Analysis Of The Glass Castle By Jeannette Walls

The Glass Castle, by Jeannette Walls, is a powerful memoir about Jeannette and her siblings overcoming poverty, the struggles of living with an alcoholic father, and a mother who clearly had some form of mental illness. Jeannette is the main character in the book and tells of her upbringing and how dysfunctional her parents were. She explains the many struggles her siblings went through, how it impacted all of their lives, and how she grew up to be a successful person. Though the story was truly meant to inspire others and promote the theme of there’s always light at the end of the tunnel so never let anyone keep you from your dream, many parents were furious when they found out their child was reading it. Sections of the book about violence,

The idea to ban the book came about when students were asked to read it in school. Parents of the students reported, as said before, the book contained explicit language, references to child molestation, adolescent sexual exploits, and violence relating to the abusive father (“Banned Book Awareness”). High school parents began to challenge the book in 2010 at, William S. Hart Union High School District in Saugus (in California), and Sade-Central City High School. Successes in getting it banned took place in both Texas and Michigan. A parent at Traverse Public Schools said “It’s just really inappropriate for 13- and 14-year-olds” (“Banned Book

Jeannette Walls book deserves to be banned but allowed for mature readers above the age of fifteen. The intention of this memoir was to inspire and prove that overcoming adversity is possible. Reported by parents first was explicit language. This memoir has less swear words and reference to sexual acts than a PG-13 movie. In no way am I saying swearing is okay but that just like movies parental guidance is suggested so it makes sense that it should be banned but not for someone older who wouldn’t get distracted from the overall message. Child molestation is another reason this book was banned. Jeannette Walls talks about living with different relatives of the family and one of them attempting to do stuff with her and another time trying to do stuff with her little brother. It is made clear in the book that this wasn’t acceptable behavior on the adults part so I understand and agree that it isn’t for those younger than the age of sixteen. Lastly this book was banned do to violence relating to her alcoholic dad. Her father in the book clearly is an alcoholic as the reader can see his struggle when he tries to withdraw. This behavior is definitely not something that should be promoted and with someone mature reading it they can see how bad alcohol is, the struggle with addiction, and it how dependent it makes someone. There is still a great takeaway from this book