Cultural Elements Of Development In The Glass Castle By Jeannette Walls

The Glass Castle provides readers with the life story of a young Jeannette Walls, who grew up in a very poor and dysfunctional family. Her touching story provides individuals with an idea of how she developed from a poor and atypical child into an independent, intelligent, and respected woman. In order to discuss Jeannette’s development one must primarily understand what categorizes as development and what the criteria for development include. Also, it is essential to recognize that development takes time, it will not appear over night. Finally, it is crucial to acknowledge how development occurs. In other words, there are several factors that combine in no specific order, which contribute to one’s development. The elements of development include

Cultural factors are sets of beliefs, values, and guidelines for individuals’ behaviors. These beliefs are often shared and discussed by a certain group of people. These groups of people may be influenced by culture, ethnicity, race, religion, economics, and an individual’s routines. In other words, it is safe to say that not all cultural groups will share the same views on specific beliefs, values, and/or guidelines. For instance, there are many cultural beliefs held in America, which may have affected Jeanette’s development into an independent and intelligent woman. First, as a country and especially as a family we value independence and hard work. Our culture believes in order to survive and be successful in society, one must be independent and self reliant. Also, Americans and our educational system both strongly value the education of individuals ranging from children to adults. Education goes hand in hand with intelligence, which is another major factor we as Americans greatly appreciate. We often believe it is essential for individuals to be well educated and intelligent in order to overcome life barriers and allow for progress as a