In Walls’ “The Glass Castle” the meaning of the title is simply a symbol of the American dream. This is because it was the dream of a little homeless girl that her and part of her family wanted to work for so hard to achieve but never did, just like people do with their American dream. The Glass castle was something the girl Jeannette and her father had planned for a long time and wanted to accomplish just like the American dream is for many people. The way they were going to get this goal was this: “All we had to do was find gold, dad said, and we were on the verge of that. Once he finished the Prospector and we struck it rich, he’d start work on our Glass Castle.” (Walls 25) The way they wanted to achieve their goal was the same way just about everyone else wanted to. They wanted the American dream. They wanted to work hard and never give up until they had something great. …show more content…
At one point in the story her dad tries to get a new ring for her mother and she says something about the Glass Castle; she basically says that when her mom will be happy, she will be happy. “He’d say he was going to get her a new ring even fancier than the one he pawned…. That and so we could build the Glass Castle.” (Walls 28) She says that once they have enough money to buy her moms ring they will have enough money to build her dream. Jeannette’s life revolves around getting this Glass Castle done. With the American dream, all people do is work hard and fantasize about their goal and once they can get the means to do so, they will be incredibly happy. Jeannette has been working hard, helping out, and hoping to get this done just as people of the American dream tend to
After nearly drowning Jeannette Walls, Rex Walls tells her that, “if you don’t want to sink, you better figure out how to swim”(Walls 66). The Glass Castle, told through Jeannette Walls, is a straightforward and content-toned memoir that describes the life within her dysfunctional family, consisting of an eccentric, free-spirited mother, an intellectual, but alcoholic father, and self-sufficient siblings. The Glass Castle should be considered as a summer reading for the class of 2019 because of its unique abilities to entertain the audience while simultaneously giving helpful guidance in the audience’s life. The book, although true, is told from an optimist’s viewpoint that gives the story an almost humorous vibe that the audience can appreciate,
The Glass Castle is a memoir about the hardships faced by a young girl, Jeannette and her tangible indigent family and how she overcame them by becoming a successful writer she is today.This memoir is an example for today’s younger generation that you shouldn’t let
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 Glass Castle is a memoir written by Jeannette Walls and it tells a story the life of Jeannette Walls and her family. Towards the beginning of the novel, the family made a pitstop at a casino in Las Vegas where the parents decided to gamble hoping they will earn extra cash. On their way home, the doors flew open, and Jeannette suddenly falls out of the car and rolls down a hill after the car took a sharp turn. The accident left her with a blood nose, multiple scrapes, and pebbles stuck on her skin. After a long wait, she began to panic that her parents decided to desert her. Eventually the car returned, and Jeannette accuses her family for leaving her behind and even refuses to hug her dad. This occurrence ends with her family calling her
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
On page 25, the first evidence of the Glass Castle’s wretched misconception is exposed as it becomes “fact” that “All [they] had to do was find gold, [.]. Once [Dad] finished the Prospector and we struck it rich, he'd start work on our Glass Castle” (Walls 25). The initial idea of encountering gold and constructing a castle made purely of glass sparked awe in Jeannette and her siblings, dragging them into a spiral of frustration and disillusionment. Furthermore, this grand plan for a castle of glass makes Rex appear pious and generous, which is proven when Jeannette narrates, “I hated Billy at that moment. [...] I thought of telling him about binary numbers and the Glass Castle [...] and all the things that made my dad special and completely different from his dad”
The purpose of the text in The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls was to show the audience a different way of living. Jeannette is showing the audience what it was like to grow up in a family that did whatever they felt. Many people want to live how ever they like but Jeannette is showing them the downside of living that way. Jeanette's family was constantly without food due to lack of money on page 67 Jeannette said, ¨We did eat less. Once we lost our credit at the commissary, we quickly ran out of food.¨ Not only were they hungry but they moved often so they didn't get a proper education or had long time friends.
Authors use symbolism in order to prove points, represent emotions, or even to show ideas. In the memoir, The Glass Castle written by Jeanette Walls, the 'Glass Castle' itself represents the ray of hope that each child had as they grew up in a financially troubled and twisted family. The Glass Castle design was also used by her father as a way to get his children to trust that he will always try to provide for and protect his family. Rex Walls, Jeanette's father stated that the Glass Castle would have glass staircases, heating and cooling powered by solar energy, and even a water purification system. He planned the rooms with extreme precision and, “Carried the blueprints for the Glass Castle wherever [they] went” (Walls 25). He even had the kids, “Work on the design for our rooms” (Walls 25). All of this would be funded by his Prospector machine which would separate gold from other rocks. However, this machine was never used and Rex's drinking and gambling habits would always force the Walls family to move to a new location, putting the idea of the Glass Castle in the back of their minds.
The Glass Castle, written by Jeannette Walls, is an autobiographical novel that shows how hard life can be when you have little to no money and highly deteriorated parents. During the whole memoir it shows how hard it is to live in poverty while at the same time trying to raise a family. The exposition of the novel is how having parents that cannot support their children because the lack of a stable income. The rising action is when Jeannette was in a taxi cab going to a party when she sees her mother digging through the trash can and feels embarrassed and tells the taxi driver to take her home. The major conflict in the novel is a man vs. man because Jeannette, her brother, and her sister are all affected by her
This is a summary on the Glass Castle is about a young woman name Jeannette begins to look back of the pasts on her childhood and how her parents’ choices affected her and her siblings. When Jeannette was three-year-old, she was boils her own hotdogs and got burned horribly that she went to the hospital. After few days, her father got her out of bed and left the hospital without paying the bill. The most memories about the Walls of her childhood focus in the desert and how the family move to different desert towns to settling in as long as their father can hold a job. He has such paranoia about the state and society and he also have dealt with his alcoholism that has leads them to move often. They used to settle in small mining town, Battle Mountain, and Nevada while Jeannette and her young brother Brian spend their time exploring the desert. Their mother is an artist and takes a break from it to hold down a job as a teacher to extend their stay.
The Glass Castle represents the hope that is lost, and how it shatters like glass, like how the Walls family finds hope, but eventually lost it and went back to their old habits of just barely scraping by.
The Glass Castle is a book written by Jeannette Walls and is about her childhood growing up in the 1960s and 70s. Throughout the book, Jeannette shows that money does not determine happiness. At various points in her difficult life, she is happy with only the essentials. Jeanette feels she is rich in her family for many reasons. They also teach her to be strong and resilient and give her something to look forward to. Jeannette sees wealth as being subjective, and as an adult, feels guilty for having money when her parents do not. In the end, Jeannette realizes it's her family and their perseverance that determine happiness.
In the beginning of the book, Jeanette’s father promises to build her a dream house in which she and her family could finally live the life they deserve. As the story progresses, Jeanette realizes that her father’s promise would go unfulfilled yet the glass castle remains as an image of hope. Through her arduous upbringing, Jeanette continues to hold on to the idea of the glass castle with a sort of childhood innocence even at the end of the book when it becomes apparent that “[Rex Wall will] never build the Glass Castle.” As it influenced the lives of both Jeanette and Rex Walls and helped them not only survive but overcome their onerous situations, The Glass Castle remains one of the biggest symbols throughout the
The Glass Castle. Sounds like a story about some fantasy kingdom with a castle made of glass, but it’s not. This is a story about the early life of a young woman, Jeannette Walls. From drinking to living in the desert to running to New York, her life is a roller coaster ride. However, there is one thing you notice in the story: forgiveness. This happened many times in the Walls family. The act of forgiveness ultimately led the family to peace.
The memoir entitled The Glass Castle, written by Jeannette Walls is a story of the eventful life Jeannette endured growing up with her three siblings and her parents. Jeannette lived a tough life, she was constantly moving, never had nice clothes to wear, and had to grow up faster than most children. The reason for the constant struggles in Jeannette’s life led back to her parents. Her father Rex Walls was outrageous, always making spur of the moment decisions which had taken a toll on the family as a whole. He was a severe alcoholic who made way too many promises he knew he couldn’t keep. Throughout the novel, the idea of the “Glass Castle” appears quite often. The Glass Castle is