4. Rex Walls, just like his wife, was totally unfit to be a parent. Over and over again he failed to provide for the family and instead caused physical and emotional pain. He was always coming home drunk, and one night he even forced his daughter to distract a man and then go up into his room with him. Jeannette barely made it out of the man’s room without being raped. Afterwards when telling her dad what happened he said to her, “I’m sure he just pawed you some … I knew you could handle yourself” (Walls 213). Any father who thinks it is acceptable for his own child to be sexually assaulted, should not have any children. Along with that he was always doing things, what he called, “Rex Walls style,” which is just another term for illegally. Jeannette had been in the hospital for six weeks and without knowing if she was recovered, her dad broke her out of the hospital. It says, “A nurse yelled at us to stop, but dad broke into a run. He pushed open an emergency-exit door and sprinted down the stairs and out into the street” (Walls 14). He didn’t care whether or not his own daughter was fully recovered or not. He just wanted to sneak her out of the hospital so he wouldn’t have to pay the bill. I find these actions irresponsible and repulsive. One thing that I do find admirable about him is that he was very smart and creative. He tried to make a machine to separate rock from gold, and he even designed a whole house made entirely of glass. The problem is that he was always too
I maintain, however, that in some way or another the audience is bound to be exposed to the harsh reality of the outside world. Even just going to school, they would be exposed to equally, if not, more devastating topics, like sexual harassment and school shootings. The memoir, rather than glorifying these topics like they do in movies and television shows, they are portrayed straightforwardly. For example, on page 146, Walls describes the situation: “Erma kneeling on the floor in front of Brian, grabbing at the crotch of his pants… and telling Brian to hold still,” while “his cheeks wet with tears, was holding his hands protectively between his legs.” Excessive and biased words were not used to portray walls’ loathing towards her grandma, which offers the audience to conclude their own opinions on the situation. Being straightforward with what happened opens the audience to sensitive topics and informs them of what to do, which helps them even more than if the topic was talked about lightly and cast
“If you aren't willing to face your demons-if you can't find the courage to take on your fear and hurt and anger-you might as well wrap them up with a bow and give them to your children. Because they will be carrying the same thing...unless you are willing to do the work” (Page 46). In chapter 2 ‘summer of 83’ Dickey tells his traumatic rape stories. Dickey demonstrated a great deal of fear and innocence. At the tender age of ten, R.A. was exposed to very explicit behaviour numerous amounts of time.
After being rushed to the hospital, which uses the white archetype to represent uniformity, sterileness, and artificiality, Jeannette's father, Rex Walls, who is quite the opposite, first challenges her physician’s ways, and then scoops her out of bed and rushes her out of the hospital. This shows that Rex is opposed to medicine and gentle care, preferring rather harsh and natural ways of healing.
Although Jeannette Walls and both the Wes Moores had similar environments while growing up, they each had different outlets for holding their own, such as writing for her school, turning to drug dealing, and focusing on military school. One of these is the obvious negative choice among the others. The other Wes Moore, instead of trying to discover a higher road, undertook the exact “job” that his brother had warned him against for years. Wes, however, genuinely thought that this would solve of his problems. He thought that having money would make him happier. He chose this life even directly after remembering how addictive and dangerous drugs were. Wes Moore the author writes the other Wes also thinking, “And he understood, faintly… how easy
Furthermore, Walls uses vivid imagery of abusive actions to show that determination and a hopeful spirit can help anyone overcome obstacles to achieve his or her desires. However, before Walls had the determination to leave, she encountered another series of unfortunate event when an eight-year-old boy named Billy Deel and his father moved into the area. The author writes, “Billy smushed his face against mine, then grabbed my hair and made my head bend sideways and stuck his tongue in my mouth. It was slimy and disgusting, but when I tried to pull away, he pushed in toward me. The more I pulled, the more he pushed, until he was on top of me and I felt his fingers tugging at my shorts. His other hand was unbuttoning his own pants…” (Walls 54). Evidently, in this excerpt, it can be implied that Jeannette has been raped. Walls tried to stop him as she thinks back to what her dad told to her to do if a guy jumped on her, but because she couldn’t “knee him in the groin”, Walls used common sense and bit Billy on the ear as hard as
A “good parent” is financially stable and able to support their children. They should provide necessities and be there for their kids. They should also be a role-model for their kids and set a good example. In the novel, The Glass Castle, Rex Walls, the father, was a terrible parent because he was an alcoholic, he was a criminal, and he was selfish.
Any responsible parent that truly cares for their child(ren) and has their best interest at heart would do anything to make sure their child(ren) are safe. However, Rose Mary and Rex Walls, Walls’ parents, appear to not have the same ideology as they allow their children to be victims of sexual assault several times. For example, Grandma Erma begins to sexually assault Walls’ brother Brian Walls, while their parents are out of town. The children try to explain the story to their parents, consequently making the parents angry. While scolding the children, Rex and Walls break out into a little argument:
In chapter four of the book; he introduces his readers to a Vietnam War veteran named Herbert Richardson. Herbert’s diagnosis of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder sent him straight to a prison cell because of a murder. Due to Herbert’s PTSD; he was sent to a veteran hospital to recover from his severe head pain which were caused by his time on the battlefield. During his time in recovery at the hospital; he met a nurse which he loved because of her compassionate care towards him. She did not live in New York, so eventually it came time for her to move back to Dothan, Alabama; thus, Herbert followed her to back to her house in Alabama. The nurse and Herbert entered into a brief relationship with each other, but the relationship didn’t last long. She wanted to end the relationship by staying away from Herbert, but Herbert didn’t want to have any of it; he wanted to constantly be near her presence. Eventually Herbert became corrupt, dangerous, and irrational because of his obsession with the nurse. He, at one point, got so obsessed and infatuated with the nurse that he came up with a plan to woo her and they would live together happily ever after. Unfortunately, Herbert’s plan didn’t work out well, as a result he ended up unintentionally killed two little girls in his neighborhood when a bomb exploded in front of their innocent faces. He was charged for their murder; however, the prosecutors didn’t consider his mental health history. This perspective of Herbert is unfair and uncompassionate; the prosecutors should have taken Herbert’s mental health history into account for the murder charges. Herbert should not have been sent to jail; he should have been sent back to a mental health facility. At a facility, he is able to be given the proper care he needs and he is able to be supervised,
It can be seen that both Rex, and Rose Mary Walls did not like receiving any type of help, even if it would greatly benefit the family. At the beginning of the book, Jeannette burns herself while cooking hotdogs. One sign of negligence from Rose Mary was that she let Jeannette cook by herself at the age of 3, with absolutely no supervision, and this caused Jeannette to accidently burn herself severely. She was in the hospital for a few weeks, and due to the parent’s discontent with receiving help, they decided to steal Jeannette out of the hospital before she was cleared to leave. Jeannette explains, “Dad hurried down the hall with me in his arms. A nurse yelled for us to stop, but Dad broke into a run. He pushed open an emergency exit door and sprinted down the stairs and out to the street” (Walls 9). Firstly, Rex is not being a good role model to his three year old daughter as he is doing something that is completely forbidden. A responsible parent would not be teaching their children that actions such as these are acceptable. Jeannette was only three, and therefore the encouragement to break rules would stick to her mind a lot easier. Also, what was Rex thinking when he decided to steal Jeannette from the hospital prematurely? They brought Jeannette to the hospital for her to recover from her injury (which could have been prevented with parent supervision). Hospitals are there to help patients, and that is exactly how it benefitted Jeannette. If there were a reason for this, it might have been understandable. However, Rex did not have a valid reason for this as it was not like he was going to help Jeannette recover at home. Not only did the parents not like help from other people, but they did not like any type of aid to their family at all. This can be seen when Jeannette explains,” ‘Nosiree,’ Mom said. She didn't approve of glasses. If you had weak eyes, Mom
There are various components of Walls’ traumatic autobiography that are significant. To begin with, throughout her narrative Walls uses the trauma she has gone through to show that she has learned to take nothing for granted and is appreciative of what she does have. This is a significant portion of Walls’ autobiography because it shows that a traumatic upbringing can either cause a person to fall into the same patterns that brought on the trauma, such as falling back into poverty, or the person can rise above the challenges in their lives and become determined to change their future. Another significant portion of her narrative includes different incidents when Walls and her siblings go to extreme measures to simply survive. A specific incident of this occurs when Walls describes how at lunch, she would hide in the bathroom stall with her feet up and girls
Parenting has always been an issue since the brick of dawn and recently been recognized as a problem for our society: remarkably people have finally decided to try to do something about it. In the Glass Castle, Rex and Rose Mary Walls went through many struggles raising their children but ultimately the struggles made the children stronger individuals; despite the alcoholism, sickness, and domestic abuse. Jeanette and her siblings have been through many
In the play Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, the characterization of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, as well as the symbolism of blood, are reveals that the desire and ambition for power over others leads to the destruction of oneself and others. Shakespeare uses the characterization of Macbeth to reveal the idea that Macbeth feels the need for instant gratification. This feeling is used to support the idea that the desire and ambition for power over others leads to the destruction of oneself and others. At the beginning of act 1 scene 7, Macbeth has a soliloquy in which he contemplates whether or not killing Duncan is the right thing to do. The quote is the beginning of that soliloquy-
From the beginning of his campaign to now, Donald Trump has emphasized his belief that the needs of America need to be placed before the needs of other countries. This is supported by the statement that “[America] is the only country in the world whose immigration system puts the needs of other nations ahead of [its] own. That must change” (Immigration reform [Trump], 2016). Even though he plans to implement policies that promote American opportunity in regard to changes in immigration laws, Donald Trump is at a disadvantage when it comes to policy because he is primarily a businessman and not a politician. That being said, however, Donald Trump still believes that he can make America great again through his immigration reform. Towards the beginning of his campaign, Donald Trump voiced his plan regarding the process of immigrants gaining legal status, saying that he “Would get people out and [he] would have an expedited way of getting them back into the country so they can be legal” (Corasanti, 2016). However, a year later in August of 2016, he stated that “For those here today illegally who are seeking legal status, they will have one route and one route only: to return home and apply for re-entry like everyone else under the rules of the new legal immigration system” (Corasanti, 2016). Donald Trump’s proposed immigration policy has also evolved over the course of his campaign when it comes to the prevalent topic of deporting 11 million undocumented
“Children shouldn’t have to sacrifice so that you can have the life you want. You make sacrifices so that your children can have the life that they deserve.”- Unknown. In the book The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls readers are given a front row seat into a family that is constantly being destroyed by the parents. This book allows readers an inside look at having an alcoholic father and an absent mother. There’s no such thing as “normal”, but society often expects certain things from it’s citizens - things like holding down a job, responsibly raising children, and giving back in some way, but in The Glass Castle, Rex and Rose Mary Walls do none of these things. Rex and Rose Mary walls have trouble keeping their jobs, maybe it’s because
Are Rose Mary and Rex Walls really unfit to be parents? The answer is yes, they are extremely unfit to be parents. Her parents Rex and Rose Mary do they bare minimum to get by, sometimes even not eating because they couldn’t afford it. Would Jeanette and her siblings been better off living in a foster care? This can be a yes or answer depending on the way you look at it. Yes they would be better in foster care by having food, a place to sleep, safe environment, and a caretaker. No also because the Walls family is so family based that separating them may cause more emotional and mental problems. Was it in the best interest to grow up with their parents or to be removed from the home? For Jeannette Lori and Brian living with their parents they