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The Glass Castle By Jeannette Walls Sparknotes

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Alcoholism—a chronic but prevalent disease associated with the inability to control drinking desires, resulting in psychological reliance and compulsive behavior. The Glass Castle, a memoir written by Jeannette Walls, follows her and her family living a nomadic lifestyle, encountering new situations every day, showcasing daily complex tensions that arise from the environment and through the family’s relationship with one another. From the 1960s to the early 2000s, Jeannette and her three siblings grew up without a permanent residence under their parent’s choices as little to no income came into the residence, the parents being too self-absorbed in their own problems and lives. For one, Rex Walls is a father and husband who sees himself as independent …show more content…

His wife and mother of the Walls children, Rosemary, is no more than Rex as she is also self-absorbed by her passion for painting and receives little income from teaching for a short period in the novel. Throughout the novel, Jeannette utilizes her life’s journey to highlight how living a nomadic, unstable lifestyle creates tension that increases with the man of the household using alcohol as temporary relief, risking negative impacts on the family’s financial stability when in poverty, relationship strains, along with the value of a parent figure decreasing and becoming less reliable towards innocent children. Being the most intelligent in the world does not signify that a person will be the most successful. Rex Walls is an intelligent dreamer who hopes to break out of the poverty he resides in, which rarely ever ends up in success but rather with him disappearing for days and finding temporary relief in

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The memoir, “The Glass Castle”, written by Jeannette Walls, is a novel filled with hardships and obstacles faced by the author and her dysfunctional family. Living with her depressed mother who weeps and sobs about her struggles in her teaching job, her alcoholic gambling father who, on a daily basis, would not arrive home, and her two sisters, Lori and Maureen and brother, Brian. Though their constant moving and chasing from the debt collectors, one person who has affected Walls life would have to be her father, Rex Walls. Although his constant gambling and consistent job loss, he has become a significant figure in Walls life. He has shown her the problems of alcoholism, the struggles, and corruptions of the world, and especially allowed

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However, as Jeannette grew older, her opinion of her father changed dramatically. Jeannette became aware of the horrid, alcoholic monster that was her father’s true identity. It was the way the author wrote about this topic that persuades the reader to blame all of the Walls’ problems on the father, Rex Walls. Jeannette listened and believed every word her father said to her. For example, on page 17, “Don’t you worry,’ dad said.

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On Jeannette Walls’ memoir book “The Glass Castle”, the story of a young girl is told and it inspires readers who can relate to her life decisions. The novel was published on March 2005, the story can inspire readers to take new courses of action and help them transform and evolve as an individual even though their background is unfavorable. This story demonstrates how dreams should not be held back because of their past. At the beginning of the novel Jannette is a young girl who lives with her three siblings and her dysfunctional parents, who ignore their responsibilities, and later becomes a successful woman.

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The Glass Castle: A Summary In The Glass Castle: A Memoir, author Jeannette Walls belongs to a family that is constantly picking up and moving. Walls learned a lot from her dysfunctional family and used their example to motivate herself, ultimately leading to success and happiness in her adult life. Some of the greatest lessons came from Walls’ alcoholic father, as he taught her who to be and demonstrated at times who not to be. Originally, Walls remembers living in the desert as her father tried to make a fortune developing a product to find gold.

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How did you grow up? Did you sit with them at the dinner table, talking, laughing, eating supper and getting closer? The picture you formed in your head, throw it all away because the Wall family was completely the opposite of it. Their family was a fairly large one, with two parents and four children, you d think that they d have the money to properly support them, but thats far from the case. The money is spent on beer rather than food.

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The Glass Castle, a memoir by Jeanette Walls, follows the Walls’ family through their difficult and constantly evolving journey through life. They are always on the move and have a lot going on. Rex’s difficulty finding a stable job is also a major factor in why they keep moving around. Rex Walls’ has many unique characteristics. He has some brilliant, dysfunctional, and destructive qualities that can reveal some of his underlying issues.

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The story of Jeannette Walls begins one cold March evening when she comes across a homeless woman, which is then revealed to be her mother. It is there that her troubled past comes into light in, “The Glass Castle”. But through her disastrous childhood and dysfunctional family, she manages to turn it around and by education, expectation, and most of all environment, Jeannette grew from her experiences and came out successful and stronger than ever. Young jeannette never doubted her father’s stories and ambitions , staying faithful to him, though as she becomes older and more mature she begins to questions his true purposes and honesty.

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At the home on 93 Little Hobart Street, in Welch West Virginia lives a family consisting of Rose Mary and Rex Walls and their four children. Before speaking to the children the appearance of their home noticeably stands out. The roof was caving in particularly in the kitchen and the bedrooms, there was no plumbing or electricity, and the house appeared to be fragile, as if it could fall over at any given time. One of the children, 13 year old Jeannette Walls, elaborated on these issues. She simply said her father never repaired the ceiling

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Rose Mary Walls, their mom, is the best choice to take care of all the kids. Although Rex would be able to teach the kids life skills, it is important they learn academic skills which their mom can do since she is a teacher. “Mom read everything: Charles Dickens, William Faulkner, Henry Miller, Pearl Buck. She even read James Michener—apologetically—saying she knew it wasn't great literature, but she

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The Glass Castle: Perseverance When it comes to parenting, many adults cannot see past the wrongs of their guidance. In the memoir The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, the topic of parenting is at the core of the book. The book takes place in 1960s - 1970s America, with the main character being the Author of the book. Jeannette Walls directly experienced everything in this book. She moved from state to state, and from town to town.

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I found The Glass Castle to be a very eye-opening read for me, since it follows the Wall's kids throughout their struggles and growing up beside them. The walls, the kids never lost hope, which was something that really caught my attention throughout this memoir. Growing up as a Wall kid was a challenge at times, but it made the kids who they are today. This idea challenged the kids to be resilient through all the tough times, however, I do think that there were some negatives to growing up, no matter what they did.

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The Glass Castle is about four children and their mom and dad, who struggle to get by. They go from day to day with little food and barely a roof over their heads. In this book, it shows how children overcome little guidance and abusive parents while growing up. Jaennette introduces us to her father in the beginning of the book, Rex Walls. He is a father who can't provide for his family because he can't keep a job and focuses more on himself than his children or wife.

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In The Glass Castle, Walls portrays the effects of poverty and neglect on mental health by showing us the ways depression lives in the lives of her and her family members. Rosemary Walls, Jeannette’s mother, is a character who experiences depression throughout the book. Her depression is shown in the lack of motivation to provide for her children, her tendency to isolate herself from her family, and her reliance

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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.

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Natalia Wdowiak Ms. Branda American Literature 12, April, 2024 -. Effects of Alcoholism in Families Have you ever wondered how a family’s dysfunction could spark determination and resilience in its children? In the novel The Glass Castle, the author, Jeanette Walls, writes about her experience growing up in a dysfunctional household consumed by parental alcoholism, neglect, and poverty. The family constantly moves due to their father, Rex Wall’s inability to keep a job.

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