The Glass Castle Literary Analysis

According to a 2017 study done by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, “More than 10 percent of U.S. children live with a parent with alcohol problems.” The author Jeannette Walls uses the book, The Glass Castle, to talk about her childhood struggles of growing up with an alcoholic father. The reason this book was appealing was because I grew up with an alcoholic father as well and I found it interesting to read about someone who had gone through similar situations. In the first 90 pages the author tells us about her chaotic family life. Her father, who is weary of civilization and authority, packs up the family camp often to roam around the desert. Due to their frequent moving her father is not able to keep a stable job,

The Glass Castle is a memoir written by Jeannette Walls, giving the public a look at her rough upbringing and her nomadic childhood. The memoir, however is written in a way of which the author is not seeking sympathy from the reader. She also wrote in such a way as to not induce anger in the reader, as that is not what she was searching for. Jeannette wrote in order to inform and inspire, and to tell a tale as crazy as it is. Jeannette grew up, one of four siblings. Her parents had alternate methods of parenting and different ideas of how children should be raised. They taught them to have similar morals to them, and similar values. Although, as the children age, they begin to realize how wrong their parents are, and how

To many people poverty is simply a socio-economic issue. To Jeannette Walls, poverty is her entire life. In this passage of The Glass Castle, Jeannette and her siblings are forced to face a situation they seem to have encountered before; hunger. Due to her dad’s newfound unemployment, Jeannette and her family are forced to limit the amount of food they eat and when Jeannette brings up this idea of eating less to help limit costs, Lori simply replies “We have before”, which helps to infer that this isn’t a new issue for them. This is one issue of many that have affected the Walls family due to the environment the parents have made. In the Glass Castle, we see Jeanette’s parents create an environment for Jeanette and her siblings where for a

As flames engulfed her dress, they burned down her stomach as she screamed for help. This was the first memory Jeannette Walls had in The Glass Castle . The plot of the story reveals her childhood of poverty as she moved around the country with her delusional family. Her alcoholic father and mentally ill mother created a very different lifestyle for their children, and raised them like no other. The unique plot, strong characters, and many settings make the novel successful. In this autobiography, she perseveres through tough times and leads the reader down the path she took to adulthood.

“Don’t call me Grandma. Name’s Erma.” (Walls, 131). This is the first thing Jeannette Walls, author of The Glass Castle, hears out of her grandmother Erma’s mouth when they go to stay at her home in Welch, West Virginia. The Walls family has come across hard times and they need somewhere to live. “She don't like it none ‘cause it makes her sound old.” This was the response of Grandpa Ted, Erma’s husband, a more even tempered and gentle man. Does this make Erma an upper social class woman concerned of appearing less beautiful? Or a hardworking woman torn down by poverty who doesn’t want to feel less able than she was when she was younger.

Jeannette Walls, the author of The Glass Castle, integrates multiple themes to capture the conflict she experienced during her troubled childhood. It takes us along with Jeannette trying to overcome some of her most troubling childhood memories; memories such as her father teaching her how to swim, her mother condoning Jeanette’s uncle’s inappropriate treatment of her daughter, and Rex’s recurring outbursts, shapes Jeannette and her siblings. Jeannette focuses on themes such parents must be responsible and negligence leads to more problems, which we focused on in our trailer to accurately represent her memoir.

“The Glass Castle,” written by an American author and journalist, Jeannette Walls, is a memoir about herself rising up and eluding from the continuous poverty and her unusual parents. Through out the novel, Jeannette describes her non-typical childhood with her optimistic yet delusional mother and a smart yet alcoholic father. Despite the fact Wells’ parents taught their children to be very strong and determined, Jeannette very much believed the way she was raised as being not normal.

“Family like branches on a tree, we may grow in different directions yet our roots remain as one” (Top Quotes). In The Glass Castle, by Jeannette Walls, her character in the story starts as a young girl that learns everything on her own. Eventually she adjusts into her own foot steps, but always loves her family values no matter the circumstances. Because Jeannette wasn’t looked after, she was adventurous and evolved into a responsible and mature woman.

Appreciation for what one has can take that person a long way, especially if they do not have much to appreciate. Throughout the memoir, The Glass Castle, the reader learns that the novel is centralized around three base ideas. These three ideas follow the outline of how one should always make realistic promises, how the loss of innocence can affect the way one lives their lives, and how self-reliance and independence can take someone far in life. The memoir sets the themes out with intricate series of events that makes these themes inarguable, from fire fights in the street with the local thug, to lying about your age to get a job to ensure food stays on the table while your parents are away. In the end it all becomes relevant to the central

While life has various precious resources, only some ever truly are important to the world. Even though we may choose what is precious to us, there will always be one above the rest. Money is our most precious resource in this world because we make lives for ourselves with it, and without money life would be difficult to go through.

It would be absurd to believe that one is the product of their upbringing. It is, in fact, most definitely possible to have a successful life after going through a rough childhood. Phillip Bartlett states, “I see now that the circumstances of one's birth are irrelevant; it is what you do with the gift of life that determines who you are.” Throughout the memoir, Jeannette Walls constantly proves this statement to be correct. Despite the abuse from her parents and her forager lifestyle, Walls goes on to attend Barnard college and become a successful writer.

This shows how well Dracula treats him as Jonathan first arrives to the estate. Jonathan treats Dracula 's castle as if is a hotel upon first arrival. I find it interesting how quickly he changes his view of the place later in the novel.

The Glass Menagerie: Stoplight Paragraph By: Benn Rohs Claim: While Tennessee Williams, The Glass Menagerie makes it clear that Laura is emotionally fragile, he uses other characters throughout the book to develop her as a vulnerable yet curious individual. Data/Warrant: First, In The Glass Menagerie, weakness is linked to fragility, which comes to mean both beauty and break-ability. While Laura’s shyness and fragility keep her in her own little world of equally fragile glass animals, they also infuse her with a mysterious individuality, something Jim picks up on with the nickname "Blue Roses" and finds incredibly attractive.

characters throughout this drama appear to have an unmet desire that is continually in the back of

In Tennessee Williams’ “The Glass Menagerie”, Laura Wingfield, the daughter of Amanda Wingfield, grew up crippled with one leg shorter than the other. Laura parallels her defect with the fragility of her glass collection. An interaction with Jim, a boy from high school, reveals Laura’s own uniqueness by Jim boosting her confidence while dancing, kissing and complimenting her. Within the midst of dancing, they knock over her favorite glass unicorn and Laura’s reaction to the unicorn is broken into distinct parts. First, the unicorn losing its horn could symbolize Laura overcoming limitations to fit in with society or it could symbolize Laura’s loss of uniqueness. Next, the fragility of the glass could show Laura using her sensitivity to be changed by others or it could show that she is too fragile that anything can stop her from moving forward. Finally, the glass breaking may symbolize the opportunity for Laura to forgive and grow or just show Laura’s heart physically breaking. Although the glass unicorn is clearly a symbol for Laura, the symbol itself is shattered and broken into various parts, just like the literal glass is broken.