The Glass Castle Forgiveness Theme

The title of the book, The Glass Castle, is repeated throughout the book as a dream that her father had. The family knew that he would never actually build the castle, but her father still talked about it like he would actually do it, and Jeanette would believe him. Jeanette's father made her many promises, but he did not follow through with the promises. Whenever she questioned him about the promises he made to her he justs says, “Have I ever let you down?” Jeanette knows that he had let her down but she does not say it, and she had “heard that question at least two hundred times” (Walls 210). For example, for her birthday Jeanette asks her father to stop drinking. He promises her that he would do anything for her “if it’s humanly

While reading A Tale of Two Cities Dickens depicted various characters that can all be related to at one point or another in this novel. Also the many themes in this work better help the reader to understand the character and the actions they take. Through Dickens depiction of Dr. Alexandre Mannette the reasons for family and forgiveness are much more important than the seek of vengeance due to the suffering he underwent.

Jeannette and her little brother Brian spent a long time digging this hole, therefore it must have been devastating to watch as it was used as a place to stow away the family’s garbage. Jeannette was starting to realize that her father was probably never going to build the Glass Castle. Rex still hoped that his daughter would believe him, that she would feed him the lies for a little while longer even though the idea of the Glass Castle was slowly slipping away.

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.

Jeannette Walls, Shows in the book The Glass Castle that there are a lot of situations that happen in life where people make countless mistakes, but it is very important to forgive her father and her mother for many mistakes. She has to cope with many obstacles without her parent's help. In the author's memoir, we become attracted with Jeannette constant struggle between protecting her family and the pleasure that her family is based on the same hopes and senseless falsehood with her unbelievable storytelling method. The feelings of forgiveness hold the Walls family together. Jeanette was able to describe her family's childhood, relationships with one another. The children of the Walls family are forced to begin the independent life at an

Bad Parenting is the act of not showing the responsibilities that should be taken as a mother or father. In The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls reveals the faults of parenting through the use of symbolism , imagery and characterization. Rosemary and Rex’s Struggles to show their children (Jeannette, Lori, Brian) the importance of the appearance and guidance of being by their side as a parent. Jeannette and Rex show their faults by destroying everything the children try to accomplish because of their personal bad habits.

One of the most important theme in The Glass Castle is forgiveness. Jeannette and her brother and sisters spend their whole lives forgiving their parents for their irresponsibilities. They still love them and welcome them into their hearts even though Rex and Rose Mary didn't deserve it. By forgiving them, she feels less angry and her attitude as a whole is much more positive. When she is three years old, she burns herself cooking and her mother doesn't take care of her. After being in the hospital for 6 days, she let her cook again and says “Good for you, you have got to get right back in the saddle (15). ” Another example of forgiveness, is when she is trying to learns how to swim and her dad drops her in the water making her almost drown. She thinks he did this so she can learn, so she forgives him. Jeanette says, “I figured he must be right, there was no other way to explain it(66).” This means that she thought he didn't have an intention to harm her, but he tried to make her learn. At the end of the story, she meets her father for the last time and forgives him for all the bad things that had happened in her life and all the chaos. Although all of these bad things happened to her and her brother and sister because of him, she says she knew he loved her like no one else ever had. Jeanette said she forgives him for “all the hell-raising and destruction and chaos he [has] created in [her life].” On the other hand though, she says, “I could not imagine what my life would be like- without him in it. As awful as he could be, I always knew he loved me in a way no one else ever had(279).” This means that she knew that he made all those mistakes throughout his life, but she still found a way to forgive him and look on the brighter side of things.

While Jeanette is preparing to leave for New York and her father, Rex, attempts to talk her out of it by showing her the updated plans for the Glass Castle, Walls, through Jeanette, uses an implied metaphor to show how all her father’s promises are a Glass Castle without the use of like or as. Walls uses this to illuminate how her father’s promises are broken easily like how a Glass Castle can be broken easily as it is made of glass, which is fragile. Walls also highlights how throughout the memoir her father promised to protect her, not only by building her a home like the Glass Castle, but also by protecting her from men who force themselves upon her as seen when the father states, “Anyone who… laid a finger on… Rex Walls's children was going to get their butts kicked,” (Walls, 24), but the father later goes on to allow her to be inappropriately touched by Robbie just to make some money. This shows that the father makes promises he is unable to and often does not want to fulfill throughout the memoir, which leads to Jeanette having to face adversity as her father is not protecting her. As a result of her adversity, Jeanette reaches an epiphany and learns to look out for her own well-being as she understands that her father is no longer willing to do so. She also understands that her father will never build the Glass Castle and that all the promises that her father ever made to her are like the Glass Castle, easily broken. This ultimately to Jeanette developing from a character who depended solely on her father, to one that could make the decision to go to New York without her father’s permission after the 11th grade. Finally, by going to New York, Jeanette is able to provide for her own well-being by working at a job and renting an apartment and departs from the conventional means of wellbeing. Through the use of metaphor, Walls conveys the theme that often for one to persevere against adversity in his or her lives, he or she must learn to go against conventional means of well-being, like family, and find his or her individual means of well-being.

Jeannette, during her childhood, always looked forward to building "The Glass Castle". Her and her father would always talk about how it would be self sufficient in the desert with solar panels and made completely out of glass. This gave Jeannette hope for the future. When Jeannette is an adult, she loses sight of believing in her family and tries to push them out of her life causing her to be more unhappy. But, by the end she came to her senses and went and visited her father while he was sick.

Everyone has secrets they stash below the surface, sorrows they bury deep within their hearts, and dreams they lock up behind hopeful tongues. In The Glass Castle, the main characters all hide behind a mask that conceals their true intentions and identities. To begin, Rex appears in the novel as a father that has good intentions sand great ideas to make his family wealthy. He falls short because of his addiction to alcohol and an upsetting past that suggests that he was likely sexaully abused by his mother as a child. Rex struggles to prove his manhood as he fails in providing his children with a good father figure and a stable life. At first glance, his mother is a grouchy, older woman who doesn’t like Rex’s family. However, her actions

Forgiveness is a reoccurring theme in the Grand Concourse; One of the characters, Shelley is known for her willingness to forgive and her effortlessness at which she forgives, it seems to others as a natural gift. Oscar even comforts Emma after her first time volunteering, “Who Shelley no way she forgives everybody. Don’t worry about it” (27). As readers, we jump to the conclusion that forgiveness comes easy to Shelley, but as the play continues and we see Emma repeatedly fall short one might start to sense Shelley’s struggle to continually provide grace to Emma. Shelley’s internal battle can best be seen in one of her monologues as she prays to God, this comes right after Emma is

The Glass Castle shows an infinite amount of themes; however, there are 5 themes that stand out the most. Coming of age, home, possessions, non-conformity, and Turbulence and order. Coming of Age is when a character starts out with little knowledge or maturity and by the end of the novel becomes mature and has moral values. In The Glass Castle Jeanette experiences coming of age. For example, Lori asks Jeanette if she likes moving. Walls writes, “Do you like always moving around?’ Lori asked me. ‘Of course I do!’ I said. ‘Don’t you?’ “Sure’ She said… ‘What do you think would happen if we weren’t always moving around?’ I asked. ‘We’d get caught’” (Walls, 29). In the beginning of the book Jeanette views her life in poverty as an adventure and

Through The Glass Castle, Jeannette shows the world how an impoverished, neglected girl grows into a successful author and wife. Jeanette, herself, is a living proof of ultimate success showing the world that no matter what situation you come from, ultimate success is completely possible. She starts out with memories from the time when she was as young as three along with the rest of her family, constantly on the move, deserted towns in the middle of the night "Rex Walls ' style” and lived in numerous places, all the way up to her present-day. Throughout her life, Jeanette dealt with poverty, hunger, malnourishment, along with an alcoholic father and an unstable mother. But for Jeanette, the

Those thirteen stripes and fifty stars not only represent a land of the free, but a faith for the people. As for Jeanette, her faith constantly lies in the in the hands of her father, Rex. Like most little children do, Jeannette, always believes daddy is capable of anything. On the other hand, Jeannette’s siblings, Lori and Brian do not have as much faith in their father. Faith, much like the Glass Castle, is simply an idea; it does not physically exist. The Glass Castle is merely nothing more than a ploy, a ploy which Rex, Jeanette's father, uses against her to maintain her trust by describing the glorious structure with “glass ceilings and thick glass walls and even a glass staircase”(25). Yet the castle does not even exist, nor will it ever; the fictional formation of glass symbolizes hope for young Jeannette. But her siblings are not as faithful in their father's fantasies of a

The Glass Castle Cassandra Clare wrote, “We live and breathe words. .... It was books that made me feel that perhaps I was not completely alone.”