Grace, Difference And Education In Through The Glass Castle By Janette Walls

Kayla Tindall
Professor Patrick Hummel
FYS: First Year Seminar
12 September 2014
The Glass Castle Essay Through the Glass Castle, Janette Walls shares many aspects of her life including grace, difference, and education. Janette’s educational life is one of the main focuses in the book. Janette Walls in the Glass Castle overcomes many obstacles in her life to get an education. Janette clearly states that she needed to learn many things on her own in life in order to be successful. She shows that with determination, no matter what situation you are in, you can achieve the goal of an education “We might enroll in school, but not always” (20). Janette had to overcome the fact that she was not in school everyday like her peers were. Janette had very little formal schooling, yet she was still able to absorb the information she learned and applied that to all aspects of her life in order to be successful. Quote

Janette would read the books that her mom brought home from the library every week. “Mom really piled up the books. She came home from the Welch Public Library every week or two with a pillowcase full of novels, biographies, and histories….Once night came, we kids all lay in our rope-and-cardboard beds, reading by flashlight or candle we’d sit on our wooden boxes, each of us creating our own little pool of dim light.” (21?) This passage shows that Janette was motivated to get an education and overcome the obstacle of even though she is not in school; she still kept herself educated by reading books. Even though she did not have the proper means, like a lamp, to read a book at night. Janette also became educated while she was reading. Because her mom brought her home books such as biographies and histories she learned about influential people from the past and about the history of the world. Janette is able gain knowledge because her mom checked out books that were