The Glass Castle Essays

The Glass Castle: Theory and Practice Paper Synopsis The Glass Castle is a memoir written by Jeannette Walls. In this book, Jeannette recounts her unconventional upbringing along with her three siblings. Yet, despite of it all, she grew up to have an ordinary life as an adult with a professional career in journalism. Throughout childhood, Jeannette's family lived like vagabonds, having no permanent residence, sometimes even not having an actual home but sleeping in the family station wagon. One day they lived in the middle of the desert by Joshua Tree, the next week they lived in Las Vegas, then following week it was Welch, West Virginia. Because of all the moving that the family did, the children sometimes found themselves homeschooled, and other times were enrolled in school. The parents, Rose Mary and Rex, though flighty parents, were intellectual, artistic, and visionaries. They instilled these values into their children. Coincidentally, the children tapped into having their own traits and talents. Lori is the artist, Jeannette is the journalist, while Brian is the mediator. Unfortunately, Maureen, the youngest, never learned resiliency nor did she find herself or come to her own. As the children grew older, one by one, they moved to New York to live an ordinary life and pursue their own individual passion. Lori became a fantasy illustrator, Brian became a police sergeant, and Jeannette became a TV correspondent. Maureen was the last one to move to New

In my opinion the main conflict in the story of The Glass Castle was a man vs. man situation. The reason being that I'm saying it is because in the story Jeanette Bivens has weird, dysfunctional, and unstable parents and she just wants to have a good life. Jeanette truly loves her parents but, she sometimes wants to leave them and be by herself. Jeanette being the protagonist during the whole story she deals with her dysfunctional controlling environment. In the story she pushes forward and thinks positive throughout the story.

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The Dysfunction Of The Walls Family

Could the dysfunction of the Walls family have fostered the extraordinary resilience and strength of the three older siblings through a collaborative set of rites of passage? One could argue that the unusual and destructive behavior of the parents forced the children into a unique collection of rites of passage that resulted in surprisingly resilient and successful adults. In moving back to Welch, Virginia, the children lost what minimal sense of security they may have enjoyed while living in their grandmother's home in Arizona. The culture and climate (both socially and environmentally) along with an increased awareness of their poverty resulted in a significant loss of identity. As they learned new social and survival skills in this...show more content...

The deplorable piggy bank car, with the garbage bag passenger window, and junk tied to the roof could not be ignored. Rose Mary commented, "You know you're down and out when Okies laugh at you."(Walls 129). This experience embarrassed Jeanette who covered her head, but more importantly created the understanding that their family had hit a new low in their lives. In a sense, they began to self–isolate to prevent further embarrassment. With the arrival of the family in Welch, the sense of disconnection was furthered by the blending of family politics. The Walls family, dependent upon the charity of Rex's parents for food and shelter now had to contend with racism and sexual abuse. The children who had been encouraged to speak freely about their opinions now had to keep quiet. Jeanette had visited a different neighborhood which her uncle had referred to as "Niggerville," and this blatantly racist attitude was a shock (Walls 143). The grandmother accosted Jeanette that day, commenting "keep this up and people are going to think you are a nigger lover" not only was the word offensive to Jeanette, she told her grandmother "You're not supposed to use that word, mom says they are just like us" (Walls 143). Her opinion was not appreciated; as a result, she was banished to the basement by her grandmother without food. There was no support from Rose Mary on the issue due to their dependence on the grandparents for food and

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When I think of the name Jeannette Walls, I automatically think of her book, The Glass Castle. This is a story about her life and the hardships she faced growing up. She experienced poverty, hunger, bullying, and so many more horrible things that others can relate to. At a young age, Jeanette was a little oblivious to her family's problems. When people are young, they are less experienced with hard times and personal problems. They think that the bad things happening are normal because they know nothing else. For Jeanette, she thought that being on the move all the time was normal and that it was okay. As she got older, she began to realize that things can and should be different. Another thing that Jeannette experienced was obliviousness when it came to love and hope. Jeannette believed her father when he said he was going to build the Glass Castle and make all these inventions that would make their family rich, but he never did. Jeannette chose to see the goodness and hope in her family, but as she got older, she began to mature and become realistic....show more content... With the fighting that seemed endless, I became oblivious to the people around me and myself. I closed myself off, and did not notice the personal struggles that some of my family members were going through. As I grew up, I learned to be more aware of my own feelings, as well as those around me. I have also become a less confrontational person because I never want to have to go through fights again. I feel like my family has always been dysfunctional in a sense, but I would not change them. Yes, there were tough times that I went through, but I did not become a person who was afraid to make friends or experience life. I became a strong young woman who pushed past the difficult points in her life. If you have experienced a difficult time in your life, would you change it even if it helped you become who you are

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Character Analysis: The Glass Castle

*One of the themes of "The Glass Castle" is that, although you might have a horrible and hard childhood, it doesn't mean you'll stay that way. Jeannette had gone through so many things, but because she tried her very best to get out of her struggle she now succeeds in life.

*The Glass Castle: This helps Jeannette to believe that one day, her father would fulfill his promise.The Glass Castle signifies her childhood and promises never actually accomplished. As she sees that her father will never build the Glass Castle, she unintentionally lets go of her childhood.

*Mountain Goat: Rex Walls, Jeannette's father had a nickname for her which was "Mountain Goat". I think this is a theme because just like a mountain goat, she can go through struggles

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Bad Parenting is the act of not showing the responsibilities that should be taken as a mother or father. In The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls reveals the faults of parenting through the use of symbolism , imagery and characterization. Rosemary and Rex's Struggles to show their children (Jeannette, Lori, Brian) the importance of the appearance and guidance of being by their side as a parent. Jeannette and Rex show their faults by destroying everything the children try to accomplish because of their personal bad habits. Again the danger of parenting is depicted through walls' use of symbolism. Jeannette being a child (three years old) and having to cook and take care of herself is substandard. Having to be surrounded by hardship and...show more content...

With no limits or boundaries, Walls is thrown in a big body of water without knowing how to swim. Rex and Rosemary has a sense of doing it by yourself or not at all asserting "But the Hot Pot didn't have any ehat edges like that swimming pool. There was nothing to cling to. I waded up in my shoulders. The water above my chest is warm and the rocks i was standing on felt so hot [...] Dad who watched me unsmiling[..] "you're going to learn today"(65). Rex, in athrows Jeanette in water with no edges, knowing she can't swim.He puts Jeannette in a live or die situation. Rex shows the faults of parenting because the parents have no regards on Jeannette's safety or life and wall states"You're going to learn today' declaring "Dad pried my fingers from around his neck and pushed me away. My arms flailed around and i sank into the hot smelly water. Water surged in my nose and down my throat. My lungs burned[...] He pulled back and did it again" (65–66).Putting a child in a dangerous situation to show them a lesson shows bad parenting.Rex and Rosemary causes the reader to reflect on their lack of responsibility as being a parent so that they can understand from both sides of view of the poverty situation. Finally, Rosemary and Rex show the faults of parenting throughout Walls use of characterization .For example, When "Lori heard about a scholarship sponsored by a Literary society for the student with the best work of art. Dad came home drunk" and Get more content

The Glass Castle: a Case Study

The Glass Castle: A Case Study

The book, The Glass Castle, by Jeanette Walls gives an intimate look at her family. The Walls family does not fit society's expectations of normal, functional or healthy behavior. Nurses are particularly interested in assisting families in similar situations. This paper evaluates the Wallsfamily as they interact with each other and their community. Nursing activities which may be of value to the Walls family are proposed and explored.

The Walls family consists of six people, Rex, Rose Mary, and their four children, Lori, Jeannette, Brian, and Maureen. The author of the book, Jeannette, objectively describes her dysfunctional family. She reflects on detrimental circumstances without...show more content... Her adjustment is impaired, which leads to violence directed at others. Maureen stabs her mother and spends a year incarcerated and institutionalized. Nursing diagnoses for Jeanette include low self esteem and disturbed body image related to negative feedback from peers. At school, the other students make fun of her because she is so skinny. She is called spider–legs, skeleton girl, and pipe cleaner. She hides in the bathroom during lunch to avoid being teased by the other students. She also tries to fashion her own braces out of wire because she has buckteeth and knows that her family can not afford braces. The Walls family, like many in America, is dysfunctional. The father is an alcoholic and the mother simply does not want to grow up. The Walls children have proven to be survivors and that they can take care of themselves, but that doesn't mean that they should take care of themselves. One might ask, how can nurses help children such as the Walls? How can society help the parents? The answer is not simple or easy. The Walls are not receptive to information about health care regarding their maladaptive behaviors. When Jeanette is admitted to the hospital with third degree burns, the nurses suspect that intervention is needed. Hospital staff had an opportunity to help the Walls but they did not take advantage of it. When Rex suspects trouble, he

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The Glass Castle Research Paper

You don't find very many families nowadays that are constantly moving and traveling throughout our country, stopping to live in a place for a couple months, then leaving for another place for a couple months and doing that constantly. But the Walls are a family that does do that. In the entertaining book The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, a young girl named Jeannette Walls learns how to become successful in life through constantly being on the move, and living with her parents, Rex and Rose Mary who would be in a huge fight one minute and would be hugging each other the next. Through Jeannette's unusual childhood, she learned to develop acceptance towards herself, braveness towards her fears, and how to figure out the most important things in life, which helped her become the successful person that she grew up to be....show more content...

When they were at one of their destinations Rex told Jeannette that she didn't need pillows because the Indians did not use pillows and had great posture, and that it would be greater to have better posture then to get a pillow. "We had no pillows, but Dad said that was part of his plan. He was teaching us to have good posture. The Indians didn't use pillows, either, he explained, and look how straight they stood" (p.18). This showed Jeannette that pillows weren't important in the scheme of life. Jeannette also was taught that a star is something that would last forever is way more important than little plastic toys that don't so a star is a greater gift. "We laughed about all the kids who believed in the Santa myth and got nothing for Christmas but a bunch of cheap plastic toys. "Years from now, when all the junk they got is broken and long forgotten," Dad said, "you'll still have your stars"' (p.41). This showed Jeannette that the things that she might of thought were important really weren't that

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The Glass Castle is an interesting book following the story of the young author Jeanette Walls. This book follows her during the time she spends with her dysfunctional family growing up. This books tittle is symbolic of the overall book in its whole, and takes up a large amount of the authors life in the process. The many different characters represent and really show why The Glass Castle was chosen as for the title of the book. With the many events and characters in the book it can be easily seen why she would choose the title for this book. This book has many reasons for explain both the meaning of the tittle and the reason which she choose the title that she did. The Glass Castle in the book represents much more than just a plan that...show more content...

When Rex instructs them to dig out the foundation for the home, when he later tells them to start to fill the foundations with garbage because they don't want to have to pay for the garbage taken away. It really displays the whole book with how it goes along the dream of having that great life and home are slowly filled with garbage or disappearing from them with no way to really get back what has happened with the family. This book has really displays why it is titled this for this reason it is one of the core reasons in this book behind why it's named in such a way. One of the last things having to do with why the book is named this way is because it changes from Rex wanting the family to have a better life to just the family staying and being together. Later in the book Jeanette's sister leaves to go to New York and tears a large gap into the family where she used to be, but because of this it influences the other children of the family especially Jeanette who wants to follow her sister exactly and head to New York. This really tears the huge gaping hole in the family that really makes it fall apart. It is even seen in the book were Rex is trying to stop her from leaving to head to New York he brings up the Glass Castle, which hadn't been mentioned in quite a while for the book, this is one of the last times that it is even brought up in the book

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The Glass Castle Essay

Over 45 million Americans are living in poverty. Even though Jeannette walls in rich and famous today, she wasn't always. Jeannette and her family grew up in poverty. In her Memoir The Glass Castle Jeannette, Brian, Lisa and Maureen's Parents Rex Walls and Rose Marry are a poor family, they stay poor and move around America avoiding the police and paying bills. While living in poverty has its problems it affected Jeannette to become independent and hard working.

In the memoir The Glass Castle Jeannette's parents are the ones who keeps there family in poverty. When Jeannette went to the hospital, she realized all the stuff that her family doesn't have is what makes life more fun. For example Jeannette says ". . . In the...show more content...

In the beginning of her memoir The Glass Castle she states when she was three years old "Mom and dad brought me home, I Cooked myself some hot dogs. I was hungry mom was at working on a panting, and no one else was there to fix them for me" (Walls 15). Jeannette was three, and she's making hotdogs this shows how living in poverty has taught her Independence, and to be able to care her own needs kind of like when they were staying in welch and rex was off getting drunk while Jeannette and brain worked hard on building the foundations for the glass castle because rex wasn't going to build the glass castle on his own, "I Decided to help. We found a shovel and pick axe at an abandoned farm a spent every minute digging a hole" (walls 155). Jeannette and brain was completing the activity of digging out the foundations for the glass castle, hoping rex would start working on making the glass castle possible. Still in welch when Lori moved to New York, Jeannette had moved to New York. Hoping her career could take off "I had just turned eighteen. I quit my job at the hamburger joint the next day and became a full–time reporter for the phoenix" (walls 248) this shows how determined and hardworking Jeannette is, she was moving up in her life, becoming a professional reporter. Because she lived in poverty she learned that to get stuff she wants she has to work for Get

Many children are affected by child abuse or neglect across the globe. The book The Glass Castle written by Jeannette Walls is about herself and the time set is in her childhood. In the book Jeannette talks about all the hardships that she and her siblings had to face while growing up with a very poor family and always being on the move. In the book it's very evident that Jeannette and her siblings face many types of abuse and neglect from many events that take place inside The Glass Castle. The Walls children should have been taken away from child protective services. The Wall family's dad, Rex, was a very heavy alcoholic. Being an alcoholic affected the Walls children in so many ways. With their father drinking, they were unable to afford food to eat and other basic needs because their father used the money on booze. Rex would beg Jeannette for money to buy alcohol by saying, "Hon, I need some money for beer and cigarettes" on page 209. On page 78 Brian talks about how their father leeches to buy alcohol, saying "Dad doesn't need to do research on leaching. He's an expert".

The Wall family's mom, Rose Mary, showed many signs of being selfish throughout the book. Mom being selfish made it nearly impossible for the Walls to make money, be able to afford anything, or have a little luxury in their life. Rose Mary once had a king sized candy bar that she was eating all by herself under a blanket in the same room as her kids. When the kids started to get suspicious, Rose Mary

Reading The Glass Castle, by Jeannette Walls was a journey in itself. As I dived deeper into the book everyday, I started feeling like I was apart of the Walls family, going through everything that they were experiencing. Reading about all their crazy experiences from one of the daughter's point of views, was incredibly intriguing. It is a personal memoir of her years of growing up with her alcoholic father, delusional mother, and three siblings. The book is full of hardships. The family continually suffers especially the children as they grow up. The amazing part of the book is how the kids, especially Jeanette, made good lives for themselves even when throughout their childhood they had just about nothing. Jeanette took all her struggles...show more content...

I have not and will never forget those series of events. This time hurt me but also helped build upon my character. It was my freshman year of high school. I had decided to play soccer, which was not a hard decision for me since I had played travel soccer pretty much my whole life. Also my brother was in high school at the time and played for the boys soccer team, and had my dad as his coach. He loved it and was having a great experience playing high school soccer so of course I like to follow in my brother's footsteps. I was very nervous at first. There were over eleven seniors on the team, and they were pretty intimidating to me. During the summer, I played with the varsity often and enjoyed it. As I kept playing with them and performing well, my nerves lessened. Finally when the actual season rolled around, I was put on full varsity. All my hard work had paid off. I was one of the two freshman put on varsity. I was ecstatic. I was actually very lucky at getting put on varsity because at this point in my life I played purely out of natural talent. I was never one to put in extra work outside of practice and be disciplined in the way I lived my life. I never really strived to be the best I could be. Making varsity made me somewhat of a threat for the older girls. Some were happy for me, others did not like the thought of a freshman on varsity. These girls were hard coore they were bound and determined to make it to state that year. They were not going to accept anything less than amazing. This put an incredible amount of pressure on us younger girls. I remember going to every practice nervous that I was going to mess up and they get mad at me. I never really felt at ease with them. In the first few games I got good playing time. I was doing really well. I was finally getting comfortable out there on the field, but that was not the direction God was taking me and with one swift kick of the soccer

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According to statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau, the poverty rate for children under age 18 was 19.7 percent between 2014 and 2015. Multiple studies and research have concluded that living in poverty results in lasting damage on a child's self–esteem. The stories these 19.7% live are very similar to The Glass Castle, a memoir that displays the underdog tale of Jeannette Walls, which shows her battles withpoverty, hunger, and child neglect. All of these battles were in her quest to prosper and live the American Dream. Due to her struggles, Jeannette realizes that growing up poor takes a toll on her self–esteem. However, after enduring a past surrounded with poverty, Jeannette learns to be less self–conscious and eventually takes pride from...show more content...

As a child, Jeannette's sense of wonder and curiosity in the world undermine the need for money. During her young adult years, a new wave of insecurity associated with her poor past infects her. Finally, as an experienced and aged woman, Jeannette finds joy and nostalgia in cherishing her poverty– stricken past. It must be noted that no story goes without a couple twists and turns, especiallydefinitely not Jeannette Walls'. The fact of the matter is that growing up in poverty effectively craftsed, and transformsed her into the person she becomeshas become. While statistics and research show that living in poverty can be detrimental to a child's self–esteem, Jeannette Walls encourages children living in poverty to have ownership over their temporary situation, and never to feel inferior because of past or present socio–economic Get

Community is a very important part of life. The community that a person grows up with influences a person for their entire life. After reading the excerpt from The Glass Castle, I started to reflect on my own upbringing. I was very lucky to have a healthy life and a very supportive family. We had a nice home and I did not ever have to question where my next meal would come from. I was constantly surrounded by love. My community was great, but I am very aware that this is not the case for everyone. Jeanette Walls described her upbringing in her book and it brings to light the communities that are not so lucky. There are many people who need assistance and support. Throughout my life I have enjoyed many different volunteer opportunities. From a young age I volunteered at a local nursing home. I enjoyed it and I did feel like I made a difference but it was not my calling. I have volunteered with the homeless community, which is an extremely important community to assist. There is no shame in being homeless and I truly believe that a helping hand and a kind smile can improve a day and hopefully a life. There are two communities that I have absolutely loved serving and try to never turn down an opportunity to help; children and animals. The fact that I love working with children is not a surprise seeing it is the field I have chosen for a career. But I also love working with animals. For a short moment in my life I considered becoming a veterinarian. Instead, I love volunteering at the animal shelter. I love to go and help walk the dogs. For my community service opportunity, I knew I wanted to go to the animal shelter. I have not been in a while and I saw this as a good reminder to go back. The puppies are always very cute, but there are many older dogs that don't get the attention they deserve. Being summer and very hot, the dogs can't stay out for long. A friend came with me and together we walked a few dogs. It is always sad to see the dogs who have been at the shelter for months. I have never encountered an unfriendly dog at the Humane Society. I truly believe I can make a slight difference in a dog's day when I can walk them and give them some love and affection and remind them that they are important.

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The Glass Castle The memoir entitled The Glass Castle, written by Jeannette Walls is a story of the eventful life Jeannette endured growing up with her three siblings and her parents. Jeannette lived a tough life, she was constantly moving, never had nice clothes to wear, and had to grow up faster than most children. The reason for the constant struggles in Jeannette's life led back to her parents. Her father Rex Walls was outrageous, always making spur of the moment decisions which had taken a toll on the family as a whole. He was a severe alcoholic who made way too many promises he knew he couldn't keep. Throughout the novel, the idea of the "Glass Castle" appears quite often. The Glass Castle is...show more content...

However, the family's trash was stacking up Jeanette explains: "But since we couldn't afford to pay the town's trash–collection fee, our garbage was really piling up. One day Dad told us to dump it in the hole. 'But that's for the Glass Castle,' I said. 'It's a temporary measure,' Dad told me. He explained that he was going to hire a truck to cart the garbage to the dump all at once. But he never got around to that either, and as Brian and I watched, the hole for the Glass Castle's foundation slowly filled with garbage." (155)

Jeannette and her little brother Brian spent a long time digging this hole, therefore it must have been devastating to watch as it was used as a place to stow away the family's garbage. Jeannette was starting to realize that her father was probably never going to build the Glass Castle. Rex still hoped that his daughter would believe him, that she would feed him the lies for a little while longer even though the idea of the Glass Castle was slowly slipping away. Towards the end of the memoir, Jeannette was in high school and was getting ready to graduate and get as far away from Welch and her broken family as possible. Jeannette decided to follow in her older sisters footsteps and move to New York. Jeannette is passionate about writing and believed New York was a perfect place to get her career started, along with college. Jeannette's family was upset that she was leaving them, especially Rex. Rex felt as if he was losing

Hailey Schwab Block 3B Ms. Cyr 9/19/14

The Power to Overcome

Sid Udayan

January 10, 2012

It still holds true that man is most uniquely human when he turns obstacles into opportunities. This is evident in Jeannette Walls' memoir, The Glass Castle, which reiterates the story of Jeannette who is raised within a family that is both deeply dysfunctional and distinctively vibrant. Jeannette is faced with numerous barriers throughout her life. Despite the many obstacles set forth by her parents during her childhood, Jeannette develops into a successful adult later in life. One of these obstacles is the lack of a stable home base moulds her into the woman she grows up to be. Throughout her life, Jeannette must cope with the carelessness of her...show more content...

Billy had thrown the ring at me. I kept walking. 'Guess what?' Billy shouted. 'I raped you!'" (pg. 87). Jeannette is confused when she hears what Billy says. She is sexually assaulted at the age of eight, and it only seems to get worse as she moves from place to place. With each attack resulting due to the continued neglect that Rex and Rose Mary show towards their kids by not providing stability. The neglect that Jeannette experiences, but does not yet understand, eventually results in the involvement of Social Services with the Walls family; "He'd launch an investigation and end up sending me and Brian and Lori and Maureen off to live with different families, even though we all got good grades and knew Morse code. I couldn't let that happen. No way was I going to lose Brian and Lori and Maureen." (pg. 194). It is here that Jeannette shows how much she truly cares about her family. The neglect of her parents has required her to become the responsible figure head of the Walls household and she learns to protect and care for her siblings. Jeannette develops the characteristics of amother figure despite the careless absence of her own mother. Rose Mary Walls is far from being a caring mother or a positive role model to her children. She is unable to provide the basic necessities required for survival and even resorts to stealing what little resources the family has for herself; "I wondered if she had been looking forward to

It Could Always Be Worse "If you don't want to sink, you better figure out how to swim" Jeannette Walls, The Glass Castle. This School year our class read a limited amount of novels. Of those novels I would say, The Glass Castle was my favorite. This novel that influenced me was a backwards, up–beat Memoir concerning Jeannette Walls and herfamily of five, similar to mine. However, unlike my family, theirs were constantly on the move. This novel remained my favorite due to its continuous paced events, the hardships they attained, and the way that even I difficult times with people telling them they could not amount to success they achieved just that. In this novel, there never occurred a dull moment. From the beginning all the way to the...show more content...

Growing up Jeannette's father had existed as a drunk to stop for Jeannette on her birthday before the move. Afterwards he comes back in contact with his parents and resumes his drunken state. Growing up no matter the instance Jeannette would always stand up for him and help him in any way. With her fathers demons in charge the family went hungry quite often. Leaving the children to eat what most would not venture to eat, ranging from the combination of butter and sugar to eating out of the school garbage cans at lunch. Their time in Welsh has taught me that although I may not enjoy the food that is in my house, but there are people out in the world that do not acquire the same luxury the majority of us do obtain. In Jeannette and her siblings' time of need for food, Jeannette and her oldest sister Lori help each other to create a budget in hopes that her parents would follow it. Although their parents do not, I was impressed that the girls would come up with this idea and it is highly effective for the summer their mother leaves. Only to end in the result of the money being handed to Rex. Shortly after, the girls decide they are done with living the life their parents give them. In result, the girls maintain jobs and save enough to send Lori to New York, up until Rex smashes the pig and steals all the money for alcohol. Luckily, things work out and she goes anyway shortly followed by the

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The Glass Castle was a memoir of Jeannette Walls life. Her memoir as well as her autobiography, gave a new perspective to her life that showed how she become the person she is and the most important moments in her life that changed her. The book is in first–person view, which showed a lot of what she went though. Though the book is only in her view it does give an inside on the lives of the other character. But, it doesn't show what is really going on with them. For example, Jeannette's father, struggled with alcoholism though she always has a remarkable view on him. There had been certain things in the book that show that his life was struggle. Such as on page 43 when Jeannette's mom jumped out of the moving car and ran into the darkness....show more content...

Personally I believe having security and comfort is more important than having freedom. Don't get me wrong freedom has always been and always will be important. But, security and freedom are two completely different things. You have security with freedom but as well without freedom. On the other hand, you can't have freedom and security, with freedom you never know what is going to happen. For example, having freedom in my opinion means to do whatever you please to do with no one stopping you. Security means to me is having a place you know you be safe and be able call home. Unlike the Wallsfamily, who had more freedom than security. They would move around from state to state leaving memories and loved items behind, leaving no trace of there existence. Jeannette had always been a free spirit and enjoys the freedom they had. But her two siblings Lori and Brian had always wanted the security but they were given the freedom. Over time they realized how important it was to have comfort I their lives. One moment that really showed Lori wanting security and Jeannette enjoying freedom was on page 18 where the family had stopped in middle of the desert to sleep under the stars. The two girls both look at stars where Jeannette reminds Lori how lucky they both are to be able to see such an amazing view, where Jeannette said "We could live like this forever," which to Lori responds "I think we're going to," Jeannette only around the age three an Lori around the age

The Glass Castle Analysis

"I was on fire" is one out of many memorable phrases used in The Glass Castle. The Glass Castle is a memoir written by Jeannette Walls about the trials and tribulations she and her siblings had to deal with while growing up. Though not all of her childhood was a struggle, she did experience some joyous moments too. Walls later on grew up to be an author and a journalist. Her memoir,The Glass Castle, should be required as summer reading for the Class of 2019 because Walls's life is very interesting and the memoir is relatable to different aspects of our lives. When you are reading a biography or a memoir, you don't want to read about a life so boring that it puts you to sleep. If you're going to read about someone's life, you want that person's life to be interesting. Especially if the life you live at the time is not interesting in your opinion. Moments in her life such as when she and her brother made an "arsenal of rocks" fly and hit Ernie are just some of many things that made her life interesting. This event is interesting because it shows how she fought against her bully. She did not take all of her bully's nonsense. She fought back. In this memoir, Walls makes sure that even the boring parts of her life still captivate the reader....show more content... Such as when Walls and Dinitia stopped trying "to be close friends." There are a lot of teens who can relate to this moment when at some point of time they start to become distant from some of their close friends. People who you were close with before start to become a distant memory. Another relatable moment in the memoir is when Walls couldn't "think of a comeback to" Ernie's comeback. Teens can probably recall a time where they were in a similar situation where they could not come up with a comeback after being made fun, whether it was as a joke or

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In 2005, Jeannette Walls wrote The Glass Castle, a memoir of her family's life in poverty and a quest to outrun a dysfunctional childhood and create something better for herself along with her siblings. While the children are trying to create successful adult lives for themselves they face the challenge of trying to keep their parents from being homeless in New York City. In an interview with Mondloch, Walls mentions that her childhood was "... both a blessing and a curse." Their unusual, chaotic and an isolated upbringing, originated successful, educated and fearless children.

At the age of three Walls was cooking her own meals. Hermother Rose Mary Walls thought that in order to survive in the world you have to experience it yourself. She said "Suffering when you're young is good for you" (28). Rose Mary didn't raise her children like any other parent did. She didn't set a curfew for them or discipline them. She was more focused on her artwork, reading, and writing. She thought setting rules for children held them back from freedom. She said, "Rule and discipline held people back and felt that the best way to let children fulfill their potential was by providing freedom" (73). The children didn't have regular classroom teaching like other children did. They had hands–on experience. For example, while her family traveled to their new homes, they drove through the desert and with that she learned about the stars, the different plants that grew in the desert. She also learned about the different types of rocks and minerals there are in the desert. She conducted experiments children her age wouldn't do without the permission of their parents and the assistance of an adult. At an early age, she learned about the trading system.

Growing up the way Walls grew up had its advantages. It helped shape the person she has become. Her mom being occupied with her art and keeping up with an alcoholic husband, Jeannette was forced to raise herself and her siblings. Walls said "...I cooked myself some hot dogs. I was hungry, mom was at work on a painting and no one else was there to fix them for me" (15). This incident happened right after her father, Rex Walls took her out of the hospital after being admitted for six weeks for Get