In the inspiring 2005 poignant memoir The Glass Castle, written by Jeannette Walls, establishes a mind changing perspective through a tough loving family of four. Jeannette is the second oldest of the 4 children born to Rex Walls, an alcoholic, and Rose Mary Walls, a painter and artist. The book uses the symbol of a Mountain Goat to develop a theme of growing up by overcoming obstacles. Not only that it also displays an endearment that implies a special relationship between Jeannette and her father that the other children could not share with him.
Taylor Grayson English Honors Period 1 Peller Task # 1: The Glass Castle Throughout their lives , every member of the Walls family experienced hardships. Though Jeannette and her three other siblings endured abuse both physically and mentally throughout their childhood, the peculiar ways in which both her mentally unstable parents showed their love and guidance ultimately helped to form these children and shape them into the individuals they are today. While Rex Walls, Jeannette’s alcoholic yet genius father, promised that he would one day create a house for the family made out of glass, his skills in mathematics and science unfortunately were not enough to battle his issues with alcohol and his inability to provide for his family.
What defines a good parent? What defines a bad one? To what point do these terms become subjective? The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls Illustrates the impact that parents have on their children and how nomadic life does as well. The Glass Castle follows Jeanette's experience with nomadism and tells how it shaped who she is and how the members of her family molded her into who she is today.
Many people who read Jeannette Wall’s autobiography The Glass Castle were shook at the Rags-to-Riches story and the stories her childhood in poverty provided. Growing up with neglectful parents, however had the result of three out of four successful adults who once slept in cardboard box beds and used a yellow bucket for a toilet, causing a controversy of how independent should kids really be. The Glass Castle overflows with symbolism, emotion, and tone. However, the tone of her father is particularly peculiar and as the book progresses, the word choice describing her father changes from one of hope and heroism-like traits to slowly seeing Rex Wall’s calamitous characteristics while loving him the entire time. All of Rex’s children looks
Jeannette Walls, successful social figure and journalist, is on her way to a fancy New York City party. Looking out the window of a taxi, she watches a homeless woman dig through trash cans. She realizes sadly that It's her mother. Jeannette realizes this could be her and she tells us the story of how she got to where she is, sitting in a luxury car, while her mother Rose Mary is literally in the gutter.
The author of The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls describes mom and dad fighting. “Once we were on the road, Dad and Mom got in a big fight over how many months she's been pregnant.” (Walls 26) This scene where Dad tries to run over Mom. The glass castle, memoir by Jeannette Walls, is about Jeannette’s childhood living with her dad who is an alcohol addict, mom and siblings.
Parents have a profound influence on shaping their children’s personalities through their attitudes and actions. This is because children spend a substantial portion of their formative years under their parent’s care and guidance. During this period, they observe and interact with their parents, internalizing various behaviors, beliefs, and values that mold their character. This concept is clearly illustrated in the memoir The Glass Castle, by Jeannette Walls. This memoir depicts the author’s unconventional upbringing with their parents, Rex and Rosemary.
In the memoir, The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, Jeannette manages to overcome her obstacles by realizing her independence. She is impacted by her parents’ incapabilities because she realizes that she has to do things differently than other children. Her father was a stubborn alcoholic who believed that: “[they] were all getting too soft, too dependent on creature comforts, and that [they] were losing touch with the natural order of the world”(Walls 106). He believes that every human should be independent and fend for themselves. By using the term “creature comforts”, her father is trying to separate himself from what he calls the civilians.
Everyone has different beliefs when it comes to raising children and what parenting methods lead to the best outcomes. The Glass Castle (1989), a memoir written by a well-known novelist and best-selling author of historical fiction, explores the topic of parenting. The author, Jeannette Walls, writes about her unconventional upbringing in the American West and West Virginia during the 1960’s and 1970’s. The memoir details the Walls family’s frequent moving to avoid bill collectors and their time in casinos, bars, and brothels. Along with the innappropriate places they visit throughout the memoir, the parents continuously showcase their questionable sense of responsibility.
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.
Contrasting Materialism Effects Society revolves around numerous values, and one that makes a significant change in a person is their standpoint on materialism. the way they embrace materialism. In the nonfiction memoir, The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls follows the story of the Walls family who lived a nomadic lifestyle across America from the 1960’s through the 1980’s. On the contrary, the realistic fiction novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald depicts members of the upper class in New York in the 1920’s. There is a drastic difference between the lives of Rex and Rose Mary Walls, who are the parents in the Walls family that chose to live a nomadic lifestyle, and the lives of the rich in New York.
While reading The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, the relationship between Rex and Rose Mary walls and their children became to be very intriguing. Specifically how they raised their kids without holding anything back, an idea reinforced by a famous Walt Disney quote This quote describes how “trying to shield” children ) from reality” wouldn’t “do them any favor.” This idea was enforced by multiple occasions from the book which include letting Jeannette cook by herself at the age of 3, even after getting serious burns from cooking, letting the kids do whatever they wanted as long as they “Used common sense”, and the incident where Rex let Jeannette go upstairs with a stranger because he knew she could defend herself. The first incident revolves around how Jeannette was allowed to cook, even after having serious burns from from cooking. ”She had to get right back on the saddle.”
Everyone has experienced many disadvantages in their lives; getting affected by them is a personal choice. Many don’t believe having a problem brings the best out of a person because who can be jocular when they have a complication in their life? Being delighted by having the obstacle in your path isn’t something a person would do, but what comes after that obstacle gets pushed off is a substantial thing. Slowly but surely, they help you succeed in life and they teach you lessons you never knew you needed. Obstacles are rocky to overcome, but what you do with them is what really counts.
For example, in the novel, The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls and her family lived in poverty their whole lives; even then, Jeannette and her siblings had a hard time with their parents since they were not really there for them. Consequently, Jeannette had a desire that was big enough to get her to become a better person although her life was a disaster, so she set her father’s dream of building a glass castle with him in order to become a successful person far away from home. The effects of this are that once her parents saw she was a successful person despite living in the harshest situations with them while running away from the government at all times, they wanted their daughter to care for them although they had never provided for her or her siblings; as a result, she had denied her parents from ever being with her and ever showing up where she would be due to their differences. To conclude, Jeannette became a successful person in New York while her parents lived the life as they always
Obstacles have two meanings. First one is like a series of objects that stop you from accomplishing your goals. Second one is pretty much mental or physical problems that will also stop you from your goals. Obstacles matter because they don’t just stop you or obligate you to make mistakes; they teach you as well. Obstacles can be used as something good because they teach you lessons.
