The Glass Castle, By Jeannette Walls

“If you don't want to sink, you better figure out how to swim.”(Walls 41)This is what the protagonist had to do for everything in her life. If she wanted to live a good life she had to be independent and figure everything out on her own without any help.The memoir The Glass Castle is based on a true story that happened to Jeannette Walls beginning in the 1960s. The memoir depicts Jeanette's life, which was faced with constant change. Her parents were not the most suitable parents as they did not seem to put their children first in their life. Jeanette had no choice but to mature fast and help take care of her siblings. As she got older, she learned to put herself first and became successful on her own. In The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls

As a child nothing in Jeanette's life seemed to be constant, between switching towns or switching between going or not going to school. Jeanette never knew what events were to happen next in her life as she “lived in a world that at any moment could erupt into fire.” (Walls 34) Majority of children live a life where everyday is a routine, but Jeanette never had that with her life being so unpredictable.Jeanette and her siblings did not even get to go to school most of the time and would be forced to stay at home only being taught math and English by their parents. Jeanette was never able to have friends growing up, which made her life difficult because it never felt like she fully had anyone by her side. She did not have parents who really cared for her when she was younger, so she always had to make the best of a bad situation. Jeanette feels her childhood turned out the way it did because of how she was raised. She feels that “No child is born a delinquent. They only became that way if nobody loved them when they were kids.” (Walls 83). The memoir starts

Once she moved away from her parents she was able to finish out high school and even was able to put herself through college. She worked many jobs, one being an editor where she was able to make good money and figure out that is her main interest.But, their mother and father eventually found their way to New York City and made things difficult once again. But this did not change much for Jeanette as she was still able to thrive in the city. But all the constant change in Jeanette's life is what led her to be exactly where she should be. “Sometimes you need a little crisis to get your adrenaline flowing and help you realize your potential.”(Walls 254) Change is natural for the family so once Jeanette is grown she is used to the change. Therefore there is no point in dwelling on the past when instead she can move on with her life “Once you'd resolved to go, there was nothing to it at all.”(Walls 225) With all the change in her life Jeanette still ended up good. She was able to be successful and marry a man who was nothing like her father. But a year after her father died she ended up divorcing him and marrying a different guy. Her second husband's name is John who is her true love and she is able to live the life she had always deserved with him in their perfect