An Analysis Of Jeannette Walls The Glass Castle

The Glass Castle is a memoir written by Jeannette Walls, it portrays her life story and shows her hardships. It begins in the Arizona desert with little Jeannette boiling some hot dogs, did I mention that she was only three. So it didn't come as a surprise when her dress caught on fire and caused her whole right side to be burnt to a crisp. When she was taken to the hospital she seemed to enjoy it there more than her home because she wouldn't mind being in a lot of pain. The most common theme in this book is mobility, this is because they move around almost every month due to the "FBI" chasing the Walls' father Rex and when her father came to the hospital and scooped up Jeanette before she was cleared again it did not come as a surprise.

Etched in Sand: A True Story of Five Siblings Who Survived an Unspeakable Childhood on Long Island (2013) by high-powered attorney Regina Calcaterra is a memoir of her extremely abusive childhood and the path she and her sisters took toward success. The book became a bestseller around the globe. Its themes include resilience, abuse, and the drive to help others. The memoir is conveyed in the present tense.

Much of Walls’ memories from the desert focus on “the skedaddle” and how the Walls family, which consisted of Mom, Dad, Lori, Jeannette, Brian, and eventually Maureen, moved to different desert towns. The family would stay in each town as long as Jeannette’s father could hold a job, or until they came into legal trouble and had to “skedaddle.” However, Jeannette’s mother, Rose Mary, had an extremely free spirit, and Jeannette’s father, Rex, was an alcoholic, and between the chaos, the family was doing “the skedaddle” quite

In the beginning of the novel Jeannette Walls and her family were not doing good on cash and food and moved from place to place. Her dad and mom said they keep moving because the FBI is after them. During their moving Jeannette Walls and her other three siblings do not go to school. They are all homeschooled by their mom and learned some things from her dad. During Jeannette Walls childhood, Jeannette and her dad would talk about how they were gonna build a glass castle.

Starting as a precocious three-year-old child, to ending as a very successful writer, Jeannette Walls recounts the eventful childhood she had in her 2005 memoir, The Glass Castle. Walls’ unconventional, nomadic, and less-fortunate upbringing is told in detail that makes it easy for one to imagine themselves right along side her throughout her adventurous past. Walls grew up constantly “doing the skedaddle” around America with her dysfunctional parents, whose views on life are not exactly typical (Walls 17). Even so, Walls managed to write about her parents using an immense amount of respect, which must have been very difficult at times. Her mother struggles to support her family financially, yet supports them with inspirational advice.

The characters in Ann Patchett’s The Patron Saint of Liars illustrate the theme of the importance of loyalty in relationships. In the novel, Rose, who is pregnant, moves across the country to live in a home for pregnant girls, where she later marries the handyman. Her husband, Son, tells her, “You came here because you wanted to give her up and then you didn’t, you married me, you stayed here, and now it all doesn’t seem to matter very much, and sometimes I wonder why you did it, is all” (175). Son notices Rose’s indifference towards everything in their lives. She does not care about Son because she feels no sense of loyalty towards him.

The memoir, The Glass Castle, by Jeannette Walls, centers around her unorthodox childhood, with her parents avoiding parental responsibilities and acting in accordance to their non-conformist beliefs. During some events in the book, responsibility is seen as equal to self-sufficiency in this book, and Rex and Rose Mary encourages Jeannette and the other children to look out for themselves instead of depending on others. Even though Jeannette’s parents were irresponsible and reckless, they managed to instill responsible, independent, self-sufficient qualities within Jeannette, creating a well-adjusted child. Hardships as a child allow the opportunity to develop a thick skin and become resilient. From a young age, Jeannette Walls and her siblings learned how to be independent for their basic needs because of their father’s, Rex, alcoholism, and their mother, Rose Mary’s, carefree attitude and indulgence in the arts.

However, he spirals into alcoholism; recklessly spending money on liquor rather than on provisions that would help sustain his family. His compulsive spending on alcohol is, unfortunately, a major factor keeping the Walls family in a continuous cycle of impoverishment. As a result, Jeannette Walls is forced into a life of responsibility; having to be the one who looks after her siblings, as well as being the one to regulate what little money the Walls family had; this eventually drives her to head to New

Since the Walls family is so poor and homeless it seems that Rex and Rosemary are not always there to give their children the support and comfort that kids need at a young age. Instead of giving love and comfort, they decide to teach their kids how to be tough and how to learn to do things themselves. Unlike most parents, who focus on supporting, caring for their children first, and then teaching them how to live on their own once they get much older. This attentive parenting method is not visible in the Walls’ family. For example, when Jeannette has her accident with fire and explained it to the nurses she gets rather surprised and

It seems that Jeannette grew up in cases of extreme abuse and neglect, and this causes her to rely on her siblings and gives her motivation to be successful. Jeannette’s parents, Rex and Rosemary Walls, most certainly had an interesting lifestyle causing short and long-term effects for all four of their children. Throughout the book, Rex’s substance abuse and Rosemary’s neglect

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.

Rex’s method is not that of many fathers, his being “sink or swim”, providing not only the ability to swim but also a strong metaphor for the reader and Jeannette. This is a representation of not only the Walls’ teaching strategy, also for the struggle to succeed in a life the Jeannette has literally been thrown into. Jeannette takes this idea to heart even though she may not realize it, for her not to succumb to the environment in which encapsulates her, such as Welch and life on the road, she must be able to handle these hard situations and be able to stay

Paul Ryan once said, “Every successful individual knows that his or her achievement depends on a community of persons working together.” Individuals must strive upon excellence based on the society they are placed in. Watching how others react can help one become the best they can be. Throughout The Glass Castle, Jeannette is exposed to society by her parents. Her parents, Rex and Rose Mary, see society in different means than how others perceive it.

How this turned out to be good was that after their argument, the next day Rose got a job as a teacher at their elementary. The argument forced her and made her realize she needed to get a job. Although the argument could of turned out to be violent and lead to someone getting hurt, if the fight had never occured Rose wouldn’t have applied for the teaching job. Her being a teacher brought home more money than they usually have, meaning they were able to have food in the fridge benefitting for the whole family. In one of the chapters Jeannette said with her mom having a job they could put mayonnaise in her hair for picture day to make her hair look good (pg. 76).

Once he finished the prospector and we struck it rich, he’d start work on our glass castle” (25). Walls’ innocence and optimism for the creation of the Glass Castle is indicated through her belief that Rex really is on the verge of finding gold and building the Glass Castle. In reality, he was out drinking all day, spending money that could have been used to feed Walls and her siblings. She still thinks that her father will follow through on his promises, and in doing so bring her happiness. She is unaware of his deception, which is becoming increasingly damaging to his family, as they have trouble affording food.