After reading the memoir, “The Glass Castle” by Jeannette Walls you can easily see that in the memoir, some characters seek complete freedom from society’s rules while others seek the comforts and security that comes with a “normal life”. I believe that freedom comes before security. Firstly, freedom is a big part of success. Many people believe that you cannot become successful if you have freedom. Jeannette Walls proved those people wrong. Jeannette was bullied, raped, tormented, and pushed to the limit by her family and peers throughout her educational years. Despite all of this, she saw the light at the end of the tunnel and pulled through to become an extremely successful writer. She proved that you must take risks to become successful …show more content…
However this did not stop the Walls children’s determination at all, especially the 3 eldest children. Lori, Brian, and Jeannette had nothing but freedom growing up. This freedom allowed the children to find and do what they loved. As was stated above, many people believe that you can’t become successful if you have freedom. However, you do not need security to become successful and the proof lies within the Walls children. Due to their freedom the kids figured out what they would like to do by the time they were in high school. This then gave way to Lori’s and Jeannette’s “Escape Plan” to move to New York. Once in New York Lori and Jeannette both pursued their dreams to become an artist and a writer. Both of them reached their goals despite of their rough childhood. As Nelson Mandela once said, “ Money won't create success, the freedom to make it will.” Without the freedom that they had as children they would’ve never figured out what their dream jobs were and become successful and do what they …show more content…
Without any way to use up free time, Jeannette and Brian took it upon themselves to find things to do. All throughout the time that the family lived in the arid areas such as Arizona and Nevada the two of them spent their free time exploring in the desert. The pair were fascinated by the shedded snake skins and animal carcasses and remains that they would find in the desert. However playing around with carrion was not the only thing that they liked to do. The two of them, especially Jeannette loved to collect geodes and minerals, she loved geology. The pair couldn't do this if it weren't for the freedom that they had. Freedom can give you knowledge and curiosity. Jeannette had a great interest and curiosity in geology that originated from her explorations into the desert. The desert also awarded immense knowledge for her. The desert taught them things that they couldn't learn at school or anywhere else. It taught them about many things both good and bad. The desert gave Jeannette both the knowledge and especially the curiosity that is needed to
The novel The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls demonstrates about a young girl, Jeannette Walls’, childhood. This book is memoir of the author, Jeannette Walls. Jeannette grew up in a family that had little to no money at times and has to move to different cities in deserts numerous times. Although many events in the novel were depressing the family still managed to keep humor and hope, especially when going through having to move constantly and being broke.An example as to why the family was always short on money because Janette’s father was an alcoholic and he would use up the family's money to purchase liquor. However, when the family was in need of food and money he would go out and a job. In the end the Walls children were moved out of
In the memoir, The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls, the author, was most influenced by her time in Battle Mountain, as indicated by how she describes the way she felt there. The Walls children loved being free to roam the area and make up games to play. In the book Walls writes, “DAD GOT A JOB AS an electrician in a barite mine. He left early and came home early, and in the afternoons we all played games.” (Walls.54) Jeannette loved that her dad finally had a job and could buy her things. She said they even were able to go out to week a few times a week. This was a treat for the children since they were used to having to find their own food. She also loved how her dad would play games with them when he got home from work. It gave her a sense
The family’s mood consists of dreadful moments with inspiring undertones. While in the desert, the family lives a somewhat happy life. Jeannette describes their peaceful side when she proclaims “After dinner the whole family stretched out on the benches and the floor of the depot and read, with the dictionary in the middle of the room so we kids could look up words we didn't know” (Walls 56). This scene displays that the Walls family has the capability to be together without fighting. The mood in this area of the story is tranquil.
People often fall into some sticky situations, but how they deal with them is the thing that matters most. In The Glass Castle, a memoir by Jeannette Walls, she takes the readers through her life, starting at her earliest memory as a three-year-old, constantly living in a state of homelessness. Throughout the story, Walls experiences countless situations from her father being an alcoholic, to everyday school bullies. She uses a series of coping mechanisms to deal with, and sometimes terminate these issues. In fact, everyone of her siblings and parents uses various coping methods for these same situations. These methods may not always be the most effective, but people, including the Walls family, nevertheless use them to get by on their
The Glass Castle, recounts the dysfunctional family life of author, Jeannette Walls. The book begins with three year old, Jeannette residing in Arizona in a mobile home. Without any parental supervision, Jeannette was boiling hotdogs on the stovetop and burns herself very badly. Jeannette is hospitalized and treated for her burns. While there, she recounts how clean the hospital was and how caring the nurses were. The Glass Castle continues to chronicle her life as her father, Rex Walls, prematurely removes her from the hospital and moves the family here, there and everywhere. Rex Walls is always on the run from what he calls the "gestapo" and is constantly uprooting his family. They live in several deserted shacks without heat, electricity
“We don’t accept handouts form anyone” says Rose Mary Walls, the mother of Jeannette Walls. In the memoir The Glass Castle written by Jeannette Walls she describes events from her life from childhood to adulthood and how she overcame her struggles. She had to adjust to her family’s situation and comply with how her parents wanted her to act, which was to be independent. Walls’ memoir embodies the theme of being self-sufficient by illustrating scenes that take place in hers and her siblings life that demonstrate the need to become self-sufficient. Jeannette Walls has been learning how to be independent from a young age.
Today, thousands of kids grow up with hardships, but have potential to be successful. One example of this is in The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls. The book is a memoir that tells stories about Jeanette and her family. For the most part Jeannette’s child hood was filled with hardships, but did this make her as successful as she is today? Jeannette Walls is successful because of her hardships she experienced as a child, which shaped her into who she is today.
In the memoir The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, she portrays a dysfunctional family with family members that suffer from mental illness and alcoholism. The raw story telling of Walls puts into perspective the real and shocking obstacles that she overcame. Her determined mind is opened when showing how she tries to cope with her living situation and make it bearable.
As well as her father, Rex that had shaped his family’s living conditions and their minds. Such living conditions consisted of moving his family constantly due to his own mistakes and selfishness. Walls indicates the pattern in her family’s living condition, “We moved around like nomads. We lived in dusty little mining towns in Nevada, Arizona, and California” (Walls 19). It was difficult for Walls and her siblings, Lori and Brian to have any consistency in their lives. Such as having a place to call home, having somewhere to sleep, having food, having friends, and etc. of situations that is normal for young children to have. This was all due to the inconsistency of their father keeping a job and being able to handle finances. Rex Walls primary issues derives from his irresponsibility of providing for his family; where he would try and accomplish, but inevitably revert to drinking alcohol
The Glass Castle was written by Jeanette Walls and published in January 2006. The Glass Castle is a memoir of redemption and resilience of views on a family that was extremely dysfunctional. The book is based on the author's past of her life when growing up homeless. Jeannette Walls was not only ashamed of her past but she also learned great life lessons from the events that occurred to make her who she is today.
This, however, meant that the Walls children were bullied and talked about everywhere they went because of the clothes they wore, the houses they lived in, and their parents’ odd and dysfunctional ways of life. Their upbringing made it hard for them to adapt to school life and drown out the harsh opinions. At school in Welch, Jeannette was often picked on, kicked, or punched for being different from the rest. Those injuries and scars from childhood would lower their self-esteem and make it even more challenging for them to have a “normal life”, no matter how much they wanted to. Most of the time, rebelling against society’s ideals is not always the best choice for a child because in the end, he or she might experience pains too great for them to deal with at that
Many would argue that Yourself and the mindset you have in life most affects the kind of person you become because, If you treat yourself poorly and look at everything negative while you're young you will not be successful later in life. However, the short story The Glass Castle by, Jeannette Walls reveals that your environment and the way you grow up affects the kind of person you become because People that grow up in bad environments can still be successful. One reason the short story The Glass Castle by, Jeannette Walls reveals that Yourself and the mindset you have in life most affects the kind of person you become is when Jeannette said, “I figured you didn't need a college degree to become one of the people who
The Wall’s family go through so much, yet still have a encouraging look on life. Many people who may have the same type of lives, suffer so much, and have less than others use their situation as an excuse but the Wall’s children never do. Growing up with a poverty based childhood and rough upbringing, Jeannette uses her situation as motivation to succeed and achieve her goals. Even though Jeanette’s parents may have a ton of flaws and issues, they did manage to implant in their children mature qualities. As a result, Jeanette's character and personality develops as a brave, adventurous and independent woman. The Wall’s children learn to be tough, resilient, educated, and intelligent. The neglect and love influence the children to strive and succeed. Empathy is a big focus in this memoir because Jeannette and her siblings never judge their parents by their actions but they love them for who they
Introduction: Our parents. Our inspirations. Who we look up to. People who could never do wrong. But what would you do if your parents did something so wrong that they could be arrested? Or perhaps they did something unacceptable but you didn’t know anything more? Jeannette Walls deals with this throughout her childhood as represented in The Glass Castle. Her parents challenge the social norms and expectations with their uncommon lifestyle and teachings. While doing so, they put their children in awkward sometimes dangerous predicaments. This causes Jeannette in particular to decide whether she trusts and/or forgive her parents. Despite their questionable actions, Jeannette always finds a way to have love her parents. Jeannette always has to forgive her parents for their mistakes. Of course we love our parents, but how much are we willing to accept them if they aren’t as admirable as they seem. I have a few questions for you guys to think about on this idea. We will discuss the answers to these questions at the end so keep your responses in mind. Would you still love your parents if they convicted a crime? Would you still love your parents if they hurt someone? Would you still love your parents if they weren’t able to provide for you? Would you still love your parents if they lied to you? Would you still love your parents if they stole from you? These are hypothetical situations, but they allow you to think about the unconditional love you have for your parents. Now, why
A trauma narrative is a narrative that describes an experience or experiences that cause someone to be destressed and cannot be incorporated into their memory easily. Throughout her own traumatic narrative, Jeannette Wall’s describes different aspects of her everyday life that showcase various levels of significance. She is able to show how certain life events impact her plans for escaping her current socioeconomic status and her plans for the future. The text is also able to tell us about trauma, poverty, ourselves, and our society. Furthermore, the text demonstrates the impact that trauma and poverty can have and how they can have lasting effects. These concepts help us to think about our own life experiences and situations and they also show us how to be analytical about our society. Lastly, this narrative is able to reveal to us the different aspects of a traumatic childhood and how important and impactful this type of upbringing can be. Jeannette Walls uses her own traumatic autobiography to show that despite her adverse upbringing in poverty and passive and unattached parenting she was able to become successful. The Glass Castle, by Jeannette Walls, shows the benefits and the value that can come from having a traumatic narrative. This is significant because it shows that an experience can shape a person, but a person can also shape the experience.