The Glass Castle Jeannette Walls Analysis

2067 Words5 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Role of Father

In The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls was no stranger to constantly moving and uprooting her entire life to move to different locations on the whim of her parents. Rex was the instigator in an all too common tactic that was a large reason for her tumultuous life. Three simple words from him forced the family to stop everything and pack up to move somewhere else. “We better skedaddle” was phrase that Jeannette knew too well in her early childhood. I was no stranger to people doing the skedaddle, but it wasn’t myself that was doing the infamous skedaddle, it was my father(s). It’s hard for me to call them all fathers, as most of them aren’t anything to me, but it’s the best description at the moment. One must understand that my mother has terrible But just like Jeannette, I would never let these trials hold me back in my life. I understand that my predicament is a bit of a special one, but I also know when to have humility, especially when reading The Glass Castle.. But I can’t say that I hated my childhood, because all of the trials I faced have shaped me into the person I am. And it’s all thanks to my mother that I turned out the way I did. I wouldn’t have survived my younger years, both physically and mentally without her unwavering support and love. These situations have taught me more than I would have thought as a child. Even with the absence of a father for virtually all of my life, I would be confident in my abilities to provide everything I could to my children. I know from experience what is missing when there’s no father figure, and I would put my all into giving them everything that was missing from my life. I’m not going to lie, having faced these trials and tribulations have hurt, but they’ve also done much more. I truly believe they have helped me prepare for the future and teach me about life in a tough way. But even so, I wouldn’t change a

Show More
Related

  • Summary Of Jeannette Wall's Memoir 'The Glass Castle'

    1643 Words  | 4 Pages

    As much as Walls loved her father, she realized he would “never build that Glass Castle. But we had fun planning it.” (279) Rex told them that special kids could have “those shining stars, he liked to point out, were one of the special treats for people like us who lived out in the wilderness.” (39) Walls really felt special when her mother said, “life’s too short to worry about what other people think. Anyway, they should accept us for who we are.” (157) This vicious cycle proves to the reader that Walls never had a way to escape from her parent’s cruel ways; she grew up thinking like her parents did. This cruel way of thinking made Rex feel good about himself while making Walls’ feel special. The idea of the Glass Castle gave Walls a sense of hope that her dad would stay true to his word, but the impracticable idea of a house of glass symbolizes just how unstable the Walls’ foundation was. Walls said, “As awful as he could be, I always knew he loved me in a way no one else ever had.” (279) Rex never had the stability to protect her and she knew he would endanger her. Walls’ father Rex had extraordinary power in convincing Walls that he only wanted the best for her, even while causing her to

    Read More

  • Quotes From 'The Glass Castle' By Jeannette Walls

    1694 Words  | 4 Pages

    “ “You see?” [Mom] said. “Right there. That’s exactly what I’m saying. You’re way too easily embarrassed. Your father and I are who we are. Accept it.”

    Read More

  • Changes in Tone Throughout the Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

    646 Words  | 2 Pages

    Throughout the Glass Castle there is a constant shift in Jeanettes tone through her use of diction. Her memoir is centered around her memories with her family, but mainly her father Rex Walls. Although it is obvious through the eyes of the reader that Rex is an unfit parent and takes no responsibility for his children, in her childhood years Jeanette continually portrays Rex as an intelligent and loving father, describing her younger memories with admiration in her tone. The capitalization of “Dad” reflects Jeannette’s overall admiration for her father and his exemplary valor. “Dad always fought harder, flew faster, and gambled smarter than everyone else in his stories”(Walls 24). Jeanette also uses simple diction to describe her father, by starting sentences with, “Dad said,” over and over. By choosing to use basic language instead of stronger verbs, she captures her experience in a pure and honest tone.

    Read More

  • The Glass Castle Jeannette Character Comparison

    1255 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Jeannette Walls's The Glass Castle

    1265 Words  | 3 Pages

    Jeannette Walls, American writer and journalist, in her memoir, The Glass Castle, shares her vividly stunning childhood growing up with her family. Due to her misguided and dysfunctional parents, Jeannette and her siblings had to suffer through poverty, negligence, and abuse. Jeannette Walls states, “Some people think my parents are absolute monsters and should’ve had their children taken away from them. Some think they were these great free-spirited creatures who had a lot of wisdom that a lot of parents today don’t [have].” Although a handful of individuals believe that the Walls’ parenting style was justified and has led to the sibling’s success, their children should have been taken away to be raised properly because their parents were unfit, and they experienced an immense amount of physical and sexual abuse and neglect throughout the process.

    Read More

  • The Glass Castle: A Letter To Jeannette Walls

    472 Words  | 1 Pages

    Some show love through words by saying the words “I love you” or saying how much they care about you like my parents or through actions The things your parents did, I will admit, made me confused. In the first couple of chapters I could not understand how your parents could treat you and your siblings the way they did, but as I continued to read I realized the motive. My parents have never done anything close to what your parents did. On the other hand, the more I thought about it, the more sense it made behind your parents reasoning. I don’t know much about the life of your parents outside this memoir and I do not know the details of their life growing up. However, I know enough to infer that they had hard ones especially when you revealed your dad’s life. Your parent’s intentions behind almost everything they did were good although the may have not been executed in a good way. They believed that they were teaching you a life lesson by preparing

    Read More

  • Analysis Of The Glass Castle By Jeanette Walls

    1001 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Glass Castle By Jeannette Walls Analysis

    403 Words  | 1 Pages

    Rex knew that Jeannette was deserving of a better life than migrating place to place every once in a while and eating commodity foods. By pretending to make plans to build this utopian house for her, he kept her imagination and her faith in him alive and taught her to keep looking forward in life. However, as Jeanette grew up that did not cut it anymore. “What I was thinking was that you don’t have to go right away, and I’ll build the Glass Castle, I swear it. We’ll all live in it together. It’ll be a hell of a lot better than any apartment you’ll ever find in New York City, I can guaran-goddamn-tee that,”(Walls 238). After Jeannette turned her father’s offer down, he knew that she had her mind set on going to New York.With two of his children leaving him, Rex was heartbroken, but he understood that they would have a better life there than they would have by staying in

    Read More

  • Social Issues Presented in Jeannette Wall's Memoir, The Glass Castle

    1075 Words  | 3 Pages

    There are several different social issues presented in Jeannette Wall’s memoir “The Glass Castle.” These issues included neglect – medical and education,

    Read More

  • Symbolism In The Glass Castle Walls By Jeannette Walls

    814 Words  | 2 Pages

    The story of Jeannette Walls and her dysfunctional family gives insights of hope and growth. To get these points across, author, Jeannette Walls wrote her autobiography using many different literary devices to tell the story of her childhood. She used themes that were apparent her whole childhood. She used symbolism to say the things that needed to be said in a discrete way. And her similes gave her audience insight to the people around her. Devices like symbolism, similes and theme have been used in all great literature to convey information, as well as in this story in a refreshing, thought-provoking way.

    Read More

  • The Glass Castle Essay

    668 Words  | 2 Pages

    Rex Walls While growing up in life, children need their parents to teach them and lead them on the path to a successful future. In the Glass Castle Rex Walls, Jeannette’s father, neglects to take care of his duties as a father figure in Jeannette’s life. In the same way, he teaches her to be strong and independent at a very young age. As we read through the story, we see the special relationship that Jeannette shares with her father. Even though he, in many instances, failed to protect his children, refused to take responsibility for them, and even stole from them, Jeannette still loved him until his death for two reasons: one, for his ability to make her feel special, and two, because he is a never-ending source of inspiration.

    Read More

  • The Glass Castle Themes

    1075 Words  | 3 Pages

    In fact, Jeannette said that she spent so much time with friends that she almost didn’t feel like a member of their family (206, Walls). At first Maureen spent the night at friends houses because she didn’t feel safe at her house. The big incident that made her sleep somewhere else was that a rat was in their house and she swore that that rat was near her and when she turned on the light she was proven right (156, Walls). And after a while, Maureen wouldn’t just go over to sleepover at friends houses, she’d go there earlier and eat dinner with her friend’s family (173, Walls). It was no secret that the Walls didn’t have food often, and when Maureen saw an opportunity to eat a hot meal she took it. Because she spent so little time with her family, she didn’t grow up like her siblings did. In each person you have a fight or flight reflex, and while her siblings took the fight reflex for a while, Maureen chose the flight reflex. There’s nothing wrong with that, but I think because she didn’t stay and fight she doesn’t know how to deal with her parents in New York like her brothers and sisters

    Read More

  • Essay On Jeannette Walls

    858 Words  | 2 Pages

    One of the most complicated concepts in life is the matter of relativity. It is nearly impossible to truly ‘step into another's shoes’ simply because that other person possesses a lifetime of information and experiences that someone else cannot hypothetically replicate. Most of the time that other individual can’t even remember half of their own life simply because it was made up of seemingly insignificant details. However, in an effort to be as objective as is humanly possible, I would say that Jeannette Walls and her siblings were in some ways luckier than her peers.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Forgiveness By Jeannette Walls By Rex Walls

    695 Words  | 2 Pages

    Considering she is still uncomfortable to discuss her personal life, she is not at peace with herself; she’s determined to keep her past a secret. Even later, she continuously sugar coated her past into something that didn’t seem so harsh. But then, something alters her feelings towards her parents. When she needed money for college, her father provided nearly all of it. Jeannette wouldn’t take it at first but once her father insisted and her mother agreed, she couldn’t say no: “So, when I enrolled for my final year at Barnard, I paid what I owed on my tuition with Dad’s wadded, crumpled bills” (Walls 264). Here she sees the redeemable qualities of her parents. It’s another one of those small moments where her parents prove Jeannette wrong of how they aren’t always awful parents. This is where the line between acceptance and forgiveness is disturbed. Despite those small moments of redeemable qualities, Jeannette still struggles to find her own peace. Forgiveness leads to peace, acceptance does not, this is the ultimate

    Read More

  • Parenting: A Transformative Life Experience

    508 Words  | 2 Pages

    I’ll never forget the day I started to wonder what it would be like if I ever had children. Even though I was rather young I’ve always had a great thought on family. Childhood was my most cherished and greatly missed memory. Along with naivety, innocence and stress-free enjoyment came safety, and the care of others around me. I believe who I’ve become today was shaped from my childhood and the people I was surrounded by. I believe my circumstances as a child helped me form my identity today.

    Read More

More about The Glass Castle Jeannette Walls Analysis

Open Document