How To Change In The Glass Castle By Jeannette Walls

Out of 15 million children, 21% live in families with incomes that are below the federal threshold. It is not uncommon for these children to work hard to create a better life for themselves, a life which their parents couldn’t create for them. In the Glass Castle, by Jeannette Walls, the story encaptures the transition from childhood to adulthood and the need for change along the way, which is a stage in life that everybody goes through. Jeannette's need comes from the irresponsibility of her parents, their lack of self-sufficiency and grasp from the real world. There are times in our lives (for others like Jeannette it may be earlier), when there is no choice but to grow away from our parents and go out into the real world on our own in

Jeannette knows the hand she has been dealt, and it hasn’t been a very good one, but that is not going to stop her from reaching her dreams. Even Jeannette says, “whoever coined the phrase ‘a man’s got to play the hand that was dealt him’ was most certainly one piss-poor bluffer.”(55). She knows that if nothing adjusts, and she chooses to stay with her parents, then nothing is ever going to change. By creating her own destiny, in going to New York, she was able to support her family, and create a stable environment that proved to her that it was the right decision to go out on her own, and leave her parents. If you don’t challenge yourself, then life remains stagnant, and you aren’t improving or having the quality of life you wish to live. It’s obvious that this helped her to know what she wanted out in life, considering she hadn’t gotten much of that as a child. Also, when the transitions made, we become different people with different values. This is obvious when her mother discovers her newly found lifestyle. “Look at the way you live. You've sold out. Next thing I know you'll become a Republican” "Where are the values I raised you with?”(269). She has come a long way since being with her parents, and just because she does not want to be homeless, does not mean that she is not the same person. The adjustment was necessary for her to see that she had no limit, and that she was more than just the daughter of the town drunk from Little Hobart Street. Even her mother says herself,“Life’s too short to care about what other people think. Besides, they should accept us for who we are.”(157). She shouldn’t be judging other people for taking her own advice. Before Jeannette would have been obedient as a dog to her mother, but now she has developed her own beliefs, and refuses to stray from them. Whatever decisions that are made, there is always going