Argumentative Essay On The Glass Castle

As proven by the different challenges faced by the Wes Moores and Jeannette Walls, while a strong father figure is always important to have in life, it does not determine how far you go or how successful you become. Moore’s father was deceased and was not able to be there for him by unfortunate circumstance, but Moore himself found it in him to strive to make his father proud, regardless. Walls’s father, on the other hand, was an alcoholic who chose not to be emotionally there for her. He constantly not only neglected her, but abused his role of authority by forcing Jeannette to participate in acts she never should have. In one scenario, Rex brings Jeannette to a bar and used her to basically get a man drunk so he would lose a pool game to

Rex Walls, the father of Jeannette Walls, said, “If you don’t want to sink you better figure out how to swim”. This quote says that if someone does not want to fail, then they need to keep trying to figure out how to achieve their goal. In the memoir, The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, there is an unpleasant scene of Rex teaching Jeannette how to swim in his own way. While the book, The Glass Castle and the movie show great details of this scene, the movie shows a extends the conflict in this scene. Jeanette gets angry at her father and the effect shown widely differs between the movie and the book.

At the early age of 3, she began forgiving her mother for the way she treated her, always neglecting her children. Her mother refers to a saddle as an analogy saying that if falling off the horse, it shouldn’t stop a person from riding horses. Similarly, even if she burned herself from cooking, she shouldn’t stop doing that. As faulty as her mother was, Jeanette's extremely strong mind made her braver and more courageous through the tragedies. Despite the hardships, she walked through life optimistically no matter the circumstance. She forced herself to have complete faith in her parents. When Jeanette’s dad threw her into a pool to teach her to swim, she thought to herself, “I figured he must be right, there was no other way to explain it” (66). Rex put his daughter in a life or death situation. Although she was extremely nervous, her attitude towards the end was incredibly optimistic, forcing herself to believe that her dad was right without doubt. She doesn’t let herself experience pity and depression for being born into a unfortunate family, she hopefully searched for the sliver of light at the end of the dark tunnel. Although Jeanette went through a lot growing up, in the end when her dad is sick and in

The Glass Castle, a memoir by Jeannette Walls reveals one look into a dysfunctional family. This personal memoir is full of lessons of redemption and reliance for all. Jeannette and her siblings thrived with parents whose beliefs and stubborn ways of life, changed their children’s’ lives forever. Though their parent’s dreadful actions, the children tried to fend for them. Rex, a very brilliant man, when sober and Rose Mary, an inspirational artist, when not a panhandler risked their own lives daily. Even though Rex and Rose Mary’s lives were unstable at times, they would instill lessons into their children. Their philophies in life I believe relied on one another, which taught their children some

Any man that has children has the responsibility to be the best role model they can be. Been the best role model for a child is going to shaped how that child is going to be when they become an adult. But, if they are bad role model to their children, then, the children's future would not turn out to be successful, but very few can be successful. In the novel, The Glass Castle, by Jeannette Walls, Rex, Jeannette’s father, is an unsympathetic character because of his horrible example to his children. This can be viewed throughout the book because he is an alcoholic, uncaring, and selfish person. Rex is a very irresponsible person that only very few can relate.

The Wall family’s dad, Rex, was a very heavy alcoholic. Being an alcoholic affected the Walls children in so many ways. With their father drinking, they were unable to afford food to eat and other basic needs because their father used the money on booze. Rex would beg Jeannette for money to buy alcohol by saying, “Hon, I need some money for beer and cigarettes” on page 209. On page 78 Brian talks about how their father leeches to buy alcohol, saying “Dad doesn’t need to do research on leaching. He’s an expert”.

One persistent issue presented throughout The Glass Castle is alcoholism. Rex Walls, Jeanette’s father, suffers from severe alcoholism which not only has a negative impact on him, but on the entire Walls’ family. The book demonstrates just how much of a toll an alcoholic parent has on their children. Due to his severe drinking problem, he became emotionally unconnected and neglectful towards his children and abusive both physically and emotionally to his wife. Although Rex was an intelligent and gifted man, his family lived in poverty due to his inability to sustain a job. When he managed to sober up and get a job, he would relapse and stop going to work just to drink. Alcoholism is still a widespread issue in families today causing psychological, emotional, and physical pain to everyone involved.

Jeannette’s father is clearly portrayed as one of the most stubborn of the family. It’s shown that Rex does not change by the way his family reacts to the way he lashes out. In the beginning of the story he gets in an argument with the doctor because he didn’t think Jeannette should be wearing bandages because “Burns need to breathe” (13). Even though Jeannette insisted on listening to the doctors he does not have much sympathy when it comes to his childrens wants or needs. Towards the end of the story Rex can’t accept Jeannette’s thoughtful gift because he’s not “some sort of charity chase” (263). He can’t get over his head of the house role and accept the help from his daughter. Rex doesn’t realize Jeannette morals we’re only to be generous because she loves her father.

Jeannette Wall’s memoir, The Glass Castle, displays Jeannette’s life growing up as a child living in an impoverished family. It is surprising to see that Jeannette is truly loving and caring towards her family despite how completely irresponsible and negligent both her parents were. Rose-Mary and Rex Walls are unfit parents to their children.

While her father’s dismisses his destructive nature, Jeannette becomes conscious of his actions which motivates her to make amends in hopes of leaving their desolate life. Instead of getting help for his childhood trauma, Rex immerses himself in alcohol causing him to become

“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

The novel, The Glass Castle, exhibits the human tendency to be selfish. This is manifested in both Rex and Rose Mary. Rex is characterized as a selfish father throughout the novel, and his paternal image is consistently skewed because of his actions. His addiction to alcohol ruins countless family events. One year the family’s Christmas is ruined when Rex drinks a great deal of alcohol and burns their tree and presents. Jeanette remembers, “Dad sat on the sofa [...] telling mom he was doing her a favor [...] no one tried to wring dad’s neck [...] or even point out that he’d ruined the Christmas his family has spent weeks planning” (115). Jeanette and her family are always left cleaning up their father’s drunken mess. Even when Rex is sober he does not apologize for ruining sentimental family events and continues to put alcohol before his family. Selfishness can also be seen in Rex’s relationship with money. He takes Jeanette into a bar in order to get money from his friend, Robbie. When Robbie asks if he can take Jeanette upstairs, Jeanette recollects, “So, with Dad’s blessing, I went upstairs” (212). Rex is so self-absorbed that he allows his daughter to go into a strange man's apartment, fully knowing his intentions. During Jeanette and her siblings’ childhood, they experience dangerous situations with their parents’ knowledge and approval. While Rex’s selfish nature is typically derived from his addiction, Rose Mary’s selfishness is simply a reflection of her personality.

A few times in the book she would be inappropriately touched, or beaten up, and her father would do nothing to avenge or just protect his daughter. Brian came to her side a couple times and defended her against bullies, but Rex would never be empathetic. She had a little brother, but what she needed, was a preventive father. When Rex came home drunk most of the nights, he was violent and rude to his children. To try and make a difference for the whole family, and to get them to believe in Dad again, her birthday present she wished for was for her father to stop drinking. He lasted a couple months, but the disappointment and betrayal she felt of her father was immense and “...she couldn’t believe Dad had gone back to the booze” (Walls 123). She was the last to believe in him and with the overwhelming dishonesty and deception, at last, she had finally lost faith in her Dad.

Oscar Wilde once said, “Children begin by loving their parents, as they grow older, they judge them; sometimes they forgive them.” This quote represents Jeannette Walls relations with her father, Rex Walls, in her memoir, The Glass Castle. Jeannette's relationship with her father is symbolic of Oscar Wilde’s thought. Early in her life, Rex is a good father, teaching Jeannette and caring for them, but toward the end of his life, Rex is seen by Jeannette as a distraction and a bad influence. She slowly learns more and more of her horrific drunk dad, and her overall relationship with Rex changes quite a bit throughout her life captured in The Glass Castle.

This entry parallels Rex Walls behavior by showing the outcome and the effects on a family suffering from a father or husband abusing alcohol and becoming a destructive monstrosity. Congruent to the article previously mentioned, Rex Walls demise in the "Glass Castle" is imposed to of been caused by his excessive drinking during his life. " The fact was that, although Dad was only fifty- nine, he had been smoking four packs of cigarettes a day since he was thirteen, and by this time he was also putting away a good two quarts of booze daily. He was, as he had put it many a time, completely pickled."(Walls 278- 279) Considering the circumstances Rex Walls was fortunate that he had lived as long as he did.'