Analysis Of The Glass Castle By Jeannette Walls

Imagine yourself fifty years ago, being punished for lying, cheating and talking back to your parents, however instead of being grounded, and yelled at, your parents decide to teach you a lesson by whipping or hitting you. Nowadays that would be considered assault or child abuse, however back then it was considered a form of discipline to teach a child the difference between right and wrong, teach them to be more resilient, and to get them to quit while they are ahead. Similar forms of discipline can be seen in the memoir The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, which takes place during the 1950’s in numerous states, such as Virginia, New York, California and various others. Throughout the memoir, we learn more about Jeannette’s childhood, living

‘We can take care of our own,’ Mom and Dad like to say. ‘We don't accept handouts from anyone’” (Walls 159). Instead of attempting to provide or asking for help, Rex and Rosemary refuse to do this, even at the expense of their children. This was an extremely impactful moment for all the children. However, instead of complaining about being hungry or all the struggles they face due to their parents' neglect, they find other ways to support themselves, even if it means dumpster diving for food. If a child has to go dumpster diving for food, then they are truly fighting for survival. That is what the Walls children are doing, they are fighting for themselves when no one else will. Their parents clearly aren’t helping or willing to help build their children better lives, so all the children must embrace the meaning of resilience and do this themselves. They’re resilience and independence is truly exemplified here. Another time when the children's resilience is exemplified through parental neglect is in Welch when Rex decides to fill the hole they’ve dug for the glass castle with

Instead of keeping his word, Rex decides to not finish what he started. What's even worse is that after this point in the memoir Rex still mentions building the glass castle, however that becomes a form of antagonization for Jeannette and Brian. Rex’s neglect of the glass castle ultimately leads to the death of the king. This is the moment when the children's resilience probably reaches one of its highest points. Ultimately, even though the children have faced many hard challenges from their parents, they’ve grown resilient due to the challenges their parents have forced upon them. There is a famous quote by Desmond Tutu, that reads “How do you eat an elephant, one bite at a time.” This quote encourages people not to be overwhelmed or scared by the size of their problems, but to tackle them in small bites at a time. This is what the parents have ultimately taught them through their tough love and challenges. Without facing hardships in their lives, the Walls children would never be able to eat the