More handpicked essays just for you.
The effects poverty has on homelessness
Literary analysis essay over the glass castle
Literary analysis essay over the glass castle
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
A suburban life is a paradise full of shopping, colorful gardens, and well-groomed homes. Despite all these benefits, a suburban life is an isolated life. People living in suburbs are rarely exposed to miseries in society. One of these conflicts is homelessness. When living in an environment surrounded by homes, individuals often have difficulty imagining not being able to sleep in a warm bed, eat a proper meal or even receive necessary medical attention. This grim situation is depicted in the writings of Jeannette Walls. In the autobiography The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls accurately portrays homelessness by explaining its causes, its impact upon daily life, and its effect on victimized families.
Walls’ autobiography establishes that there are several causes of homelessness. More specifically, she discusses that poverty prevents one from affording life necessities. As reported by the National Coalition for Homelessness, “Homelessness and poverty are inextricably linked. Poor people are frequently unable to pay for housing, food, childcare, health care, and education” (National Coalition for the Homeless - Why Are People Homeless?). Such a condition is evident in Walls’ book. In The Glass Castle, the Walls family lives in gruesome conditions because of poverty. “Because on the rare occasion that we paid the electricity bill and had power, we’d get a wicked shock if we touched any damp or metallic surface in the room” (Walls 153). I don’t really think you need this quote, but if you decide to keep it in, say how the fact that they rarely had power is important. Walls and her family also do not have enough money to buy food and clothes. As Walls described, “I had three dresses to my name, all hand-me-downs or from the thrift stor...
... middle of paper ...
...009. Web. 26 Jan 2011. .
"National Coalition for the Homeless - Why Are People Homeless?" National Coalition for the Homeless. National Coalition for the Homeless, July 2009. Web. 26 Jan 2011. .
Prose , Francine. "The New York Times > Books > Sunday Book Review > 'The Glass Castle':Outrageous Misfortune." The New York Times. The New York Times Company, 13 Mar 2005. Web. 31 Jan 2011. .
Strasser, Judith A., Shirley Damrosch, and Jacquelyn Gaines. Journal of Community Health Nursing. 2. 8. Taylor & Francis, Ltd., 1991. 65-73. Print.
Watson, Stephanie. "How Homelessness Works" 09 November 2007. HowStuffWorks.com. 26 January 2011.
Poverty is referred to as the inability to provide for basic needs such as food, clothing, shelter, medical, etc. Walls (2005) stated that at times they would go days without eating and would keep their hunger to themselves, but always thought of ways to get their hands on some food. She further stated that “At lunchtime, when other kids unwrapped their sandwiches or brought their hot meals, Brian and I would get out a book and read. I told people that I had forgotten my lunch but no one believed me, so I started hiding in the bathroom stall during lunch hour. When other girls came in and threw away their lunch bags in the garbage pail, I’d retrieve them and return to the stall and polish off my tasty finds ” The major thesis addressed by the author, detailed the struggles she faced.
It is commonly believed that the only way to overcome difficult situations is by taking initiative in making a positive change, although this is not always the case. The theme of the memoir the Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls is that the changes made in children’s lives when living under desperate circumstances do not always yield positive results. In the book, Jeannette desperately tries to improve her life and her family’s life as a child, but she is unable to do so despite her best efforts. This theme is portrayed through three significant literary devices in the book: irony, symbolism and allusion.
The author of the book The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls, lived an unbelievable childhood that no child should have to go through. Throughout her story she told, she overcame lots of difficult situations that her parents had put her and her siblings in. Throughout most of her life, her family did not live in one place for very long. She wanted to change this and have a place that she could actually call home. Her parents did not provide for the children to the best of their abilities and because of this, they suffered from many situations that some people could not even imagine. One of these was homelessness. In The Glass Castle, Jeannette and her siblings experience first hand homelessness when they move to New York
Individuals often have their own perceptions and definitions of homelessness. These perceptions generally are over exaggerated. Over exaggerated definitions of what homelessness looks like can be explained by movies, TV shows, internet, and ev...
"Overview of Homelessness In America." Homelessness In America. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Dec. 2013. .
...ndurance of poverty, as we witness how Walls has turned her life around and told her inspiring story with the use of pathos, imagery, and narrative coherence to inspire others around her (that if she can do it, so can others). Jeannette made a huge impact to her life once she took matters into her own hands and left her parents to find out what life has in store for her and to prove to herself that she is a better individual and that anything is possible. Despite the harsh words and wrongful actions of Walls’ appalling parents who engage her through arduous experiences, she remained optimistic and made it through the most roughest and traumatic obstacles of her life at the age of three. Walls had always kept her head held high and survived the hardships God put upon her to get to where she is today; an author with a best selling novel to tell her bittersweet story.
In the essay “homeless.” Anna Quindlen writes about the stereotyping of homeless people and how we should look at the individuals character, not the fact that they have no home. Her inspiration on this story began when she was writing an article about the homeless. notably, she begins her article with arguing that these people had a home before that they grew up in. they just do not have one now (191). She then starts to say that home is where you make it and specific details on what makes a home (11). Furthermore, she writes about how we must accept these people for who they are and not think that we know that a shelter is best (191). She concludes with discussing that we should not look at the main issues and focus on the details among these people. Stating that these people just do not have homes but, they are not the homeless (192).
This given site has the potential to be valuable in my essay because of the many reasons it provides for homelessness. With these facts, the essay will have stronger reasoning as to why the Walls’ were homeless. To continue, this site also gives precise statistics that have the ability to support
Web. The Web. The Web. 14 May 2014. Stanley, Jay.
Nies, M. A., & McEwen, M. (2011). Community/public health nursing: promoting the health of populations (5th ed.). St.Louis, MO: Saunders.
Many believe that a common thread among the homeless is a lack of permanent and stable housing. But beyond that, the factors leading to homelessness and the services that are needed are unique according to the individual. To put them into one general category ? the homeless- suggests that people are homeless for similar reasons and therefore a single solution is the answer. Every homeless person shares the basic needs of affordable housing, adequate incomes and attainable healthcare. But a wide range of other unmet needs cause some people to become or remain homeless which include drug treatment, employment training, transportation, childcare and mental health services (Center 8.)