.

The Glass Castle written by Jeannette Walls, teaches us that she really lived a tough life. We learned that from even her beginning of her childhood, she was not living the typical childhood life. From dealing with her alcoholic father to her selfish mother, she kept her inner strength and battled to get through it with her brother and sisters. Her own father even tried to hook her up with another man for money. How the father had the guts to do that or how she had the power to get him away and live with that amazes me.

The Glass Castle, is a memoir, written by Jeannette Walls about her life and her families uncommon way of living. From a young age Walls and her family were always moving around and stirring up a little trouble wherever they went. The family faces many problems because of the way they lived including keeping food on the table, an alcoholic father, and a stable living situation. Even though the family had all these problems, all of the Walls children grew up to do great things in the world. Although Walls’ tone changes as she grows older, Walls uses an underlying ironic and humorous tone through the whole book with the use of diction, detail, and dialogue.

The Glass Castle is a touching memoir written by Jeanette Walls, a successful author. Though now Jeanette lives as a successful writer, she did not always see such luxury. She and her family were somewhat nomadic, moving from place to place they lived in extreme poverty. Their father was unable to hold a job and the mother was for the most part just to lazy to work. In the memoir The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, Rosemary and Rex disregard and neglect their children to the point that they are afraid to tell their parents when they are bullied and assaulted.

I cannot remember the last time I said a sincere “I love you” to my parents. What distinguishes them from others to whom I say those three words is that I feel obligated to love them. Many critics would characterize this as “unhealthy” and as some result of a parenting blunder within my family, however, such conclusions would be hastily inaccurate without a rich understanding of myself and my family. Indeed, it seems that parents are one of the most criticized groups of people and some of the least justly judged. Fortunately, in The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, the author chronicles her childhood in detail, allowing and encouraging the reader to judge her upbringing. While it led to some endangerment and abuse, her parents’ Laissez-Faire

In almost every memory Jeannette Walls includes in her book, The Glass Castle, there are signs of extreme emotional detachment coming from each character. At one point she recalls her mother telling her that “suffering is good for you,” and goes further by saying that it “immunized your body and soul” (Walls 28). Walls’s use of the word “immunized” and the extreme cleansing connotations that come along with it, combined with the concept of suffering make a broader statement about the emotional normalcy of the entire family. This specific word shows how her mother sees suffering as a condition, a comparison to a disease, and that exposure is necessary when you’re young so that you won’t be affected when you’re older. The passage goes on

The problem of poverty has always plagued the world, including developed countries, such as America. It is one of the main reasons that less developed countries have difficulty developing at the pace of other countries. Many different actions can cause poverty. Most people have different opinions on why poverty still exists. “Nearly equal portions of the public in advanced, emerging, and developing countries, cite the gap between the rich and the poor as a very big problem. And notably, it is the leading economic concern in the eyes of people in major economies such as China and Germany, at 42 and 39 percent, respectively, according to the new Pew Research survey. A global median of 29 percent say their government’s actions are to blame for inequality, making it the leading cause cited. People in advanced economies, in particular, believe that their governments are responsible for the rich getting richer and equally culpable for the poor becoming relatively poorer. A median of 32 percent in those nations blame government, three times the percentage that cite the failings of their educational system and double the share who blame their tax system” (Stokes). Some people that are wealthy are also greedy. Although they control a large amount of wealth, they are unwilling to share it. Although it should not be the responsibility of wealthy people to support people in poverty, it would be helpful to the advancement of society. Another contributing reason that poverty exists is

But, I thought about all the million-dollar babies of which I had heard, who committed suicide. I thought of all the reasonings given for murder, hate, war, theft, and a mirage of other injustices we heap upon each other, daily. One thing seemed certain, money has never been a deterrent of evil, just as being poor has never been a deterrent from happiness. It is “short-sighted” to believe we can bring resolution by throwing money at a problem. As if prosperity can’t walk glove in glove with misery.