In the bustling streets of New York City, nearly 100,000 individuals struggle with homelessness, their stories often overlooked amidst the city's vibrant chaos. Walls’ memoir offers a moving exploration of both the experience of being homeless and the shame associated with it. While she graduated with honors from Columbia's sister academy, Barnard, nobody knew that her childhood was filled with emotional abuse, neglect, and homelessness. With courage and honesty, Walls confronts her past and shares her inspiring journey with her dazzling memoir, The Glass Castle. Jeannette Walls’ memoir The Glass Castle contains sensitive topics, and while the book itself is a work of art, it can leave readers confused at the gap between the summary and the …show more content…
Because of this, it should be removed from the list of memoirs available. Jeannette Walls had faced many adversities in her childhood from abuse, neglect, and violence; the most dramatic instance is when Walls’ uncle Stanley exposed himself and began to pleasure himself while groping his niece. Walls attempted to tell a trusted adult only to be met with the response that, “‘He’s so lonely.’...sexual assault was a crime of perception” which perpetuates unhealthy mindsets toward sexual assault onto young impressionable minds(183). High school students may not yet have the emotional maturity to process and understand such content in a constructive manner. The themes may be too intense and distressing for younger readers, which can cause discomfort or trigger traumatic experiences. By the time the reader realizes what the book has in store for them, it might be too late to change their choice of memoir. Though it can cause uncomfortable discussions about its content, The Glass Castle offers valuable insights into resilience and overcoming adversity, as well as the effect of a