Arnold's Identity In Jeannette Walls The Glass Castle

For many people, the childhood house they grew up in has countless memories, both good and bad. However, the concept of home is not confined to a single house or location-- instead, home is mostly made by the people in it. Although this can sometimes be forgotten, the home matters far more than the house. The experiences someone goes through in their home serve as lessons that over time begin to shape their view of the world and themselves. In Jeannette Walls’ The Glass Castle, the children of a lazy mother and a lying alcoholic are forced to fend for themselves and ultimately use their ambition and determination to succeed in New York City on their own. Similarly, in Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, a Native

When Arnold’s father goes on a drinking binge before Christmas and leaves the family with no money to celebrate (150-151), Alexie is showing that from a young age Arnold is surrounded by the negative effects of alcohol. His characterization of Arnold’s father as an alcoholic, as well as several other of his friends, shows the prevalence of alcoholism on the reservation. Although Arnold is surrounded by people who abuse alcohol in his home, the negative experiences he associates with alcohol shape his beliefs around the topic and lead him to reject the pattern of alcoholism. After Arnold’s grandmother, dad’s best friend, and sister, die due to alcohol, he makes a pledge that he will never drink in his life, “… I knew that I was never going to drink … and ... I was going to have a better life out there in the white world,” (Alexie 217). Alexie uses this characterization to show that home is essential in shaping one’s identity. If Arnold had not been affected so negatively and had not felt such tremendous pain due to the effects of alcohol, he might not have put such a large emphasis on sobriety. His home gives Arnold the experience and perspective needed to decide how he wants to live his own life. Additionally, Alexie mentions “in the white world,” to imply that Arnold

When Jeanette’s father makes up excuses for not working and her mother refuses to go to work (145, 207), Walls characterizes them as lazy. From a young age, the primary message Jeanette gets from her parents is that working for something better that what one has is just too hard. Instead of following the example that is set for her in her home, this experience leads her to work hard. Given her miserable life due to the lack of motivation displayed by her parents, she realizes that she never wants to be the same way, “… I swore to myself that it [my life] would never be like Mom’s, that I would not be crying my eyes out in an unheated shack in some godforsaken holler,” (Walls 208). Through this declaration, Walls is able to show that Jeannette does not agree with the apathy and laziness that is taught in her home. Rather, she has higher expectations for herself that she hopes she can and will achieve. In order to further emphasize the contrast between the work ethic of Jeanette’s parents and her own, Walls characterizes Jeanette as hard working, “‘You never had much going for you except that you always worked hard,’” (270). This trait reiterates the concept that what’s taught in one’s home shapes who they are. In this case, Jeanette rejects the cycle of laziness in a similar way to Arnold’s