In life you can become an adult at anytime. The thing is knowing when you are ready to become a parent because being a parent is a challenge and not many can take it. Having a child is a huge responsibility, and therefore Rex and Rose Mary Walls are bad parents because Rex constantly gets drunk, and both parents are unfit to support their children economically. A reason why they are bad parents is because the Walls children dad, Rex, would constantly get drunk at bars using the very little money they had and would leave the kids with nothing. Not only did Rex spend needed money on alcohol, he also came home in violent rages after being at the bars all night. Jeanette describes, “ he broke windows, and smashed dishes and furniture until he’d spent all his anger” (The Glass Castle 112). The family already had the issue of Rex not being wise about his money spending and now they had the issue of him being extremely violent. Although Rose Mary and the children handled his drunken furies very well, it still scared and angered them very much that he would leave the house and come back drunk and violent, risking that under …show more content…
Since they aren't able to keep a stable job for long, of course they are going to have money problems. If they don't have money then how will the children be able to eat. Throughout the novel, Jeanette explains multiple times of herself and her siblings, having to fend for themselves, because her parents did not have enough money to buy them food. For example when she states that, “If I was playing in a friend’s yard, I’d ask if I could use the bathroom, and if no one was in the kitchen, I’d grab something out of the refrigerator or cupboard and take it into the bathroom and eat it there…” (The Glass Castle 68). Jeanette was so hungry all of the time because her parents never had the money to buy food, so her only choice was to take food from her friend’s
She has always felt a responsibility to take care of her siblings, earn money to help with finances, and control her father when he was drunk, even taking him home from the bar. Jeannette would try to bring food home for her siblings when she found any extra. At one point she says, “I felt like I was failing Maureen, like I wasn’t keeping my promise that I’d protect her.” (206) In reality, Jeannette should not be the one in charge of protecting her siblings and making sure they have enough food and necessities but she does because her parents don’t. She also feels the need to make extra money because her parents don’t have steady incomes. By the age of thirteen, she was the head of the household for the summer and had a job that paid forty dollars a week. (209, 215) She was making more money than either of her parents and she wasn’t even old enough by law to have a job. Another example of her maturity beyond her age is when Rose Mary makes Jeannette retrieve her father from the bar when he doesn’t come home after a couple of days. (181) This a job that Rose Mary should be doing herself but instead she sends Jeannette so she doesn’t have to deal with
Have you ever made you life and your family's life way harder than it need to be and know matter what you tried you could not fix it? In the book The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, that is the exact situation that her father Rex is in. He tries to stop doing what he was doing it would only last about two weeks or so. Through Rex’s stubbornness, violence, and selfishness he made his family life awful as the book progresses.
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
Would you let your three-year old kid cook hot dogs all by themselves? You're probably saying No like any responsible person would say right? But Rose Mary Walls had different ideas. She believed that If the child was responsible enough to cook hot dogs let them.
In the Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls uses logic to get herself and her family out of situations while weighting out the pros and cons. For example the one time when Jeannette was turning ten and her dad, Rex Walls, asked her what she wanted for her birthday, she said “Do you think you could maybe stop drinking”. His first response was, “You must be awfully ashamed of your old man.”, and of course she responded back with “No… It’s just I think mom would be a lot happier. Plus we’d have the extra money.” She asked him, because she was thinking of her dads health, and the families well being. You can tell that she thought long and hard about how she was going to ask her dad, and about why she wanted him to quit.
A. The Walls family consists of five members; Rex Walls is the father and Rose Mary is the mother (47 years old). Lori, Jeannette, Brian, and Maureen are the children. Lori is the oldest, she is approximately 27 years old, Jeannette is 24 years old, Brian is 23 years old, and Maureen is 18 years old. As disclosed by Jeannette Walls in The Glass Castle, The Walls have a history of stressors within the five systems levels. More specifically, each member of the Walls has particular challenges they have overcome within the individual, immediate family, extended family, community, and larger society.
Jeanette Walls and her out of the ordinary family live their lives surrounded in pure craziness and poverty. Jeanette has been raised to be as independent as her age allows her. At age three she could make herself a hot dog and by the age of eighteen she had started a new life in New York away from the craziness that followed her parents throughout the kids nomadic childhood. Jeanette and her siblings Lori, Brian and Maureen live their childhoods with almost nothing. They were always wondering where their next meal would come from and where there parents had mysteriously disappeared to. Rex Walls, the father and husband was a severe alcoholic who spent most of his money on gambling or a beer from a local bar. Rose Mary Walls, the mother and wife was not better, never being to hold onto a job for long enough to get paid and support her family caused many problems for Rose Mary, Rex and most importantly… the kids. The kids all had the dream of escaping the prison their parents called home and heading to New York or California where they could feel endless happiness. The kids grow up with almost no parents, which forces them to become independent from the day they were born. In The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, Jeanette's parents teach her to only rely on herself and never get attached to something you can lose, forcing Jeanette to become strong and independent throughout her childhood.
*One of the themes of “The Glass Castle” is that, although you might have a horrible and hard childhood, it doesn’t mean you’ll stay that way. Jeannette had gone through so many things, but because she tried her very best to get out of her struggle she now succeeds in life.
To his family, Rex Walls was an excitable, caring, and intelligent man yet, he could also be dangerous, abusive, and ignorant. Rex Walls was an alcoholic and his family often suffered because of his erratic and selfish behavior. Beginning at a very young age, Rex Walls’s reckless actions left his children emotionally traumatized. In The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls reveals multiple incidents that show how Rex Walls’s drunken actions strained and damaged their relationship as a family. Due to Rex Walls’s alcoholism the children were far too often left feeling disappointed by the man they adored, constantly having to cope with the aftermath of his drunken stupor, and were unable to live normal lives, repeatedly being put in compromising situations, and having to conceal their displeasure.
In the novel The Glass Castle I would say we was most influenced by her time in Phoenix Arizona. She is starting to figure out who she is and what she is capable of such as confronting her father about being an alcoholic. Her father did not really enjoy living in Phoenix. Rex wasn’t the kind of guy who likes living in a city. The city was bad for rex but good for Jeanette.
That was probably the only good thing that came from their parents not being responsible. Many people tried to help the Walls out by giving them clothes so they could save their money and buy other necessities like food or just save up the money but Rex and Rose-Mary wouldn’t allow that. It seemed like Jeannette’s parents want to be poor and didn’t want the best for their children.In the novel Jeannette says,” Although we were the poorest family on Little Hobart Street, Mom and Dad never applied for welfare or food stamps, and they always refused charity. When teachers gave us bags of clothes from church drives, Mom made us take them back,”(Walls,159). This shows that the parents are too prideful for their own good and to the point where they won’t even do what’s best for their children. The Walls children barely have enough to eat day by day. While Rose-Mary and Rex can’t even accept a little bit of help that is needed in their household. One of the reasons they might have not applied for finical aid was because they didn’t want the bill collector to find them. Still that’s no excuse as to why they can’t feed their own children and accept hand outs that could help them in life. Jeannette’s parents go about life in
As frigid snow frosts the sun-licked ice, a glacial wind howls against the trees. As a child, one would sip hot chocolate and watch a movie with their family. However, Jeannette Walls would be sitting on a dirty floor, cold with no food. In The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, 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 destitution and endured anguish during her childhood, these obstacles formed her into a self-reliant woman who proves that just because she did not have as much money as other families, she can still achieve success in her life.
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.
Jeannette is riddled with the family budget, with only $25 a week. Rex repeatedly asks Jeannette for money for alcohol and smoking, asking more and more each week. Jeannette has to get a job just to keep food on the table for Brian and Maureen. Jeannette finding it harder to comply says, “as if he knew I didn’t have it in me to say no. . . And I didn’t”