Theme Of Resilience In Jeannette Walls The Glass Castle

Resilience is defined as having the ability to recover from an event that introduces various struggles, and several drawbacks. The characters in Jeannette Walls’ The Glass Castle are consistent with overcoming and persevering through the drawbacks they encounter throughout their lives. They overcome struggles when Jeannette and her siblings often face traumatic experiences from their parents, deal with the issues of poverty in ways that affect their lives in public settings, and still after all of this, most of them end up very successful and can afford to live on some of the most famous streets in the world. To achieve self-confidence and independence, it is essential to display traits such as resilience and determination to overcome the need

Rex tends to show highly abusive traits while influenced by alcohol, which is noticed by the family on several occasions. “When dad went crazy, we all had our own ways of shutting down and closing off, and that was what we did that night.” (Walls 115) Having known that Rex has been parentally absent for most of their lives while he claims he is busy trying to build them the Glass Castle, Jeannette and her siblings grow up more mature and with a greater understanding of the world and how to manage in such conditions without relying on their parental figure to guide them. Being more mature also means feeling prepared to escape being limited by their parent’s control. “‘Dad’, I said, ‘as soon as I finish classes, I’m getting on the next bus out of here. If the buses stop running, I’ll hitchhike. I’ll walk if I have to. Go ahead and build the Glass

The youth of the household have to withstand bullying from others at home and at school, especially from a boy named Ernie because of the appearance of their property. “‘Y’all Wallses don’t burn garbage!’ Ernie yelled back. ‘Y’all throw it in a hole next to your house! You live in it!’ … ‘Garbage! You live in garbage ‘cause you are garbage!’” (Walls 165) Because of the poor and unsanitary environment they live in, people who do not experience poverty, like Ernie, tend to mock their living conditions. However, on the multiple occasions that this occurred, Jeannette and Brian did not let the bullying bother them or their family. “Brian and I started hurling whatever rocks were at hand. Since they were downhill, we had a good line of fire and scored several direct hits, the rocks dinging off their bikes, nicking the paint and denting the fenders.” (Walls 166 - 167) Jeannette and Brian are easily able to defend themselves with the resources around them, including rocks, and each other. They scare him and his friends off and take pride in their defence. Living in poor conditions, especially poverty can result in loads of backlash from people who do not experience such struggles. The Walls family consistently finds ways to shrug off situations like these, fight back, and pride themselves