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Poverty In The Glass Castle

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In The Glass Castle, Jeannette overcame the obstacles with her parents, poverty, and getting bullied. First, Jeannette moved to the city because she needed to take matters into her own hands. Jeannette could not handle "[moving] around like [a] [nomad]" (Walls, 19) any longer, so she bought a one way ticket to New York City. Jeannette was relieved that she had a chance to start new and get away from the instability of her past. Not only did Jeannette want to get away from her parents, but her siblings did too. Jeannette wanted Brian to live with her and Lori but she was afraid he was "more of a country boy than a city kid" (249). Throughout Brian's whole life, his parents isolated him from everything which led to a difficult transaction to …show more content…

Jeannette freed her siblings and herself from being held back from the real world. Apparently, Jeannette needed a huge break from her parents to succeed in her future. Second, Jeannette lived in poverty for all of her childhood due to inapt parenting skills. When Rosemary went away, she left her children with "no food, no coal, [and] no plumbing" (273). Jeannette figured out a budget plan and provided for her siblings. Jeannette would do anything in her power to take care of her siblings even if it meant, "[stuffing] [food] into [her] purse" (173). With the conditions Jeannette was given, it would be difficult for her to keep her siblings from starving. Jeannette gave Lori her golden ticket out of Welch so she could "become the person she was meant to be" (223). Lori was a bright child with a fulfilling life ahead of her and Jeannette could see that. In every situation, Jeannette put everyone before herself. Patently, Jeannette had a mindset to give Brian and Lori a chance to prosper in life. Third, Jeannette overcame one of her bullies when she saved a poor black boy from a dog attack. Jeannette had been harassed by Erma, jumped by Mexican girls, and bombarded by Ernie …show more content…

First, Bayard Kelby's way of mourning his wife's death was digging a hole and singing songs. Bayard Kelby was devastated when his wife was burned to death and he could not do anything about it. Before Ma passed away, her dream was to have a pond of her own. Bayard's way of finding comfort was to "[dig] his own grave" (Hesse, 196) because that was what his wife wanted. With all the sorrow in Kolby's heart he sang "like an engine chocked with dust" (108) to relieve his pain. Clearly, Bayard was extremely emotional, so he dug a hole and sang to get over his wife's death. Second, Billy Joe left on a train and came back to further understand her father. When Billy Joe saw her father as she entered the station, she had begun to "[forgive] him, step by step" (207). They grew closer together as Billy Joe knew that she could not be her "own mother... and [her] own father" (206) at the time. When Billy Joe was on the train she was "lonelier than the wind" (205) and all she wanted was to go home to her Daddy. Bayard was beginning to understand his daughter further after the hardship of Ma. Billy Joe did not want her father to be "out of the dust" (209) because he was the only family she had left. Billy Joe was thrilled to finally have a normal relationship with her father after she forgave him

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Jeannette 's relationship with her siblings is a kind and close relationship. For example, when they lived in Phoenix she was always did everything with Brain. While with lori they were sort of distant from each other, but after Lori got her glasses they seemed to do a lot of things together. Also, when they were in Welch they played in the forest toghther and help when they needed it. This is seen when Lori starts to plan to go to new york, and they all start to save up so she can go.

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In the past, Regina and all of her siblings showed great skill in presenting as if everything was fine in the home. But after the beating, Regina has had enough. She admits that her mother is an unstable parent and frequently abusive to all of them. The younger children are forced into one foster home, and Camille and Regina move into a house managed by an Addie and Peter.

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She becomes friends with a white girl, Radine, and teaches her baton-twirling, but Jeanne remains better. However, she doesn’t get the same opportunities. She is not even let into the Girl Scouts, a simple and everyday thing. “‘Gee, Jeannie, no. I’m really sorry.’

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As Jeannette matures her connection with her parents, particularly her father begins to diminish. Jeannette didn’t grasp that the way her parents raised them or viewed the world wasn’t normal and as she got older she recognized how selfish her parents were. Jeannette was constantly close with her father, and always showed compassion for him, but when they relocated to Welch it appeared as if her father had changed. Jeannette eventually obtained work and began to save up money so she and her siblings could survive, but her father didn’t approve and eventually sabotaged that plan. Eventually, Rex went to Jeannette and requested money from her, he did promise to pay her back.

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While some of these skills may have been a little too out of control and could have been harmful for their children at times, some of these skills helped them become more independent and self reliant people. Without the rough childhood that Jeannette went through, who knows if she would have been able to become the successful person that she is

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The poverty cycle affects many American families, it is the phenomenon in which poor families are poverty-stricken for at least three generations. In Jeannette Walls’ memoir, The Glass Castle, Jeannette and her siblings break that cycle. It is a story of triumph over adversity as Jeannette did not let the label of “poor” create an obstacle in her path. It did not come easy, as her parents obscured her view of what life out of poverty could look like. Although the weight of poverty strayed her relationship with her parents, it was all she knew, due to hard work and determination she defied the odds stacked against her and broke loose.

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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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After graduating middle school her friend lost touch with her and eventually left her life for good: “By the time she got to Welch High Dinitia changed.” Jeannette was also sexually harassed by one of her friends in Phoenix while playing hide-and-seek: “Billy smushed his face against mine… ‘Guess what?’Billy shouted. ‘I raped you’” Lastly, while going to school in Phoenix Jeannette was bullied for being smart and skinny: “The other students didn’t like me much because I was so tall and pale and skinny and always raised my hand too fast… A few days after I started school, four Mexican girls followed me home and jumped me in an alleyway…”

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The Glass Castle Argumentative Essay The memoir, The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, is an inspirational, eye opening, and a giggling type of story. Although there are some problems in this story that she encounters in her early years, she uses these problems to better herself for what may lay ahead of her. I am writing about what I think of her parents, Rex and Rose Mary Walls, and if they are acceptable parents, or inadequate parents to Jeannette and her siblings Lori, Brian, and Maureen. I, however, do not agree that Rex and Rose Mary Walls are acceptable parents.

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Mallard processes her husband's death and the theme of death. Once Mrs. Mallard learns of the passing of Mr. Mallard, she has a brief period of indescribable grief. She soon realizes the benefits of her husband passing and she is feeling conflicted. She has an internal debate thinking that she should be grieving and upset but she is actually finding the benefits and positives of it. Chopin writes, “And yet she had loved him - sometimes.

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While Jeannette was a junior in high school she became aware of the fact she had to get out of Welch and away from her parents. “ All through the long walk, the pain had kept me thinking, and by the time i reached the tree trunk, i had made two decisions. The first was that id had my first and last whipping. No one was ever going to do that to me again. The second was that, like Lori, I was going to get out of welch.

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The story begins with Mrs. Mallard getting the news that her husband had died in a terrible train accident. At first Mrs. Mallard was racked with grief for the loss of her husband. As the story progresses, Mrs. Mallard says, “There was something coming to her and she was waiting for it, fearfully. What was it? She did not know.”

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“Life is a drama full of tragedy and comedy. You should learn to enjoy the comic episodes a little more.” The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls has very important life lessons that will teach you to laugh at your tragedies sometimes. The most important lessons are that struggle makes you unique, you either sink or swim, and sometimes crisis makes you realize your potential. In the memoir, you will learn these and accept them.

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When Jeannette tells her mother: “I was too ashamed, Mom. I hid.” (page 5) she means this in two different ways. One being because she is ashamed to say her parents are homeless while she is not. Another is because she realizes that she felt this way during her childhood because there was a way they could have prevented it, but they chose not to.

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