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Analysis Of Jeannette Walls The Glass Castle

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Famed poet Rainer Maria Rilke once said, “The only journey is the journey within” (Brainy Quote). This applies to many things, and the journey towards growth is one of them. In Jeannette Walls’ memoir The Glass Castle, many individuals face the journey towards growth through acting upon insight. Jeannette Walls tells the story about how she and her siblings have to face a life of poverty and constant moving around in order to survive. Many treacherous events take place, many memories, good and bad, are engraved into their memories for the rest of their lives and are all told through this astounding memoir. To begin, by gaining insight into what is negatively impacting her, Jeannette is able to act. Furthermore, Jeannette’s bravery to act upon …show more content…

For instance, Jeannette knows that Rex is wrong when he takes Ermas’ side, so she sticks up for herself. When Jeannette explains what happened, Rex yells, “I don’t care what happened” and Jeannette says, “But we were just protecting ourselves” (147). This shows that although her father, who she thought was going to be on their side, is opposing her, she does not stand for his treatment towards her and instead stands up for herself. In addition, Jeannette decides to get a job. After she realises that living in poverty is not a good way to live and to fight against the lack of parental income, she gets a job so that she can pay for the bare necessities that a family should have. By getting a job, which is against her parents wishes, she is demonstrating that she is acting bravely and is taking a step towards growth. Also, Jeannette confronts Rex about his alcohol addiction. As a young child, Jeannette asked Rex to stop drinking. On her tenth birthday Rex asks Jeannette what she wants. She looks at him and anxiously asks, “Do you think you could maybe stop drinking?” (116). Although she is just a child, she was able to gather the insight that her father has an alcohol issue and it is affecting her family in negative ways. By realising how harmful it is for him to drink, this demonstrates that she gains the courage to act by asking him to stop. Thus, through her new found insight and ability to act upon it, Jeannette is able to forge her path in her journey towards

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