Premium Essay

The Glass Castle Jeannette Walls Analysis

Submitted By
Words 617
Pages 3
The Glass Castle In The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, the author reflects on her childhood growing up in an unstable household. The theme of Walls’ memoir reveals that a lifestyle change results in the ability to rely on oneself. Throughout the The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls’ actions, dialogue, and thoughts in response to events in her dysfunctional childhood shows that an unstable childhood does not have to negatively impact an individual.
In the rising action, Jeannette’s actions during the period of time that her father is not around, conveys an essential moment of her acquiring a role of responsibility in her own life. The author writes, “We couldn’t afford wood any more than we could afford coal, and Dad wasn’t around to chop and split any, which meant it was up to us kids to gather dead branches and logs from the forest” (pg. 175). Jeannette Walls is trying to explain her childhood with a father that is an …show more content…
After the many disappointments and unfulfilled hopes that Jeannette received from her father, she decided that it was time for her to move to New York City. In the story, she says “‘Dad,’ I said, ‘as soon as I finish classes, I’m getting on the next bus out of here. If the buses stop running, I’ll hitchhike. I’ll walk if I have to. Go ahead and build the Glass Castle, but don’t do it for me” (pg. 238). The Glass Castle is a home that the author’s father blueprinted, but it held a much greater meaning and is really a promise that was created by him to his family. The author’s use of this dialogue to her father is crucial because she was the last of her siblings to give up on her father and his unpredictable state. Although, more importantly, this dialogue was used to illustrate the divergence away from her father’s lifestyle, and her refusal to allow him to impact her

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

Analysis Of The Glass Castle By Jeannette Walls

...Jeannette Walls' writing style is pretty consistent, after all this book is a memoir. She combines the emotional struggle of her early years of childhood with the social and economic factors that surround her to create a pretty bleak picture of what her life use to be like. One thing she definitely accomplishes in this novel is making the reader feel for her and understand her family's situation. With a drunken and unstable father, a mother who seems to never side with Jeannette on anything, and a grandmother who practically hates her, Walls' definitely accomplishes bringing the element of pity and sometimes anger to anyone reading this book. Throughout the book, she is always very descriptive of events and places, often using several vivid adjectives in one sentence, just to give the reader the idea she...

Words: 280 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

The Glass Castle By Jeannette Walls: An Analysis

...Walls starts with her memory of being on fire. She writes “I was on fire” at three years old after cooking hot dogs for herself(9). She remembers how she felt, writing “I felt a blaze of heat on my right side . . . the yellow-white flames [making] a ragged brown line . . . then the flames leaped up, reaching my face”(9). Walls shows the reader that she lived in poverty with no one to take care her. Using her childhood as contrast, she writes about what happened after she grew up. She describes how she eventually bought a house and even got money to celebrate Thanksgiving. Walls details the house, explaining that the “wide-plank floorboards, the big fireplaces . . . an Egyptian couch . . . the smell of the roasting turkey John had prepared, with a stuffing of sausage, mushrooms, walnuts, apples”(Walls 287). Walls asserts to the reader that even though she had grown up with no money, she survived and made it to a successful...

Words: 977 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Analysis Of Jeannette Walls The Glass Castle

...In Jeannette Walls’ memoir The Glass Castle, out of all of the children Jeannette is the most admirable. Because Jeannette is so willing to put others before herself,and she has so much confidence in others. Jeannette is constantly talking about how amazing Lori is, and Jeannette has no doubt Lori will become a successful artist, (222). This is just one example of how Jeannette is always building others up. Jeannette has no problem with lifting others up above herself in order for them to thrive and that is why she often has a soft spot for Rex the way no one else in the family did, and he is always taking advantage of it(209). But Jeannette always looks for the good in people even if it's buried in bad. She has a way of forgiving his past...

Words: 259 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

The Glass Castle Jeannette Walls Analysis

...Jeannette Walls, I have always known that I am privileged. The daughter of a dentist and two loving parents, the youngest of 4 college graduates, and a child of little heart ache or misery. But, it really takes learning about someone else’s experiences to truly understand how blessed you are. While reading your book, The Glass Castle, there were times that I questioned if things had really happened. It was impossible for me to think of a world where people are constantly abused, sexually, physically and emotionally, and moved all over for no personal gain. You saw this and more and you were willing to share it making this a book that I feel very proud to have read. I have never been that great of a reader. I have always been slow and self conscious so I do not read very often. But, when I do read, I love it. This book was no exception. Your use of imagery and detail kept me latched on to your every word. There were many occasions when I went back to reread one of your impeccably written passages and just soak in your structure and narration. I actually began reading this book on my first trip ever out west to the Arizona, Utah, New Mexico area where most of...

Words: 626 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Analysis Of The Glass Castle By Jeannette Walls

...Entrepreneur Jim Rohn said “You must take personal responsibility. You cannot change the circumstances, the seasons, or the wind, but you can change yourself. That is something you have charge of.” In The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, Rose Mary wants to follow her life long dream of creating famous art. She used what limited amount of money the family has on art supplies and spends most of her time painting or sketching, usually ignoring her other responsibilities. Dreams can help guide a person through the passage from childhood to adulthood, but as an adult many times other responsibilities must take precedent over dreams. Adulthood comes with more responsibilities, for instance children. If a child has to starve or live in poverty because...

Words: 597 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Analysis Of The Glass Castle By Jeannette Walls

...doesn’t fall far from the tree.” But what is the reality of this statement? Are children always similar or identical to their parents behaviour? The memoir The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls is a piece of literature that one can study and relate to this philosophy. Children are influenced to become who they are by their parents’ positive and negative actions. Jeannette’s creativity is derived from her parents. Her mother, Rose Mary Walls, has possessed artistic abilities since she was a child. Throughout The Glass Castle, Rose Mary is always painting. When she is stressed or has spare time, she grabs a brush and a canvas and lets the paint flow. Jeannette’s father, Rex Walls has a big imagination and...

Words: 1032 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

The Glass Castle Jeannette Walls Character Analysis

...Throughout the novel, The Glass Castle, we see many aspects of Mrs. Walls’s personality through her actions and her speech. Jeannette Walls - the second daughter of Rex and Rose Walls and the author of this memoir - recalled how her mother was artistic - in her own way - how she encouraged learning by experience instead of discipline, how she believed in independence from a young age, and how she believed in her own way of thinking, rather than the thinking of the professionals. We start seeing parts of her artistic side very early on. In her novel, Jeannette remembers that, while her family was living in Midland, her “Mom painted dozens of variations… of the Joshua tree” (38). Also, later in the novel, she devoted the whole front of one of her mother’s houses into an art studio and gallery (97). She used her inheritance “to make regular shopping expeditions to the [art] store, bringing home rolls of canvas… oil paints, watercolors, acrylics, gesso, a silk-screening fram, india ink, paint brushes and pen nibs, charcoal pencils, pastels, fancy rag paper for pastel drawings, and even wooden mannequin with movable joints… who, Mom said, would pose for her when we kids were off at school” (97). Through her actions, Jeannette’s mom proves that she is - and can be - artistic...

Words: 1649 - Pages: 7

Premium Essay

Analysis Of The Glass Castle: The Journey Of Jeannette Walls

...The Journey of Jeannette Walls When I was introduced to the novel "The Glass Castle" by Jeannette Walls, it was intense but yet you could relate to it. Jeannette Walls had the braveness to write her personal life into novel form. Jeannette describes the times when she went through difficult struggles, the embarrassing and amazing moments. I will be telling you the main moments in the novel that Jeannette had gone through. “I was embarrassed by them, too, and ashamed of myself for wearing pearls and living on Park Avenue while my parents were busy keeping warm and finding something to eat. (4)” Jeanette lived in a fancy place and had everything. When Jeanette was going to an event, she saw her mother going through the garbage can in the streets of New York City. Right there, Jeannette felt like she had abandoned her mother. Jeanette was asking herself, “why haven’t I helped her?” After asking her mother how she could I help or what she should say if somebody asks me about you, Jeanette’s mother looks at her and told her to tell them the truth. But Jeanette felt embarrassed and ashamed to tell the truth....

Words: 592 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Reflection On The Glass Castle By Jeannette Walls

...The Glass Castle is a memoir written by Jeannette Walls. The book illustrates her struggle through life and how her hardships shaped her into the person she is now. Jeanette is the second out of four children, she has an older sister, Lori, a younger brother, Brian, and a younger sister Maureen. The family is very dysfunctional, they are always doing the skedaddle and living in very poor conditions. They move all around Western America running from their father's mistakes. The way Jeanette's parents raised her, it took her a while to realize that the way she was living was not right, eventually her and Lori came up with a plan to get away from their toxic living conditions. The Glass Castle has three pages in the beginning reserved for praise...

Words: 1545 - Pages: 7

Premium Essay

Alcoholism In The Glass Castle

...Alcoholism is a very difficult and burdening disease that affects many different people all over the world. Alcoholism is a disease that not only affects the person suffering but the immediate family of the alcoholic. “Alcoholism and drug addiction affects the whole family- young, teenage, or grown-up children; wives or husbands; brothers or sister; parents or other relatives and friends.” ("Family Disease"). In the memoir, The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, her siblings and mother’s daily lives, health, and personalities were greatly affected by Jeanette's father, Rex Walls alcoholism. Some specific effects of alcoholism on families are conflict between spouses, infidelity, domestic violence, economic hardships, isolation or divorce, jealousy...

Words: 1088 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

The Glass Castle

...Alexis Duch INS/H1500 Glass Castle Analysis September 27,2012 Jeanette Walls opens her memoir with a scene in which she is three years old cooking hot dogs by herself and her dress catches on fire which escalates to her torso. She yells for her mother to help her and the neighbor takes her to the hospital where she gets to sleep in a clean bed and eat real meals for a few weeks. When she is almost healed but not completely, her Father comes and checks her out “Rex Walls style”. The incidents regarding Jeannette's burns and recovery, and Dad's decision to pick up and move the family, provide greater insight into both her parents and their philosophy toward parenting. To begin, these sections reveal more of Mom's attitude toward life and parenting through her treatment of Jeannette: First, Jeannette is given great independence even though she is only three years old; Mom's logic for this is that Jeannette is mature. Later, Mom commands her to stop crying about the family cat her father throws out of the vehicle, instructing her not to be sentimental. These moments show that does not hover over her children or worry about their physical and emotional well-being. Instead, she is confident in their strength as individuals to deal with whatever happens. Dad shares a similar attitude toward parenting and life, as shown through his scorpion story and his idea of the "skedaddle." The story of Lori's scorpion sting and treatment by a Native American healer shows that Dad eschews...

Words: 328 - Pages: 2

Free Essay

Engineer of the Manocasto

...consumer, you regularly encounter information systems that support the business processes and operations at the many retail stores where you shop. For example, most retail stores now use computer-based information systems to help their employees record customer purchases, keep track of inventory, pay employees, buy new merchandise, and evaluate sales trends. Store operations would grind to a halt without the support of such information systems. Support of Business Decision Making . Information systems also help store managers and other business professionals make better decisions. For example, decisions about what lines of merchandise need to be added or discontinued and what kind of investments they require are typically made after an analysis provided by computer-based information systems. This function not only supports the decision making of store managers, buyers, and others, but also helps them look for ways to gain an advantage over other retailers in the competition for customers. Support of Strategies for Competitive Advantage . Gaining a strategic advantage over competitors requires the innovative application of information technologies. For example, store management might make a decision to install touch-screen kiosks in all stores, with links to the e-commerce Web site for online shopping. This offering might attract new customers and build customer loyalty because of the ease of shopping and buying merchandise provided by such information systems. Thus, strategic...

Words: 19641 - Pages: 79

Free Essay

Jane Eyre

...Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë An Electronic Classics Series Publication Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë is a publication of the Pennsylvania State University. This Portable Document file is furnished free and without any charge of any kind. Any person using this document file, for any purpose, and in any way does so at his or her own risk. Neither the Pennsylvania State University nor Jim Manis, Faculty Editor, nor anyone associated with the Pennsylvania State University assumes any responsibility for the material contained within the document or for the file as an electronic transmission, in any way. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë, the Pennsylvania State University, Electronic Classics Series, Jim Manis, Faculty Editor, Hazleton, PA 18202-1291 is a Portable Document File produced as part of an ongoing student publication project to bring classical works of literature, in English, to free and easy access of those wishing to make use of them. Cover Design: Jim Manis Copyright © 2003 - 2012 The Pennsylvania State University is an equal opportunity university. Charlotte Brontë Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë PREFA PREFACE A PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION of Jane Eyre being unnecessary, I gave none: this second edition demands a few words both of acknowledgment and miscellaneous remark. My thanks are due in three quarters. To the Public, for the indulgent ear it has inclined to a plain tale with few pretensions. To the Press, for the fair field its honest suffrage...

Words: 189679 - Pages: 759

Premium Essay

California an Interpretive History - Rawls, James

...CALIFORNIA CALIFORNIA An Interpretive History TENTH EDITION James J. Rawls Instructor of History Diablo Valley College Walton Bean Late Professor of History University of California, Berkeley TM TM CALIFORNIA: AN INTERPRETIVE HISTORY, TENTH EDITION Published by McGraw-Hill, a business unit of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 1221 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020. Copyright © 2012 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Previous editions © 2008, 2003, and 1998. No part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written consent of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., including, but not limited to, in any network or other electronic storage or transmission, or broadcast for distance learning. Some ancillaries, including electronic and print components, may not be available to customers outside the United States. This book is printed on acid-free paper. 1234567890 QFR/QFR 10987654321 ISBN: 978-0-07-340696-1 MHID: 0-07-340696-1 Vice President & Editor-in-Chief: Michael Ryan Vice President EDP/Central Publishing Services: Kimberly Meriwether David Publisher: Christopher Freitag Sponsoring Editor: Matthew Busbridge Executive Marketing Manager: Pamela S. Cooper Editorial Coordinator: Nikki Weissman Project Manager: Erin Melloy Design Coordinator: Margarite Reynolds Cover Designer: Carole Lawson Cover Image: Albert Bierstadt, American (born...

Words: 248535 - Pages: 995

Free Essay

Elionor Ostrom

...TRABAJAR JUNTOS Acción colectiva, bienes comunes y múltiples métodos en la práctica Traducción, Lili Buj con la colaboración de Leticia Merino. Revisión técnica, Sofya Dolutskaya, Leticia Merino y Arturo Lara. Amy R. Poteete, Marco A. Janssen, Elinor Ostrom Trabajar Juntos Acción colectiva, bienes comunes y múltiples métodos en la práctica Primera edicion en inglés, 2010 Working Together: Collective Action, the Commons, and Multiple Methods in Practice de Amy R. Poteete, Marco A. Janssen, Elinor Ostrom Princeton University Press HD1289 .P75 2012 Poteete, Amy R. Trabajar juntos: acción colectiva, bienes comunes y múltiples métodos en la práctica / Amy R. Poteete, Marco A. Janssen, Elinor Ostrom; traducción Lili Buj Niles con la colaboración de Leticia Merino. --México: UNAM, CEIICH, CRIM, FCPS, FE, IIEc, IIS, PUMA; IASC, CIDE, Colsan, CONABIO, CCMSS, FCE, UAM, 2012. Incluye referencias bibliográficas 572 p.; Ilustraciones, graficas y cuadros Traducción de: Working Together: Collective Action, the Commons, and Multiple Methods in Practice. ISBN 978-607-02-3577-1 1. Recursos naturales comunes – Administración – Metodología. 2. Organización y métodos. I. Janssen, Marco A. II. Ostrom, Elinor. III. Buj Niles, Lili. IV. Merino, Leticia. V. Titulo. Este libro fue sometido a un proceso de dictaminación por académicos externos al Instituto, de acuerdo con las normas establecidas por el Consejo Editorial de las Colecciones de Libros del Instituto de Investigaciones Sociales...

Words: 156334 - Pages: 626