Parenting Style In The Glass Castle By Jeannette Walls

When society thinks of the word “childhood,” they imagine it as a precious time for children to be in school and freely play, to grow and learn with the love and support from people dear to their hearts. It is also known to be a cherished period where children are to be innocent and live carefree from fear. However, in the context of The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, childhood is viewed as a tough hardship that Jeannette and her siblings have overcame, and the memories they carry has greatly impacted their lives that it has molded them to who they are

In the memoir, The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, the Walls family is considered homeless and they are constantly moving from place to place. They constantly find themselves either with a somewhat decent amount of money or at times, no money at all. Jeannette, being one of four children always follows along with and listens to her parents and eventually notices that their family does things very differently than most other families. As Jeannette explains her childhood and how she is being raised by her parents, it is clear to see how different Rex and Rosemary’s parenting style is compared to the parenting style of other parents. Since their parenting style is so different, it seems that it affects their children in a negative way throughout their childhood, but in the end it makes Jeannette become a better and more successful person.

Jeanette Walls faced many horrible events in her childhood. Her parents barely took care of her, which resulted in a very bad experience in her life, when she got caught on fire. One fire symbol in The Glass Castle is when Jeanette, “Lit a match and held it close to Tinkerbell’s face…her face was starting to melt” (16). This newly-melted Tinkerbell doll represents Jeanette because she was also burnt by a fire. After she melts her doll, Jeanette tries to ignore the fact that it is melted, like how her parents ignored the burns on her body after the terrible fire accident. Jeanette’s Tinkerbell doll merely symbolizes the awful events that Jeanette

In The Glass Castle, Rex and Rosemary Walls mostly show the traits of having a permissive parenting style. Throughout the novel, Rex and Rosemary are very lenient with their children only disciplining them when they talk back, as described in the article permissive parents,” rarely discipline their children…” (Cherry, The four styles of parenting). This is proven by a quote from the book,” They’d stick their heads into her classroom and see the students playing tag and throwing erasers…” (74). Rosemary was unable to discipline not only her own kids but an entire classroom full of kids, which shows that she was definitely lenient with children and preferred to let them do their own things. Another example of the permissive parenting style shown

Parents are the biggest influence upon their children. From the time a child is born to the time they leave the household, the values that the parents hold are instilled into their children. Parents are required to make crucial decisions about how to raise their children in order to guide them through the inevitable obstacles and hardships of life. In The Glass Castle, many would argue the lack of care and responsibility the Walls had for their children. The author, Jeannette Walls, uses Rex and Mary Walls to demonstrate that their strong traits of non-conformity, self-sufficiency and perseverance are passed on to their children, allowing them to develop to their full potential. Children are dependent on their parents to

Hope Edelman, a writer and mother, discusses her thoughts and experiences of the reality of marriage in, “The Myth of Co-Parenting: How It Was Supposed to Be. How It Was.” Edelman details how at the beginning of her marriage her husband was starting an internet business and had to take long hours causing Hope to cut hers in order to care for their child. Hope describes how she expected marriage to be a place where the spouses split homemaking and breadwinning equally. She quickly realized that that was not the case. Hope details how she became a primary housewife quickly and ended up becoming angry not doing what she wanted to do. Throughout, Hope asserts her anger and the situations she was put in that caused her frustration. By the end of

In this world, there’s learning things the hard way and the easy way; in Jeannette Wall’s world, there’s only learning things the hard way. The Glass Castle is an adventurous story that reveals the painfully miserable story of Jeannette Walls. A selfish mother, a careless father, and terrible social encounters- these are some of the elements of a harsh reality Rex and Rose Mary Walls failed to shield their children from.

The most exemplified parenting style implemented by Rex and Rosemary Walls in The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls is permissive parenting. Rex and Rosemary have very few demands of their children “They are very indulgent, and nurturing” (Cherry, “The four styles of parenting”). “When Jeanette catches herself on fire, her mother does everything she can to get Jeanette to the hospital, she rushes to the neighbors and takes their car and speeds there.”(9) Jeanette’s mother cares very much for her children, otherwise she would have done nothing. Rex and Rosemary rarely discipline their children, “they have low expectations of maturity and self-control from them” (Cherry). One night Jeanette gets scared that there is something under her bed and

The permissive parenting style best exemplifies Rex and Rosemary Walls’ parenting because they rarely discipline their children, they act more like their kids friends than their parents, and they do not believe in their children’s success. Rex and Rosemary didn’t concern themselves when punishing their children for doing bad things. “It was self -defense, I piped. Dad had always said that self- defense was a justifiable reason for shooting someone” (89). Most parents would have punished their children for shooting someone, so parents who wouldn’t are considered permissive parents. The walls parents consider themselves to be their kids’ friend rather than a concerned parent. “’ Good for you, Mom said when she saw me cooking. You’ve got to get right back on the saddle”’ (15)… Friends tend to encourage you to do stupid things but in this situation Jeannette’s mother is the one encouraging her to do something not so bright. Rex and Rosemary do not expect their kids to become any greater than they are. “That’s my girl! Dad said with a hug, then barked orders at us all to speed things up” (17). They show their kids what they believe to be a good life, and they don’t let their children think anything negative about it because that if their

In the book The Glass Castle Jeannette Walls, the narrator displays her parent's parenting skills as authoritative. According to Cherry, Kendra. “Psychology: What They Are and Why They Matter.” The Four Styles of Parenting. she defines authoritative parents as being “... more nurturing and forgiving rather than punishment”.When Rex got upset about the Erma incident with the children “ I don't want to hear another word of this. Do you hear me” Walls 148. During this confrontation between the characters the dad ended up forgiving the children rather than punishing them. Since the parents are so forgiving, the article also states that “authoritative parents are responsive to their children and willing to listen to questions”Psychology: What They Are and Why They Matter.” The Four Styles of Parenting.

The parenting paradigm best exemplified to Rex and Rosemary Walls in The Glass Castle Jeanette Walls is the permissive parenting paradigm. The parents of Jeanette are more reactive than demanding to the children (Cherry, “The Four Styles of Parenting”). Jeanette at one point expressed, “I loved the desert, too… we’d catch scorpions and snakes and horny toads. We’d search for gold, and when we couldn’t find it, we’d collect other valuable rocks…” (21). The children roam in the desert as if it is a safe place because their parents trust them. The desert is a dangerous place, but the parents believe they have taught their children the needed skills to survive. The parents have few demands of their children and allow them

In The Glass Castle Jeannette Walls faces harsh stuff through her childhood because of her parents. In the beginning of the book she finds her mother digging through trash. She feels embarrassed, so she turns around and goes home without saying hello. Jeanette then calls her mother and asks to have dinner with her. She offers her mother help because she feels guilty, but her mother rejects her help. Jeanette’s mother then tells her that her values are all wrong. Jeanette opens up to her mother about being embarrassed and passing her up in the streets. When her mother asks her why, Jeannette says, “I was too ashamed, Mom. I hid”(5). This quote also relates to her childhood. Jeanette’s childhood was shameful due to her parents careless way of living. Throughout The Glass Castle Jeannette hides her childhood just like she from her mother because she is ashamed of what people might think.

Sinking to the bottom of the ocean can signify that, that person is giving up and that they are not willing to fight anymore. Jeannette Walls was raised by parents that believed that their children should learn from their own mistakes. The Walls children were put in danger by their parents various times, just so they could understand that they should not depend on anybody but themselves; the Walls children were taught that living life holding on to the edge could prevent them to take risky chances and lose the chance of having success. In the book “The Glass Castle” written by Jeannette Walls, Rex Walls describes to Jeannette that “If you don’t want to sink, you better figure out how to swim.”(Walls 66). This saying was said to Jeannette because

Nicholas Sparks once said, “I don’t know that love changes. People change. Circumstances change.” In the memoir, The Glass Castle author Jeannette Walls shows how her father Rex Walls changes with everything thrown at him as a father or four. In the beginning of being a parent Rex shares his intelligence with his children. As Rex’s children get older rex get more and more worried about the kids. In the end of Rex’s parental run Rex becomes more productive with the way the kids run their own lives. Throughout The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, rex changes from an intelligent drunk to a paranoid person to a helpful father.

“Life is a drama full of tragedy and comedy. You should learn to enjoy the comic episodes a little more.” The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls has very important life lessons that will teach you to laugh at your tragedies sometimes. The most important lessons are that struggle makes you unique, you either sink or swim, and sometimes crisis makes you realize your potential. In the memoir, you will learn these and accept them. There will be a lot of struggles thrown your way, but you will find a way to get through it and realize it makes you who you are.