Poverty- the state of being extremely poor ;the state of being inferior in quality or insufficient in amount
Jeannette Walls grew up with her 3 siblings and her dysfunctional parents moving around constantly. Her family lived in extreme poverty her whole childhood. Her father was a violent alcoholic and her mother didn't want the burden of children. But when her father was sober he taught her important life lessons. When her mother was in a good mood she taught her reading, writing and arithmetic.
In the book The Glass Castle forgiveness is a prominent theme, Jeannette tends to be more optimistic when she forgives her family, she lets go of the anger she has towards them and it allows her to live in the moment.
In the book, Jeanette's father put her in a lot of violent situations but she always forgave him because she had a different understanding of him. One of the specific times he did this to her was when he threw her into the water when she didn't know how to swim. “Once I got my breath back, I figured he must be right.” (pg.65) Even though Jeannette could've died she still forgave her father. Jeannette and her father were closer than the rest of the kids were with their father, Jeannette knew that he was trying to teach her something important.
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Jeanette's mother never took responsibility, she didn't wanna act as a responsible mother which put Jeannette in scary places.
“Good for you, you have to get right back in the saddle” (pg.15) When Jeannette gets home after 6 days of hospitalization her mother wanted her to keep cooking even though that’s what got her there in the first place. Jeanette's mother forgave the whole incident and wanted her to keep
going. Jeanette's mother was always forgiven by their oldest daughter because Lori understood her mother better than the other children. When the Walls want their mother to become a teacher she has to beat Lori in front of the school principal. “It didn't bother her that when Mrs.Beatty showed up to observe her class she went so far as to order Lori up to the class and beat her with a wooden Paddle” Lori understood her mother on a different level and was able to forgive her easier. Lori knew she wasn't doing it in a cruel way even though her previous actions could prove that. Although Jeannette and her family led a hard life, they were always understanding of each other. Jeannette and her father were closer than the rest of her family and she had a different understanding of him and she was always able to forgive him. Jeanette's mother and her sister Lori were always close and even though her mother was neglected they were able to understand where she was coming from. And finally Jeanette's father was hard on her and he wasn't the best but she knew that he tried. Jeannette shows to be more optimistic when she forgives her family, she lets go of the anger and it allows her to live in the moment.
Her family stayed three years at the camp. Jeanne did not enjoy living in these camps. The memories of the past still haunted her as she grew older. “Writing it has been a way of coming to terms with the impact these years have had on my entire life” (pg
It shows that people’s opinions of her matter to her more than her opinion of herself. Also, it is shown that her mother is the one who gave Jeannette the confidence to tell the story of her past, which later provoked her to write this memoir.
This is an example of Jeannette’s parents trying to keep their children as optimistic as possible.They knew that their life would be rough and tough based on what they had gone through however if they always kept the positive mindset it would make things a lot easier for
This quote from the text provides readers with the sense that Jeannette’s “glass” is always half full. Instead of Jeannette feeling sorry for herself, she tries to make the situation better.
Ultimately, Jeanette made the decision of ending her marriage and divorce her husband, thus seeking a place to live by herself. All she ever desired was an impartial life and some justice who would recompense her horrifying childhood lived with her paternities. She became a tremendously famous writer, Jeanette finally discovered what peace was, by basically enforcing self-justice.
Jeannette is a hero because both are represented as being forgiving, caring, and believing in people. By having theses qualities, Jeannette is able to persevere through her life. Jeannette is forgiving because she is able to rise above her bully, Dinitia, and befriends her (Walls 142). She is able to accept Dinitia’s “apology” and move on. Jeannette is also caring. She is caring because she also helps Dinitia with schoolwork (Walls 142). She does not invited Dinitia over because “Erma had made it clear how she felt about black people” (Walls 142). By keeping Dinitia from Erma, Jeannette is protecting her from Erma’s racism. By protecting her former bully, Jeannette shows just how caring she really is. Jeannette also believes in people and chooses to see the good in them. When Brian accuses their father of spending all of his money on booze, Jeannette defends him (Walls 78). Her father says “I swear, honey, there are times when I think you're the only one around who still has faith in me” (Walls 78). Jeannette then tells herself that she will never lose faith in him (Walls 78). Because she is able to keep faith in her alcoholic dad, she believes in him and that one day he will move on. By being forgiving, caring, and seeing the good in others, Jeannette is a the character archetype of a hero and uses her qualities to help her persevere in
In the book, The Glass Castle, I feel each character I can identify with in some way, whether that is through actions, thoughts, or events. However, there is one character that stood out to me and that is Jeannette. She chronicled her life and her dysfunctional upbringing along with the struggles and challenges that go along with it. No matter what she went through, she never allowed herself to feel defeated or depressed. She saw her situation for what it was and found ways to improve her condition through pure determination. There are many similarities I feel we both share such as, we both were taught independence from an early age, we are both middle children, and we are both carefree and intelligent. Though, the main contrast between Jeannette and I are that we are both timid, positive, and forgiving.
In “The Glass Castle”, the author Jeanette Walls describes her childhood and what motivated her to chase her education and move out to New York City with her siblings and leave their parents behind in West Virginia. The main struggle Jeanette and her siblings had was the conflicting point of view that they had with their mother on parenting. Despite their father Rex Walls being an alcoholic, constantly facing unemployment, and being a source of hope for his children, Rose Mary Walls had her list of attributes that shaped her children’s life. Rose Mary had a very interesting view on parenting in Jeanette Wall’s memoir and this perspective of parenting influenced her children both positively and negatively.
Jeannette Walls has lived a life that many of us probably never will, the life of a migrant. The majority of her developmental years were spent moving to new places, sometimes just picking up and skipping town overnight. Frugality was simply a way of life for the Walls. Their homes were not always in perfect condition but they continued with their lives. With a brazen alcoholic and chain-smoker of a father and a mother who is narcissistic and wishes her children were not born so that she could have been a successful artist, Jeannette did a better job of raising herself semi-autonomously than her parents did if they had tried. One thing that did not change through all that time was the love she had for her mother, father, brother and sisters. The message that I received from reading this memoir is that family has a strong bond that will stay strong in the face of adversity.
Ever since she was a young girl. Jeannette had set high goals for herself. Since she was so advanced in school and genuinely enjoyed learning, it made sense that she would want to do big things with her life. Whether it was being a veterinarian or a geologist, her dreams extended far beyond her homes in little desert towns or Welch, West Virginia. However, because of her poverty-stricken home life, many people believed it didn’t seem likely that she would be so successful. One day, while living in Welch, Jeannette goes to the bar to drag her drunk father back home. A neighborhood man offers them a ride back to their house, and on the ride up he and Jeannette start a conversation about school. When Jeannette tells the man that she works so hard in school because of her dream careers, the man laughs saying, “for the daughter of the town drunk, you sure got big plans” (Walls 183). Immediately, Jeannette tells the man to stop the car and gets out, taking her father with her. This seems to be a defining moment in which Jeannette is first exposed to the idea that she is inferior to others. Although this man said what he did not mean to offend her, Jeannette is clearly very hurt by his comment. To the reader, it seems as if she had never thought that her family’s situation made her subordinate to those
As humans, we are entitled to making mistakes in our lives, but by forgiving one free himself from anger. Marianne Williamson wrote this about forgiveness: “ Forgiveness is not always easy. At times, it feels more painful than the wound we suffered, to forgive the one that inflicted it. And yet, there is no peace without forgiveness.” In the book The Glass Castle undergoes many difficult circumstances in which the act of forgiveness is the only way to be at peace with her family, but more importantly herself. But the real question is does she truly forgive them. Jeanette’s ability to constantly forgive her parents enabled her to have a positive attitude because the negativity was released when
Towards the middle of the memoir, the theme is shown through the irony of Jeannette’s mother’s situation as well as Jeannette’s feelings towards
Jeanette's parents taught her the importance of knowledge from a very young age which also shaped her to become the person she became after her childhood. THroughout the story Jeannette is always learning, always reading, and educating herself to become more knowledgeable. She even at one point in the book begins a rock collection on different types of rocks which she sells to make money. Jeanette's parents instilled a large amount of positive traits and characteristics through their life of poverty to craft the amazing women Jeannette grew up to
Love is the thing that holds a family together, without it the world would be a very lonely place. Hardships, misfortune, and trouble are all challenges people go through in life. With the support of family and love, it makes it possible to navigate through this mine field. In The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls makes several connections to loving family unconditionally. In the book, there is evidence of the kids being neglected and brought up in tough living situations. There are many conditions where the kids should not forgive the parents, but the kids turn towards a positive viewpoint, look for the bright sides of things, and love their parents no matter what. With the parents knowledge of their children’s ability to forgive
As we go through the stories in the Glass Castle we see the relationships and independence Jeanette builds starting very early in the book when she depicts herself as a little child making hotdogs. When Jeannette was three, her parents allowed her to cook for herself over hot stoves and all. This showed how much her parents put in to developing their independence. “I was wearing the dress to cook hotdogs… then all of a sudden my dress caught fire.”(3) Marie, Jeannette’s mother, completely refuses to take care of her own children. She doesn’t care for her children as any mother should. Any child even at the age of three should not be making hotdogs over a hot oven. This act shows how much independence her father has instilled in her.