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The Glass Castle: How The Walls Family Lived Without Welfare

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The novel, The Glass Castle, shows how the Walls family lived without welfare. Both Rosemary and Rex refused to take charity or government aid despite the children and others pleading them to take it. Rosemary objected to conforming to what the society thought was best. Rex argued that his sporadic income was enough to keep the family afloat. However, the children begged their parents to accept other 's help to ease the financial burden on all of them. Only the children were able to see the benefits to taking the money rather than their parents’ judgemental opinions. Rex and Rosemary didn’t want others to view them differently because they had government aid, but without aid, they are judged just the same.

In The Glass Castle, the Walls family
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In The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls, Rosemary avoids her responsibilities as a parent and member of society by being nonconforming about the expectations she must follow as an adult. When Jeanette explains the new teaching job that Rosemary acquired, she says that her mother “didn't care if her students were late or didn't do their homework” (44). After receiving a job where a primary duty is to instill discipline and working habits, Rosemary instills her personal values that conflict with the general rules of society. This behavior avoids the responsibilities that she agreed to uphold when taking the job of teaching children. The Walls were a very poor family, rarely having enough money for essential items such as food.

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In The Glass Castle, Rex and Rosemary Walls can be categorized as permissive parents. Rex and Rosemary’s parenting style is permissive because they approach their children as more of a friend than a parental figure, they do not discipline their kids, and they have few demands expected from their kids. The Walls parents act more of a friend than a parent to their kids due to their easygoing nature. Rex brushes off Jeanette's complaint regarding Robbie’s inappropriate touching and does not take action as a normal parent should. Rex had the opportunity to punish Robbie for his behavior but decided not to: “I’m sure he just pawed you some, I knew you could handle yourself” (Walls 213).

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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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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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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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Poverty and Mental Health Jeannette Walls’ memoir, The Glass Castle, demonstrates the struggles of mental health issues that generate from poverty through her family’s journeys, both mentally and physically. Jeannette Walls displays how poverty can affect an entire family’s life through her use of realism, in-depth descriptions, and imagery in her memoir, The Glass Castle. The Glass Castle focuses on the tie between mental health issues and poverty through the theme of the lasting effects of poverty. Poverty in Jeannette’s younger years is the cause of the majority of her anxiety, depression, and other mental health issues. The Walls family’s period of time in Phoenix contributed to Jeannette’s mental health issues.

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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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If you were trying to raise a family with very little money, would you be able to provide and care for your children? Well in the story “The Glass Castle” by Jeannette Walls this scenario is happening throughout the entire story. The father Rex Walls grew up in bad conditions and did not want his own children to deal with the things he had to go through. Although Rex Walls is still poor, He still tries his hardest to be a good parent and provide for his family and give them some of the things he never had growing up. Throughout the book we learn alot from Mr Walls that we could incorporate in our own lives.

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The walls parents consider themselves to be their kids’ friend rather than a concerned parent. “’ Good for you, Mom said when she saw me cooking. You’ve got to get right back on the saddle”’ (15)… Friends tend to encourage you to do stupid things but in this situation Jeannette’s mother is the one encouraging her to do something not so bright. Rex and Rosemary do not expect their kids to become any greater than they are.

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Homeless: Choice or Chance? Jeannette Walls’ The Glass Castle is a story of one unparalleled family who constantly is moving from one place to another. The family seeks shelter in abandoned houses in extremely slipshod conditions.

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The Glass Castle is the life story of a girl, Jeannette Walls, and her siblings who grew up in poverty unnecessarily because of their parents’ irresponsibility. One of its themes is that strength and perseverance can significantly improve your chance at success and your future. The Walls children did not allow their childhood struggles prevent them from creating better and brighter futures for themselves. They all grew up impressively sane considering their living conditions.

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In her memoir, the Glass Castle, Jeanette Wall’s discusses and explores many different concepts that affected her family dynamic and her development. One of these matters is homelessness. Individuals are able to live in a stable environment, sleep in a warm bed, wear clean clothes, and enjoy proper meals; but not all of these basic needs are enjoyed by everyone and their families. This undesirable situation is portrayed in Jeannette Walls novel. Jeannette vividly depicts homelessness by exploring its causes, its impact on daily life, and its effect on her family.

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I thoroughly enjoyed the book The Glass Castle. I found the book deeply moving as well as meaningful and gives insight to a lifestyle that is usually overlooked in society. The main take away from this book I found is a family such as the Walls, who are just getting by are usually overlooked. They were not constantly living on the streets and moved around multiple times, thus alluding attention that would have affected their life.

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