“The Glass Castle” is a biography, drama written by Destin Daniel Cretton; it portrays a young girl (Jeanette Walls) and her family as they struggle in poverty stricken towns with a mother who is an eccentric artist and her alcoholic father who she blindly puts her faith in. The film was released on August 11, 2017 and features Brie Larson, Woody Harrelson, and Naomi Watts among others. The big question, “What do I think about “The Glass Castle” film? The film was dissatisfying overall, I did not feel same emotional attachment that I felt with the book. They did not show enough of Jeanette and Rex’s connection to each other. It seems to only portray the bad events of their childhood, and mostly portraying Rex as a villain. They did not show …show more content…
In the book Jeanette had learned to swim in a sulfur spring and Rex had used his “sink or swim” method, eventually Jeanette learned to swim by getting out of Rex’s reach. In the movie, the family was at a swimming pool where Rex was drunk and ended up fighting the pool owner and causes the Walls to leave town. Rex tells Jeanette, “Sink or swim,” Jeanette learns to swim in the sulfur spring because she swims out of Rex’s reach who continues to push her in. There is a dark, troublesome mood, because Rex does not handle his liquor well and he is in a public setting and commits an act that could cause him to go to jail. It was a constant reoccurring theme of trouble following the family wherever they had gone. The film shows Jeanette thinking Rex is going to drown her because he was drunk. In the book Jeanette mentions, “Once I got my breath back, I figured he must be right;” Rex tells Jeanette, “If you do not want to sink, you better figure out how to swim.” The scene portrayed Jeanette as nervous and timid, while Rex was drunk and loud, unlike in the book where Rex was unusually calm. To wrap it up, the book and film depict two different settings, but their origin is all the
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.
Rex Walls and Walt Disney had similar parenting tactics. Rex Walls did not believe in “babying” his children. “I didn't treat my own youngsters like fragile flowers, and I think no parent should,” explains Disney. One day Rex takes his children to the Hot Pot where Jeannette does not know how to swim. Rex teaches Jeannette how to swim by throwing her into the pool and letting her struggle sink until she finds a way to swim.
The Glass Castle was set in the 1957s about a family on the poorer side of the scale, but with determined children to do what they set out to do. Jeannette Walls (Brie Larson) shares the story of her life. The story line begins with Jeannette in the kitchen when she was a small child cooking hot dogs for her and her mother. Suddenly, her dress gets too close to the eye of the stove and she catches on fire and
Every time they had to leave abruptly it seemed like a new adventure and another place to explore. This teaches the kids that there is always something new and something fun to do as long as you look for it. It also makes the kids learn what is important to them because when leaving abruptly they couldn’t grab everything. This is seen in the movie when they leave a house because the billiards were coming and they leave in a hurry driving through the desert and towns to find another home. Rex had good intentions here by trying to stay away from jail and making it so the kids would just think it’s another fun trip.
Into considerations of having children, many people have different outlooks on the proper way to raise their children. However, in The Glass Castle, Rose Mary and Rex Walls had their own method of parenting, which many people would find controversial. Throughout The Glass Castle, author Jeannette Walls, describes her childhood and her consequential living conditions that she had to deal with due to the choices her parents made. Although Rose Mary and Rex had their own methods of raising their children which would be considered neglectful, many would believe that they belong in a foster care, but since they didn't get taken away there must be a reason to it. If Jeannette was placed into foster care I don't think she would have benefited from
Throughout the memoir the Glass Castle, by Jeannette Walls, the struggles and trials the family endures are akin to the struggle of the Joshua tree that RoseMary admires in the Desert. They swim in places like the Desert and New York, where there is a balance of adventure and anchoring, and sink in places like Welch, where the balance between adventure and anchoring is weak to nonexistent. If there is a means of support and a solid rule system, the tree grows straight, and the family swims, with a normal life. But when they are left to the elements, or, in the family’s case, their own devices, the family sinks, and the tree grows gnarled and twisted, especially in Welch.
When society thinks of the word “childhood,” they imagine it as a precious time for children to be in school and freely play, to grow and learn with the love and support from people dear to their hearts. It is also known to be a cherished period where children are to be innocent and live carefree from fear. However, in the context of The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, childhood is viewed as a tough hardship that Jeannette and her siblings have overcame, and the memories they carry has greatly impacted their lives that it has molded them to who they are
The Glass Castle is a memoir written by Jeannette Walls that describes the story of how she came from being a less fortunate child to having a top ten book of the year according to the New York Times. The story focuses on Jeannette and her underprivileged family. The Glass Castle is closely related to Walt Disney’s quote “I don't believe in playing down to children, either in life or in motion pictures. I didn't treat my own youngsters like fragile flowers, and I think no parent should. Children are people, and they should have to reach to learn about things, to understand things, just as adults have to reach if they want to grow in mental stature.
The Glass Castle is the best selling memoir written by Jeannette Walls. The memoir recounts Walls’ childhood and the life she lived with her siblings, selfish mother, and drunken father. In the popular opinion, the novel was a riveting look inside the sad and dysfunctional childhood of a successful author. Twelve years after the book was written Director Destin Daniel Cretton decided to take the plunge and create a movie to bring Walls’ story to life. Although it had an all-star cast many believed it “lacked edge” or, “ left out details that made Walls’ memoir so raw and pure”.
It is evident that her childhood may have impacted her in a more severe psychological way. The book The Glass Castle is a very interesting narrative. The author Jeanette Walls is able to bring new light to circumstances that many people choose to ignore or overlook by writing about her own childhood. This gives the book a new perspective and allows the reader to gain insight.
This normally would be a very fun activity, but Jeannette does not know how to swim or even float. Naturally, Rex throws her into the deep pool and keeps pushing her back and under the water, making her fear for her safety (Walls 66). This action shows that Rex Walls put no thought into his daughter's safety. This behavior is considered dangerous because his daughter was not properly prepared or trained to be put in such a deep pool without help from her parents. Rex was used to this type of behavior from his alcoholic mind so he did not think much of it, even though he was endangering his daughter.
The Glass Castle: Controversial Topics. The Glass Castle is a 2005 book by Jeannette Walls. The memoir explains the author’s life, growing up with her family most especially with her parents who could be described as nomads and deadbeats. Notwithstanding the difficult upbringing, her siblings and she had, Jeannette perseveres and becomes a successful Journalist living in New York City.
Dreams, contrary to popular belief, are terrible. The best thing to do, is to stop chasing dreams because all dreams do is distract people from more important responsibilities. People spend their time chasing their dreams, but they don’t perform their day to day tasks they need to survive on their own. In the memoir, The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, Jeannette’s mother, Rose Mary, has a dream of becoming an artist. Instead of getting a job to provide for her poverty stricken family, she decides to stay home and paint all day.
In this world, there’s learning things the hard way and the easy way; in Jeannette Wall’s world, there’s only learning things the hard way. The Glass Castle is an adventurous story that reveals the painfully miserable story of Jeannette Walls. A selfish mother, a careless father, and terrible social encounters- these are some of the elements of a harsh reality Rex and Rose Mary Walls failed to shield their children from. Growing up poor was already difficult, but growing up with a selfish parent, specifically an unfeeling mom, made life hell for the Walls children. The family barely had one source of income from Rex Walls, and instead of helping out with the family’s finance issues, Rose Mary spent her days at home painting.
The Glass Castle is the life story of a girl, Jeannette Walls, and her siblings who grew up in poverty unnecessarily because of their parents’ irresponsibility. One of its themes is that strength and perseverance can significantly improve your chance at success and your future. The Walls children did not allow their childhood struggles prevent them from creating better and brighter futures for themselves. They all grew up impressively sane considering their living conditions.