The Glass Castle Thesis

Necessitous, impoverished, indigent: all words that describe the poverty of 12 million innocent children that can do nothing to stop it because of their indecisive parents. Jeanette Walls and her siblings had to face this issue and wrote about it in her memoir, The Glass Castle. The Wells children were born into a family where their parents were content being poor, so much that the children would not know when their next meal would be. Their mother would use all the family’s money on painting supplies, instead of using it to support her children. Their father was constantly running from debt collectors and heavily addicted to alcohol which set a bad example for his children. Due to this unfortunate situation the Wells children had to face,

In opposition some people could also say that children should not be granted more rights because they are still growing up and learning many more life lessons than children not in poverty, making them have a stronger mind. The Wells children should be granted more rights at an earlier age because they are being starved which could lead to death. Growing up Jeanette went to the hospital because she was severely burned by boiling water with no parental supervision. Jeanette ended up having to go to the hospital but “that was the thing about the hospital. You never had to worry about running out of food or ice or even chewing gum” (12). This demonstrates how children that have little to no food like the Wells children, find the hospital to be a comforting place even more than

Some people believe that children need to abide by the law. Children with parents that are irresponsible learn more life skills, responsibility, and are far more mature than their parents. We see this in The Glass Castle because The Wells children are teaching themselves based on their parents actions. Jeannette has learned that “if you don’t want to sink you better find out how to swim” (66). She relates this to her parents because if you have irresponsible parents then you better find a way to take care of yourself, which helps you gain a life lesson. This could be a good thing, even though their parents don’t really take care of them, they are still there to show the Wells children how not to act or treat other people. Jeannette’s parents are happy with being homeless, the Wells children did not follow their parents' tracks. Jeannette and her sibling “worry about Mom and Dad huddled on a sidewalk somewhere” (4). The story opens off years in the future, Jeannette is living in New York City, where her parents also reside. Jeannette has her own apartment living happily while her parents are digging for garbage. This tells us that all the life lessons the Wells children were taught really did work in the end. As a result Jeannette “lived in a world that at any moment could erupt into fire” (34). The children lived with