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Analysis Of The Glass Castle By Jeannette Walls

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Many people live by a specific motto. It is their guide through life, and usually affects their life’s future direction. In The Glass Castle, By Jeannette Walls, the grandmother, Lily Walls’s motto of “push and pray” is the driving force that determines the direction of her future. She pushes and prays throughout the book, but can most prominently be seen when she ties to push back against her father, is working hard to publish her school newspaper, and spends all her effort to raise enough money to move to New York. Jeannette pushes and prays very hard to push back against her father’s detrimental behaviors, creating an extra drive for her to leave the house. At first, Jeannette accuses her mother of being weak and always giving in to her …show more content…

In order to reach this goal, she spends much effort “pushing” through hard moments. After Ken and Bob, the reporters from New York, visit Welch, Jeannette says, “I decided I wanted to go there, too, and that winter we came up with a plan. Lori would leave by herself [...] settle in [...] and I’d follow her as soon as I could” (222). Jeannette is set on living in New York since she believes that it is the only way for her to be successful in life. She will do anything in order to move away from Welch. With this goal in mind, the two sisters collect money to finance the trip, only to have it stolen by their father. This is when Jeannette starts to “pray” that they can still accomplish their dream. Just after the father steals their money, “Lori just kept saying [...,] “I’ll never get out of here.” “You will,” I said. [...] I believed she would. Because I knew that if Lori never got out of Welch, neither would I” (229). This is Jeannette’s greatest fear: to be stuck in Welch. Jeannette prays that Lori will make it to New York so that she could help her move there as well. In the end, that is exactly what happens. Lori moves to New York and Jeannette moves in with her a little while later. Due to the sisters’ pushing and praying, they manage to move to New York, and Jeannette can land a successful job at the

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