Analysis Of Homelessness: The Glass Castle By Jeannette Walls

Homelessness is a problem our society has, we try very hard at managing it, but what we need to do is try to solve it. Some of the ways we try to solve it is by housing the

House for the Homeless: A Place to Hang Your Hat, written by Ivana Nikolic, is an essay about the habits and behaviors of homeless people at a shelter called the Ramsey House. Through her field research Ivana learned about the homeless people’s daily rituals and behaviors. In the following paragraphs, I will illustrate for you examples of these rituals and behaviors.

Jeannette Walls depicted an epoch of misfortune and adversity in her memoir, The Glass Castle. Jeannette and her 3 other siblings were all in a constant struggle to survive. Rex and Mary, the parents of Jeannette and her 3 siblings, were often in a constant dichotomy between submitting to self-interest and supporting the family. Having misfit parents, Jeannette and her 3 siblings were often independent and left to fend for themselves and for the family as a whole. In The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls evolved the theme of ideal versus reality throughout her memoir though her countless anecdotes of her father and his unattainable plans to find gold and to build a home, named The Glass Castle, for his family and her mother’s dream to become a professional and well redound artist.

Upon reading The Glass Castle, written by Jeannette Walls, the reader will quickly notice all of the responsibilities Jeannette; the author and narrator of the novel, takes on throughout her life. The book itself is a memoir of Jeannette’s life that takes place from 1963 to 2005 and takes the reader through the ups and downs of Jeannette’s life in poverty and somewhat neglect. While reading the novel, the reader will be shown situations where they will be shocked and heartbroken. Jeannette’s family isn’t the average family from the south. With her father; Rex Walls being an alcoholic that couldn’t keep a job, her mother; Rosemary Walls who refused to get a job, her older

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.

Inevitably, the conflicts people face at multiple points in their life is a determining factor in shaping individuals into the person they will eventually become. Namely, these conflicts direct people 's behavior over the course of time; contributing to a person’s ability to achieve success. In particular, Jeannette Walls’ The Glass Castle is an honest depiction of her life and the conflicts that arise throughout her state of impoverishment, as well as the success that stems from her hardships. In the memoir, Rex Walls’ internal conflict, Jeannette Walls’ conflict with Rose Mary, and Jeannette’s conflict with society push her to become the person she is today. Therefore, Jeannette Walls’ owes her success to the hardships she had as a child.

In her essay, “On Compassion”, Barbara Lazear Ascher analyzes the idea of compassion and the -------- of the homeless by the those more fortunate. She presents two instances in which homeless people are gifted with money or food items and ponders the motivation behind these acts. ----------------------. Targeting a broad audience, specifically people belonging to a higher socioeconomic standing, Ascher emphasizes the need for awareness of the adversity of the homeless, establishes that one must learn “compassion” for the homeless and less fortunate, and poses the question of whether the motivation for the “compassion” is relevant.

According to the PBS Frontline video “Poor Kids” 2012, more than 46 million Americans are living beneath the poverty line. The United States alone has one of the highest rates of child poverty in the industrialized world. It is stated that 1 out of 5 children are living in poverty. The video documented the lives of three families who are faced with extreme hardships and are battling to survive a life of being poor. All three families have more than one child and could barely afford to pay their bills and purchase food for their household.

Homelessness is one the most ignored problems in the United States with citizen and politician. Homeless people are walked by and ignored. Nobody ever thinks that they will be homeless. Due to the economy, people live paycheck to paycheck making house payments very difficult. Most people will want to believe most homeless people are drug addicts or alcoholics, but most people will be surprise to know that it is no all true. Veterans with PTSD (Post-traumatic stress disorder) have a high risk of becoming homeless. Homelessness is cause by drug and alcohol dependencies, the economy and veterans who suffers from PTSD or other forms of mental illness.

In The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, Rose Mary is the mother of the Walls children who often does not act as a true adult. Rose Mary’s attitudes and behaviours are childlike, and therefore her children must take on responsibility for the lack her own. Rose Mary ignores her obligations as a parent and chooses an irresponsible way of life which endangers her children. Rose Mary has never properly matured into adulthood due to her lack of financial stability, bliss ignorance and optimism, and her selfishness nature.

Homelessness is usually a result of several of complicated issues. First, domestic and family violence is considered to be the most common reason why people become homeless. Domestic and family violence is that one person uses abuse and/or violence to control his/her spouse or other family members through fear (Domestic Violence Prevention Centre, 2016). Therefore, victims prefer to stay outside all day in order to avoid being at home which is considered as nightmare. Second, financial difficulty is another major cause for homelessness. People may experience

The most influential novel that I read this year is The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls. Walls’s memoir had moving themes of strength, perseverance and forgiveness. It also caused me to have passionate reactions. Finally, The Glass Castle impacted me the most because it forced me to reconsider my opinion of homeless people. This novel was a beneficial reading experience.

While circumstances can vary, an individual’s first choice is rarely to choose homelessness due to the inability to afford housing or other unforeseen circumstances. The support of friends, family, and community programs/shelters are first suggestions when a person becomes displaced. When these suggestions become inadequate, living on the streets is the next favorable/affordable option. According to the National Alliance to End Homelessness, on a night in January of 2015, there were 564,708 people homeless in the United States (para 3). On a larger scale, more than one million people are homeless in America and of that population, 50 percent are chronically addicted to alcohol, drugs, or both (Substance abuse mental health, 2011 para 6). Research has brought more attention to risk factors that contribute to homelessness such as the epidemic of substance abuse.

She effectively describes the problems of being homeless accurately and was able to use her story to account their struggles and how those struggles made her who is. Homelessness is a widespread problem throughout the world. A lot of individuals fall into homelessness and become helpless. But Jeanette’s circumstance fueled her desire to explore opportunities that would afford her a future better than her current situation. Although her family was poor and lacked essential necessities, her parents were able to instill values like the importance of literature and education; that eventually lead to Jeanette’s love for journalism and her career than bettered her

It is hard to imagine life as a homeless family. I hope that I’ll never have to move my family from shelter to shelter as some families must do every day. According to the essay “Homeless” by Anna Quindlen, we should take more time in our lives to see the pain that homelessness creates. I agree with Anna Quindlen’s assertion that a home is everything. A home can provide certainty. A home can provide stability. Lastly, I agree with Quindlen because a home can provide privacy.