A Struggling Family With Successful Futures
Bill Gates once said, “If you're born poor, it's not your mistake. But if you die poor its your mistake.” In the novel The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls the Walls children learn many things that lead them to a successful future. This novel is about a very poor family that includes Rex, and Rosemary the father and mother of Lori, Jeannette, Brian, and Maureen Walls. Rex and Rosemary are very irresponsible and don't like having jobs. Because of this they become very poor either because their parents don't like their job so they quit or they get fired. As a result of this the Walls children have to go through many hard things due to their poverty but in doing so they learn many things that help them later on in life. This novel
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Once in Battle Mountain, Rex lost his job, and they ran out of money quickly. After that, they decided they were going to have to eat a lot less, and Jeannette states how “We did eat less. Once we lost our credit at the commissary” (Walls 67). This shows us how Jeannette and her family struggled with poverty, because they had no money at the commissary to buy food. Jeannette and her family would have to find their own ways to get food because they were all hungry but had no money to buy any. Jeannette talks about how “During recess at school, I’d slip back into the classroom and find something in some other kids lunch bag that wouldn't be missed” (Walls 68). This shows that Jeannette was very hungry and then she started taking food from the other kids in her class. It also shows us how as she grew up she struggled with poverty even when she was at school. Jeannette learns how resourceful she can be and later in her life this helps her in her success. Jeannette ends up moving to New York with her sister Lori, Jeannette was able to find a job on her own and later her own place, showing she is very resourceful and can do things on her
The JFK Profile in Courage Award was created by the Kennedy family in 1989 to honor President John F. Kennedy and recognize the quality of political courage which he admired the most. The award recognizes a public official who demonstrates the qualities mentioned by President Kennedy in his, Profiles in Courage. In order to win this award one must be a living person who are or were elected officials, must stand strong in their beliefs that are for the good of the country, risk their career, and risk getting re-elected. Many people like Daniel Webster, Thomas Hart Benton, Sam Houston, and every other character named in JFK’s book portrayed the acts of political courage which is to have the courage to stand up for what they believe is right no matter the consequences. However, when asked if Jeannette Walls could or could not be a candidate for this award the three requisites must be taken into consideration.
The novel, The Glass Castle, shows how the Walls family lived without welfare. Both Rosemary and Rex refused to take charity or government aid despite the children and others pleading them to take it. Rosemary objected to conforming to what the society thought was best. Rex argued that his sporadic income was enough to keep the family afloat. However, the children begged their parents to accept other 's help to ease the financial burden on all of them.
Jeannette Walls is walking the streets of New York City when she sees her homeless mother digging in the dumpster. Filled with shame, Jeannette rushes home and begins reflecting upon her childhood and how her parents’ choices have affected her. Throughout her childhood, Jeannette is determined to create for herself a successful life. In her memoir, The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls narrates the story of her triumphant success against all odds, and her unconditional love for her family despite their apparent flaws.
I chose to write about "the Lesson" by Toni Cade Bambara. This short story caught my attention because Bambara focuses on the economic injustices of African Americans. " The Lesson" by Toni Cade Bambara should have been included in ENC 1102 because her work was influenced by the Civil Rights Movement and Black Nationalist movements in the 1960's. It detailed the struggles and injustices African Americans had to endure during that time. It showed social inequality amongst the underprivileged.
For most people, childhood is a time that should be celebrated because of the bliss and innocence one experiences then. For others, it is the complete opposite. Childhood for those few can be described as being full of uncertainty and fear. In The Book Thief, Markus Zusak portrays Liesel’s childhood and adolescence as a time of tribulation and terror after being separated from her family, having to conform to a society she did not agree with, and living surrounded by war and violence. At only nine years of age, Liesel was separated from her biological family.
In the memoir, The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, the Walls family is considered homeless and they are constantly moving from place to place. They constantly find themselves either with a somewhat decent amount of money or at times, no money at all. Jeannette, being one of four children always follows along with and listens to her parents and eventually notices that their family does things very differently than most other families. As Jeannette explains her childhood and how she is being raised by her parents, it is clear to see how different Rex and Rosemary’s parenting style is compared to the parenting style of other parents. Since their parenting style is so different, it seems that it affects their children in a negative way throughout their childhood, but in the end it makes Jeannette become a better and more successful person.
The Glass Castle provides readers with the life story of a young Jeannette Walls, who grew up in a very poor and dysfunctional family. Her touching story provides individuals with an idea of how she developed from a poor and atypical child into an independent, intelligent, and respected woman. In order to discuss Jeannette’s development one must primarily understand what categorizes as development and what the criteria for development include. Also, it is essential to recognize that development takes time, it will not appear over night. Finally, it is crucial to acknowledge how development occurs.
Extended out to most children is the hand of a parent offering a warm hug along with warnings of danger to their children. This is what any fit parent would do. However this is not always the case with all parents. For example in the memoir The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, Rose Mary and Rex Walls are not fit to be parents because they don’t give their children what they need and have an unstable relationship. Jeannette and her siblings live off of what their parents can afford when they have sufficient money but they don’t use it to give them what they need.
I think that when Jeannette considers the possibility that Erma is also abusing her father, she begins to understand why Daddy behaves like this, why he drinks; why he hardly wanted to come back to Welch; and, perhaps most importantly, why he does not want to stand on their side, or even listen to what happened to Brian. Dad's reaction to Brian's experience shows that he has never been able to come to terms with any childhood trauma he survived. All this situation with Erma and Brian, in my opinion, influenced the girl's further life. After most of the events that met the heroine came the moment that was the most difficult for her and when in my opinion she took the most important decisions in her life. It all began with an argument with Rose Mary, or her mother who was seeking an excuse not to go to work after an argument and after mentioning the unpleasant words Rose Mary told everyone about Rex who was very unhappy with this situation, then the action that no one would have done
A balance between a enriching intellectual environment and comfortable living conditions is what all families, especially parents want. This is a constant struggle in the Glass Castle because of the Walls poor living condition, but eagerness to explore and adventure the world. Rex and Rosemary Walls, parents of Lori, Jeannette, Brian, and Maureen, obviously take an exploratory and learning environment over a comforting living space. Although living in rough conditions, which leads to bullying, poverty, I believe that it was more important that the Walls created circumstances for most of the children to explore and enjoy learning. Jeannette Walls, the author and the narrator throughout the book, tells a story about her life from when she was
Poverty and Mental Health Jeannette Walls’ memoir, The Glass Castle, demonstrates the struggles of mental health issues that generate from poverty through her family’s journeys, both mentally and physically. Jeannette Walls displays how poverty can affect an entire family’s life through her use of realism, in-depth descriptions, and imagery in her memoir, The Glass Castle. The Glass Castle focuses on the tie between mental health issues and poverty through the theme of the lasting effects of poverty. Poverty in Jeannette’s younger years is the cause of the majority of her anxiety, depression, and other mental health issues. The Walls family’s period of time in Phoenix contributed to Jeannette’s mental health issues.
She struggled with how the society and her family shaped who she was. She was exposed to her family first which made her behave the way she did under her family’s house. Jeanette struggled with her family by taking care of the house, beings told bending the rules is okay and the acceptance of her Mom’s and Dad’s homelessness. When Jeannette left her family and went to live in New York, she becomes an individual. She fends for herself and gets her life together.
After graduating middle school her friend lost touch with her and eventually left her life for good: “By the time she got to Welch High Dinitia changed.” Jeannette was also sexually harassed by one of her friends in Phoenix while playing hide-and-seek: “Billy smushed his face against mine… ‘Guess what?’Billy shouted. ‘I raped you’” Lastly, while going to school in Phoenix Jeannette was bullied for being smart and skinny: “The other students didn’t like me much because I was so tall and pale and skinny and always raised my hand too fast… A few days after I started school, four Mexican girls followed me home and jumped me in an alleyway…”
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.
While Jeannette was a junior in high school she became aware of the fact she had to get out of Welch and away from her parents. “ All through the long walk, the pain had kept me thinking, and by the time i reached the tree trunk, i had made two decisions. The first was that id had my first and last whipping. No one was ever going to do that to me again. The second was that, like Lori, I was going to get out of welch.