Analysis Of The Glass Castle By Jeannette Walls

The Glass Castle: A Heartwarming Story About A Unique Lifestyle

"The Glass Castle" by Jeannette Walls is truly on of the most amazing memoirs I have ever read. It contains a beautiful message, that no matter how man troubles and difficulties befall a family, they are still a family and their love binds them together for life. The author uses many literary techniques to portray her message and she structures the memoir into three section, in the first portion she writes about how happy their family is and slight with hints of doubt. The second portion shows disappointment and the realization that their life is not as good as it seemed, and the third portion is about their life without their parents holding them down, but also letting them back

There is a line that really sticks out in the beginning of the memoir. The family just moved again because they were running from the police and Lori and Jeannette are sleeping outside because they have nowhere to stay. ""We could live like this forever," I said. "I think we're going to," she said." (Walls 18). Lori doesn’t come right out and say that she is displeased with her living situation, but it hints at the beginning of her displeasure towards her current lifestyle. But even though the story begins to show some conflict, it also demonstrates how this family embraces their struggles and abnormal lifestyle as an adventure. A wonderful example of this is when Jeannette sees a Joshua tree sapling and she told her mother she wanted to replant it near her house so she could protect it from things to make sure it would grow tall and straight. "Mom frowned at me. "You'd be destroying what makes it special," she said. "It's the Joshua tree's struggle that gives it its beauty." (Walls 38). The way Walls uses symbolism to compare the Joshua tree to Jeannette and her family is a wonderful way to enforce the

Yet they are still a part of her life so she cant truly forget them. An example of this is shown through the use of paradox. Jeannette and her college Professor are having a conversation about what the class thought the cause of homelessness was. Jeannette said that she believed that poor people got the lives they worked for. "Are you saying homeless people want to live on the street?" Professor Fuchs asked. "Are you saying the don’t warm beds and roofs over their heads?" "Not exactly," I said. I was fumbling for words. "They do. But if some of them were willing to work hard and make compromises, they might not have ideal lives, but they could make ends meet." Professor Fuchs walked around from behind her lectern. "What do you know about the lives of the underprivileged?" She asked. She was practically trembling with agitation. "What do you know about the hardships and obstacles that the underclass faces?" The other students were staring at me. "You have a point," I said." (Walls 257). This amazing example of a paradox shows that her statement is self contradictory to her life, but her classmates and teacher do not know of her past, so she just comes off sounding like a rich girl who thinks she knows it all. Jeannette could have told the class about her past and not looked like an ignorant person, but she was ashamed to admit that if her