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Summary: The Glass Castle

1452 Words6 Pages

Donville W. Robinson
High Tech High School
Summer Reading for Freshman/English
9 September 2015 What is Most Important to Children? Are children willing to seek complete freedom from society’s rules? Or do they seek the comfort and security that comes from a normal life? From the child’s point of view, the world will always be in their favor, no matter what path they choose. On the other hand, you can see where they struggle in making decisions. After all, they are just children. The Glass Castle, the parents of the Walls family, Rex Walls and Rose Mary Walls, gave their children Jeannette, Lori, Brian, and Maureen pretty much complete freedom to make their own choices. Both parents disagreed with the majority of society’s rules, …show more content…

She wouldn’t have learned all of the things she learned if she didn’t experience them herself. Most of all, she gained the heart to go to school and get a job because she was able to see with her own eyes what she wanted to be, instead of being guided and told what to do with her life. If she was, then she wouldn't have gained this passion to want to succeed since she would have been put in a mindset where everything in life is handed to her. Even though Jeannette was put in a very dangerous position with Billy, without fully experiencing the consequences of being with a predator, she could have later on been put in the same situation, but since she never got to see how much damage an attacker can cause, she would have become a victim. So many young women today are becoming victims because they never learn how serious situations like this can …show more content…

She was beautiful young lady, which helped her fit in with other children’s families. She was pretty much always with these families, who provided her with food, shelter, and comfort. As a result of this, she never really got experience certain events because she was constantly living in a state of security. She had always relied on others to get by, which really hurt her in the long run. Towards the end of the memoir, when her family moved to New York for a better chance at life, Maureen fell victim to distraction. After graduating high school, she applied for college, but while instead of succeeding, she never really applied herself. She ended up living with her homeless parents, and even though she picked up small jobs here and there, they never really lasted. She started smoking and ended up stabbing her own mother and going to jail. You can say all of this happened because she never had to pick up her own weight, so when it came time for her to get out into the world for herself, she crumbled. If she had the freedom to make her own choices and fend for herself from a young age, then she would have learned wrong from right early on while she still had

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In “The Glass Castle” by Jeannette Walls, she shows moments of her life to explain the truth of her life and how she and her siblings fought through the hardships and persevered. One moment in the book that shows this is when their parents are away from Welch and Lori slaps Erma back after Erma molests Brian when Jeannette explains, “Lori heard the commotion and came running… Erma reached over to slap me, but Lori caught her hand… Erma jerked her hand out of Lori’s grasp and slapped her so hard that Lori’s glasses went flying across the room. Lori, who had just turned 13, slapped her back” (Walls 146-147).

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In the Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, Walls calls back on memories and realizes her father Rex Walls was a huge reason why they were so poor. Throughout the book, Walls recalls the times they had money that could help them escape the prison of poverty. Her father Rex Walls as portrayed in the book was a smart man, but selfish and worried about his own desires, and he could never leave the bars for long. Which led Rex to take the money for himself and escape the bitter taste of reality he lives in. As Jeannette Walls portrays, Rex Walls had a problem that left him to ignore his responsibilities, and forced his own children to take them up for him.

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The Glass Castle: Controversial Topics. The Glass Castle is a 2005 book by Jeannette Walls. The memoir explains the author’s life, growing up with her family most especially with her parents who could be described as nomads and deadbeats. Notwithstanding the difficult upbringing, her siblings and she had, Jeannette perseveres and becomes a successful Journalist living in New York City.

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Many people live by a specific motto. It is their guide through life, and usually affects their life’s future direction. In The Glass Castle, By Jeannette Walls, the grandmother, Lily Walls’s motto of “push and pray” is the driving force that determines the direction of her future. She pushes and prays throughout the book, but can most prominently be seen when she ties to push back against her father, is working hard to publish her school newspaper, and spends all her effort to raise enough money to move to New York. Jeannette pushes and prays very hard to push back against her father’s detrimental behaviors, creating an extra drive for her to leave the house.

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Throughout the book, she was faced with challenges normal children shouldn’t

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In the excerpt from Jeannette Wall's autobiographical memoir, The Glass Castle, I noticed many strategies that she used while developing her story line. First, I realize that she uses very little humor due to the circumstances that she and her family are going through at the time, however, I did notice one example. This was when Jeannette's mother put mayonnaise in her hair before a school photograph and forgot to wash it out which made her hair more stiff, messy, and tangled than usual. Next, Jeannette uses many details throughout her writing to portray the struggles and hardships that her family is having to deal with, including money issues and her father's drinking problem.

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A balance between a enriching intellectual environment and comfortable living conditions is what all families, especially parents want. This is a constant struggle in the Glass Castle because of the Walls poor living condition, but eagerness to explore and adventure the world. Rex and Rosemary Walls, parents of Lori, Jeannette, Brian, and Maureen, obviously take an exploratory and learning environment over a comforting living space. Although living in rough conditions, which leads to bullying, poverty, I believe that it was more important that the Walls created circumstances for most of the children to explore and enjoy learning. Jeannette Walls, the author and the narrator throughout the book, tells a story about her life from when she was

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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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The Glass Castle: Jeannette Walls- Responsibility Haileigh Williams Upon reading The Glass Castle, written by Jeannette Walls, the reader will quickly notice all of the responsibilities Jeannette; the author and narrator of the novel, takes on throughout her life. The book itself is a memoir of Jeannette’s life that takes place from 1963 to 2005 and takes the reader through the ups and downs of Jeannette’s life in poverty and somewhat neglect. While reading the novel, the reader will be shown situations where they will be shocked and heartbroken. Jeannette’s family isn’t the average family from the south.

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Paul Ryan once said, “Every successful individual knows that his or her achievement depends on a community of persons working together.” Individuals must strive upon excellence based on the society they are placed in. Watching how others react can help one become the best they can be. Throughout The Glass Castle, Jeannette is exposed to society by her parents. Her parents, Rex and Rose Mary, see society in different means than how others perceive it.

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Famous entrepreneur and animator, Walt Disney, once said and lived by the following: “I don’t believe in playing down to children. Life is composed of lights and shadows, and we would be untruthful, insincere, and saccharine if we tried to pretend there were no shadows.” Similarly, Jeannette Walls’ memoir, The Glass Castle, expresses how individuals face the world and such experiences on their own, gaining wisdom, despite their age and an apathetic support system. Facing multiple adverse conditions, Rex and Rose Walls kept their family from amassing happiness, substantial wealth-- wasted in alcoholism, and precious time--in attempts to achieve personal goals that put their children’s successes aside. Yet however, the Walls parents never “treated

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“Life’s too short to care about what other people think” (Jeannette Walls). It is good to not care what other people think, so stay true in life and live it to the fullest. The book, The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, is a memoir that tells the story of Jeannette’s difficult family and her poor living conditions, that cause life to be difficult for her. She struggles to move past all the hardships in life and she learns how to overcome the majority of them, so she can develop into her own person. Even though her family can be a little peculiar, they possess a strong bond with each other and they always seek to help one another out.

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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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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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Students these days are shielded from real world issues. There is a misconception that young people are fragile, so reality is sugar coated. The truth is, life can be a test for survival. Jeannette Walls knows this all too well. Walls experienced a far-from-normal childhood with far-from-normal parents.

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