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Jeannette Walls Research Paper

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Throughout her childhood, Jeannette Walls suffers many disturbing events. From being pulled out of the hospital by her dad to being touched inappropriately by a stranger, Walls takes on a lot at a fairly young age. Along with her forager lifestyle, her parents were also negligent and abusive. Because of Walls’ terrible upbringing, it might be anticipated that her future life would be just as terrible. However, it would be absurd to believe that one is the product of their upbringing. It is, in fact, most definitely possible to have a successful life after going through a rough childhood. Phillip Bartlett states, “I see now that the circumstances of one's birth are irrelevant; it is what you do with the gift of life that determines who you are.” …show more content…

When Jeannette was in her junior year she talked to her guidance counselor about going to school in New York alongside her sister Lori. Her guidance counselor tried to convince her to stay in Welch by stating "That would be a terrible mistake. You live here. Think of what you'd miss. Your family and friends. And senior year is the highlight of your entire high school experience. You'd miss Senior Day. You'd miss the senior prom." (pg 150). Although her guidance counselor had a valid point about tuition costs and missing milestones in a student's life, Jeannette could not let herself be a part of this underprivileged world. She knew that Welch could not help advance her education like New York could. She states “Dad,” I said, “as soon as I finish classes, I'm getting on the next bus out of here. If the buses stop running, I'll hitchhike. I'll walk if I have to. Go ahead and build the Glass Castle, but don't do it for me.” (pg 152) Soon after that it was time for Jeannette to make her departure from Welch to New York to attend Barnard College. After attending Barnard and graduating, Walls became a successful

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As a result of this parenting style “We’re going to Phoenix” Walls 89. They didn’t punish Jeannette for shooting Billy they just blew it off and moved to a different state. In the book The Glass Castle Jeannette Walls, the narrator displays her parent's parenting skills as

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943 Words | 4 Pages

Through Wallses story we can see that she had a tough time when she was a child. She is growing up in a family that often lack foods and money. Foods and meals have the most different between Wallses family and the city I lived. The citizens of Garden Grove had the better food than the Wallses

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The abuse from her uncle left emotional scars. Jean does well in high school and qualifies for a scholarship for an elite secondary school. She felt out of place since she couldn't really

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Here, Walls and her father see differently. Walls told her father about this situation so that he could address it, but instead he made up an excuse for what really happened when he was not in the room with his daughter and his acquaintance. Personally, the Walls’ parents are too worried about themselves. Instead of making money to support their kids, the parents spend money on other things like art supplies for the mom, and alcohol for the dad. Like shown in the evidence above, Walls’ parents don’t show much care or worry for specifically Jeannette, but also the other kids.

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1574 Words | 7 Pages

“If you don 't want to sink, you better figure out how to swim” (41). Although Rex Walls was not always an admirable father and role model, he did make an essential point while teaching his daughter, Jeannette, how to swim. In life, not everything comes without resistance. As Jeannette Walls describes throughout her life story, sometimes people are forced to face hardships that make them question their whole life. However, as seen in her book, it is important to learn to take those hardships and use them to shape one’s future for the better.

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937 Words | 4 Pages

Since the Walls family is so poor and homeless it seems that Rex and Rosemary are not always there to give their children the support and comfort that kids need at a young age. Instead of giving love and comfort, they decide to teach their kids how to be tough and how to learn to do things themselves. Unlike most parents, who focus on supporting, caring for their children first, and then teaching them how to live on their own once they get much older. This attentive parenting method is not visible in the Walls’ family. For example, when Jeannette has her accident with fire and explained it to the nurses she gets rather surprised and

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758 Words | 4 Pages

They think they can bend the rules and do what they think is necessary. Jeannette is exposed to these understandings, making her the person she grew up to be. Jeanette demonstrates how she struggles with her family throughout numerous portions of the novel: “The Desert,” “Welch,” New York.” These struggles developed and defined who she came to be.

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1279 Words | 6 Pages

Rose Mary Walls, Jeannette’s mother, clearly showed signs of under parenting when Jeannette writes, “Mom always said people worried too much about their children. Suffering when you’re young is good for you” (Walls 28). Rose Mary Walls is notorious for only caring about herself. The fact that she believes making her children suffer is the most effective way to help them improve strengthen the argument that she is under parenting. While it is good to let babies take one step at a time, throwing them in situations without any guidance and expecting them to succeed is a poor parenting style.

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1030 Words | 5 Pages

Poverty and Mental Health Jeannette Walls’ memoir, The Glass Castle, demonstrates the struggles of mental health issues that generate from poverty through her family’s journeys, both mentally and physically. Jeannette Walls displays how poverty can affect an entire family’s life through her use of realism, in-depth descriptions, and imagery in her memoir, The Glass Castle. The Glass Castle focuses on the tie between mental health issues and poverty through the theme of the lasting effects of poverty. Poverty in Jeannette’s younger years is the cause of the majority of her anxiety, depression, and other mental health issues. The Walls family’s period of time in Phoenix contributed to Jeannette’s mental health issues.

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515 Words | 3 Pages

The sooner the better” ( Walls 221). She realize the way her parents lived was realistic and wanted to live in new york

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The Glass Castle Essay Wesley Murray A3 8/28/16 In Jeannette Walls’s book The Glass Castle, there are many examples of what is called human resilience. No better quote describes human resilience better than, “No matter how much falls on us, we keep plowing ahead.

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However, he spirals into alcoholism; recklessly spending money on liquor rather than on provisions that would help sustain his family. His compulsive spending on alcohol is, unfortunately, a major factor keeping the Walls family in a continuous cycle of impoverishment. As a result, Jeannette Walls is forced into a life of responsibility; having to be the one who looks after her siblings, as well as being the one to regulate what little money the Walls family had; this eventually drives her to head to New

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1134 Words | 5 Pages

Her and her siblings are exposed to unideal living conditions and have to learn to take care of themselves, especially due to the fact that their father, Rex walls seems to suffer from an undiagnosed mental illness. Considering Rex Walls symptoms throughout the memoir are linked to having bipolar disorder, he was unpredictable. Jeannette and her sibling’s ability to be resilient despite their father’s bipolar disorder growing up are perfect examples of Max Lerner’s quote “the turning point in the process of growing up is when you discover the core of strength within you that survives all hurt” and has let them get far in life even with everything they had to

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258 Words | 2 Pages

The walls parents consider themselves to be their kids’ friend rather than a concerned parent. “’ Good for you, Mom said when she saw me cooking. You’ve got to get right back on the saddle”’ (15)… Friends tend to encourage you to do stupid things but in this situation Jeannette’s mother is the one encouraging her to do something not so bright. Rex and Rosemary do not expect their kids to become any greater than they are.

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611 Words | 3 Pages

Jeanette’s childhood was shameful due to her parents careless way of living. Throughout The Glass Castle Jeannette hides her childhood just like she from her mother because she is ashamed of what people might think. Jeannette Walls lived a tough childhood because of her parents. They were always moving around trying to find a place to build a glass castle. They never gave any of their children a set home while they were growing up.

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