The Glass Castle Research Paper

The silent screams of childhood abuse echo through the corridors of adulthood, shaping the future of their lives. The Glass Castle, a memoir by Jeannette Walls, takes place in multiple areas of America and emphasizes various traumatic episodes that children endure. The memoir facilitates hazards such as unsupervised cooking, tolerating abuse, and neglect. In The Glass Castle, the theme of child negligence and trauma individually changing development is seen through Billy Deel’s assault against Jeannette. This idea of development through irresponsibility and negligence is also viewed through Brian and Jeannette’s experiences with Rosemary and Rex Walls. Born into terrible circumstances, added with the negligence of her parents, influences Jeannette's

When Billy assaults Jeannette, his father's teaching echoes through his actions, demonstrating how neglectful and misguided parental figures shape a child’s actions in destructive ways. Billy's display of violence towards Jeannette extends to sexually assaulting her, exhibiting his aggressiveness cultivated by external influences. “The more I pulled, the more he pushed, until he was on top of me and I felt his fingers tugging at my shorts” (Walls 86). Billy’s father imparts normalizing violence, leading to Billy internalizing these teachings, causing the violent altercation with Jeannette. The devastating outcome of Billy Deel derives from the unrequited attention he never received from his father. Despite facing similar circumstances, Jeannette and Billy respond distinctly, shaping their ideas of morality by working with what was provided. Rex’s history of abuse and neglect lays the groundwork for his inability to care for his children. When confronted with abuse, Brian stands up against Erma while Rex passively endures the treatment. “I thought Dad would come around to our side once he'd heard what had happened, and I tried to explain” (Walls