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Growing Up In The Glass Castle: A Mother's Childhood

650 Words3 Pages

Growing up is a difficult and varied time for us all. People’s formative years are very influential to what kind of adults they become. However, for some there are more tribulations than others. In the memoir, The Glass Castle, Jeanette Walls, the author, was most influenced by her second time in Phoenix, as indicated by how she describes her family interactions and gains independence. Jeannette’s view on her father has drastically changed over the course of their time in Phoenix. It all began when Rex was fired from his job in the electricians union. He began going to the bar nearly every night and getting drunk, and soon he was incredibly dependent on alcohol. By the time Christmas came around he was still a terrible drinker. They planned out one of the best Christmas celebrations they would ever have, but in Rex’s drunken stupor he set fire to the tree, subsequently burning all of their presents as well. This leads up to Jeannette’s tenth birthday. Rex asks her what she would want out of anything in the world. Nervous at first, she squeaks out “Do you think you could maybe stop drinking?” (Walls 116). Rex responds in a shocked manner and decides to take time to himself to think. He returns and has decided to tie himself up and get sober. Rex is restrained to his bed for nearly a week while suffering from the intense symptoms of withdrawal. Finally, when his normal self seems to have returned …show more content…

Learning that she could provide for herself and that she didn’t need the help of her drunken father freed her from starving and suffering. Rex’s actions have clearly made Jeannette and the rest of the family lose most of their remaining faith in him. As a result of their new outlook on their lives and father they even make the intelligent decision to move on from their current scenario in Arizona and look for better opportunities and a more fortuitous

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The Glass Castle Parenting Style Analysis

937 Words | 4 Pages

In the memoir, The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, the Walls family is considered homeless and they are constantly moving from place to place. They constantly find themselves either with a somewhat decent amount of money or at times, no money at all. Jeannette, being one of four children always follows along with and listens to her parents and eventually notices that their family does things very differently than most other families. As Jeannette explains her childhood and how she is being raised by her parents, it is clear to see how different Rex and Rosemary’s parenting style is compared to the parenting style of other parents. Since their parenting style is so different, it seems that it affects their children in a negative way throughout their childhood, but in the end it makes Jeannette become a better and more successful person.

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Alcoholism In The Glass Castle By Jeanette Walls

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And without the capability to assess future risks and repercussions of a decision, Rex almost kills his wife in the process. Struggling to cope with their father’s rages and without a means to restrain him, Jeanette’s family is forced to face Rex’s violent

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The Struggle In The Glass Castle By Jeannette Walls

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In this world, there’s learning things the hard way and the easy way; in Jeannette Wall’s world, there’s only learning things the hard way. The Glass Castle is an adventurous story that reveals the painfully miserable story of Jeannette Walls. A selfish mother, a careless father, and terrible social encounters- these are some of the elements of a harsh reality Rex and Rose Mary Walls failed to shield their children from. Growing up poor was already difficult, but growing up with a selfish parent, specifically an unfeeling mom, made life hell for the Walls children. The family barely had one source of income from Rex Walls, and instead of helping out with the family’s finance issues, Rose Mary spent her days at home painting.

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Child Neglect In The Glass Castle

1548 Words | 7 Pages

In both Kaye Gibbon’s Ellen Foster and Jeannette Walls's The Glass Castle the protagonists have to endure life growing up with minimal support from their parents or guardians. Both explore the difficulties they have to face growing up alone and how they overcome it. Child neglect forces children to learn and do things themselves. This level of independence at such a young age causes them to become more responsible than their peers and gives them determination to be different from their parents and learn from their own and their parents mistakes. When parents are absent from a majority of the childs life means that the child needs to provide their basic needs for him or herself.

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The Glass Castle Theme Essay

675 Words | 3 Pages

In The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, it tells about how the Walls family move to different desert towns, settling in for as long as their father, Rex, can hold a job. However, his perspective of the state and society, and his alcoholism led them to move frequently. The children - Lori, Jeannette, Brian, and little Maureen- experiences unusual childhood, where they travel like nomads to find new money source. This lead to the theme, sometimes you can be mature and responsible at a very young age. The theme is developed by how Jeannette learns how to take care of herself and her younger siblings, and the way her parent taught her.

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Parental Influence In The Glass Castle

1956 Words | 8 Pages

He conveys that Jeanette can become triumphant over anything she puts her mind to; as long as she is confident, she can overcome any obstacle in life. In a similar way, when the Walls go to the Hot Pot to swim, although her siblings know how, Jeanette does not know how to swim. In an attempt to teach her, Rex heaves her into the middle by herself, only saving her when she starts to sink. He continues to throw her out into the water repeatedly, saying, “you can’t cling to the side your whole life; one lesson every parent needs to teach a child is ‘if you don’t want to sink, you better figure out how to swim’” (66). Using another metaphor for a life lesson, Rex ensures that Jeanette understands that no one will do everything for her in life, and if she does not learn how to take care of herself, she will never survive in the world by herself.

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The Glass Castle Book Report

515 Words | 3 Pages

In “ The glass Castle” by Jeannette Walls, Jeannette was the main support in the Walls home. Growing up in a household where her father was an alcoholic and a childish mother, she finds a way to leave the nest with her siblings and become a successful adult. Initially, Jeannette was soft spoken and mature for her age, however over the course the course of the novel she spoke her mind and became successful and independent. In the beginning of the book, Jeannette was well behaved and acted mature for a three year old.

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The Glass Castle Symbolism

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As a child, Jeannette Walls moves around constantly with her family. The Walls family would move to different desert towns and settle as long as Mr. Walls can hold a job. When sober, Mr. Walls represents a charismatic father who loves his children and teaches them important life skills. He encourages imagination inside of the Walls kids and often captures their dream and creativity. Together, the family had planned to build a glass castle that contains all of the family’s hope and inspiration.

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Parenting Style In Jeannette's The Glass Castle

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Witnessing my father chasing down my mother because of a pointless argument of my parents not caring about my siblings and I where abouts would be devastating to say the least. In The Glass Castle Jeannette and her siblings chose to appreciate the small things as they got older because they were not given materialistic items or a hot meal when they could afford it. Their mother made poor financial decisions and hardly ever put the kids first. For example, the mom chose to rent a piano over buying Brian a pair of male jeans. He had to suffer wearing girl clothes that did not even fit.

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Child Abuse In The Glass Castle

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Child abuse is the maltreatment of a minor, and it can come in many different forms. The most common forms of abuse are physical, neglect, or sexual molestation. In The Glass Castle, all of these forms of abuse become more pronounced as the story line progresses. As Jeannette Walls grows from girl to woman, most of her abuse stems from her alcoholic father and her selfish mother. The abuse Jeannette faces as an adolescent, shapes a woman later affected by her events, that are created by her parents' selfishness.

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Jeannette Walls: The Symbolism Of The Glass Castle

1118 Words | 5 Pages

Jeannette Walls also uses the symbol of the Glass Castle, which develops throughout the memoir to show how she slowly loses trust in her father as she realises that she can not depend upon him or anyone else for happiness. The symbolism evolves throughout the memoir as Walls evolves as a person. In the beginning of the memoir, her description of the Glass Castle is naive and hopeful. Her naivety is most apparent when Walls writes, “All of Dad’s engineering skills and mathematical genius were coming together in one special project: a great big house he was going to build for us in the desert… All we had to do was find gold, Dad said, and we were on the verge of that.

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Character Analysis: The Glass Castle By Jeannette Walls

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Nicholas Sparks once said, “I don’t know that love changes. People change. Circumstances change.” In the memoir, The Glass Castle author Jeannette Walls shows how her father Rex Walls changes with everything thrown at him as a father or four. In the beginning of being a parent Rex shares his intelligence with his children.

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The Importance Of Neglect In The Glass Castle

1320 Words | 6 Pages

Jeannette described that this experience made her feel used by her father and gave her a sense of self-worthlessness. Rex knew that Jeannette had a soft spot for him and he took advantage of this. Jeannette has a psychological scar from this for the rest of her life, and it produced long-term effects of distrust and diminished self-worth. As a child she had been through more than most adults, and in one case she even wakes up in the middle of the night with a child molester in her bed. “One night when I was almost ten, I was awakened by someone running his hands over my private parts” (Walls 103).

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611 Words | 3 Pages

In The Glass Castle Jeannette Walls faces harsh stuff through her childhood because of her parents. In the beginning of the book she finds her mother digging through trash. She feels embarrassed, so she turns around and goes home without saying hello. Jeanette then calls her mother and asks to have dinner with her. She offers her mother help because she feels guilty, but her mother rejects her help.

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Social Work System In The Glass Castle

849 Words | 4 Pages

It is evident that her childhood may have impacted her in a more severe psychological way. The book The Glass Castle is a very interesting narrative. The author Jeanette Walls is able to bring new light to circumstances that many people choose to ignore or overlook by writing about her own childhood. This gives the book a new perspective and allows the reader to gain insight.

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