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Book Report On The Glass Castle By Jeannette Walls

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A Struggling Family With Successful Futures
Bill Gates once said, “If you're born poor, it's not your mistake. But if you die poor its your mistake.” In the novel The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls the Walls children learn many things that lead them to a successful future. This novel is about a very poor family that includes Rex, and Rosemary the father and mother of Lori, Jeannette, Brian, and Maureen Walls. Rex and Rosemary are very irresponsible and don't like having jobs. Because of this they become very poor either because their parents don't like their job so they quit or they get fired. As a result of this the Walls children have to go through many hard things due to their poverty but in doing so they learn many things that help them later on in life. This novel …show more content…

Once in Battle Mountain, Rex lost his job, and they ran out of money quickly. After that, they decided they were going to have to eat a lot less, and Jeannette states how “We did eat less. Once we lost our credit at the commissary” (Walls 67). This shows us how Jeannette and her family struggled with poverty, because they had no money at the commissary to buy food. Jeannette and her family would have to find their own ways to get food because they were all hungry but had no money to buy any. Jeannette talks about how “During recess at school, I’d slip back into the classroom and find something in some other kids lunch bag that wouldn't be missed” (Walls 68). This shows that Jeannette was very hungry and then she started taking food from the other kids in her class. It also shows us how as she grew up she struggled with poverty even when she was at school. Jeannette learns how resourceful she can be and later in her life this helps her in her success. Jeannette ends up moving to New York with her sister Lori, Jeannette was able to find a job on her own and later her own place, showing she is very resourceful and can do things on her

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The novel, The Glass Castle, shows how the Walls family lived without welfare. Both Rosemary and Rex refused to take charity or government aid despite the children and others pleading them to take it. Rosemary objected to conforming to what the society thought was best. Rex argued that his sporadic income was enough to keep the family afloat. However, the children begged their parents to accept other 's help to ease the financial burden on all of them.

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Jeannette Walls is walking the streets of New York City when she sees her homeless mother digging in the dumpster. Filled with shame, Jeannette rushes home and begins reflecting upon her childhood and how her parents’ choices have affected her. Throughout her childhood, Jeannette is determined to create for herself a successful life. In her memoir, The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls narrates the story of her triumphant success against all odds, and her unconditional love for her family despite their apparent flaws.

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I think that when Jeannette considers the possibility that Erma is also abusing her father, she begins to understand why Daddy behaves like this, why he drinks; why he hardly wanted to come back to Welch; and, perhaps most importantly, why he does not want to stand on their side, or even listen to what happened to Brian. Dad's reaction to Brian's experience shows that he has never been able to come to terms with any childhood trauma he survived. All this situation with Erma and Brian, in my opinion, influenced the girl's further life. After most of the events that met the heroine came the moment that was the most difficult for her and when in my opinion she took the most important decisions in her life. It all began with an argument with Rose Mary, or her mother who was seeking an excuse not to go to work after an argument and after mentioning the unpleasant words Rose Mary told everyone about Rex who was very unhappy with this situation, then the action that no one would have done

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A balance between a enriching intellectual environment and comfortable living conditions is what all families, especially parents want. This is a constant struggle in the Glass Castle because of the Walls poor living condition, but eagerness to explore and adventure the world. Rex and Rosemary Walls, parents of Lori, Jeannette, Brian, and Maureen, obviously take an exploratory and learning environment over a comforting living space. Although living in rough conditions, which leads to bullying, poverty, I believe that it was more important that the Walls created circumstances for most of the children to explore and enjoy learning. Jeannette Walls, the author and the narrator throughout the book, tells a story about her life from when she was

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