The book The glass Castle by Jeanette Walls is a very interesting as well as inspiring novel. She and her family the Walls carry the idea of the american dream throughout the entirety of the book. The American dream is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as “the idea that every citizen of the United States should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative.” A big reason I believe the Walls experience the American dream is because of all of their traveling all over the United States. And also because of all of the neat experiences Jeannette has lived through and humbley told about. The book is narrated by Jeanette Walls, the daughter of Rose Mary Walls, and Rex Walls. She …show more content…
Such as when she was cooking hotdogs for herself at the age of 4 because her mother wouldn't do it. And ended up burning herself, being rushed to the hospital. She loved being in the hospital because she felt she was cared for and the doctors asking her why she had so many other cuts and bruises. Jeanette explained “I got the cuts and bruises playing outside”(10). Very early in the book I recognized this was an example of the American dream. Because, She was just a young kid, nothing to worry about. Living how she wanted happily outside. But this is only a small taste of how the Walls family experienced the American Dream. There were many ways the Glass castle related to the American Dream. However, something that stuck out to me was the Wall's living conditions. Rose Mary and Rex roughly, But they liked how they lived. They moved the family to many places across the country. All the way from Arizona where Rex “decided we take a long camping trip to the Grand Canyon”(118). However this dream was short lived because they didn't have many nice things such as: clothes, homes, food, or vehicles. And when they took off for their journey to the Grand Canyon their car broke …show more content…
In a small home on top of a hill. Painted half bright yellow and half faded white. Rex could never hold a job. And Rose Mary didnt wanna work. They couldn't afford to keep the lights on. The house never did have plumbing. When the walls didn't have food, the kids stole the neighbors food. When Brian slept he put an inflatable raft over top of his head so rain and wind wouldn't pour over his head. However this was their life and they accepted it.. For a while. Not long after Lori and Jeannette grew up and graduated highschool. They both decided to move to New York City. Where they really did live the American dream. Living on their own, providing for themselves. And their small apartment had many things they didn't have growing up such as: a working fridge, their own bedrooms, working plumbing, and even a bathtub deep enough to swim in. I compared my life to theirs. All of the things they didn't have til they were adults, I've taken for granite to have. But it's also a big reason many people migrate to the United States. Because we have those many luxurious things. And the ability to achieve success or prosperity. The Glass Castle is a great book for people of all ages. Because it can teach people about what its like to travel, for those who have never got the
The book I read was The Glass Castle. This book was written by Jeannette Walls. I chose this book because in eighth grade we read half of this book. I liked the book so I decide to read it to find out what happened.
The Glass Castle is a 2005 memoir. It was written by Jeannette Walls, an American writer and journalist widely known as a former gossip columnist for MSNBC.The Glass Castle is about the story of Jeannette Walls and her family, who is often short on cash and food. It sets place on many different places since the family skedaddles around the country constantly. Some of those places include West Virginia, NYC and Arizona.
The reader will feel sympathy toward the reactions of the characters to remedy their problems. The plot of the story allows you to experience Jeannette’s growth and her knowledge of her surroundings as she is being exposed to new people and places. The Glass Castle, will induce a rising senior to continue on reading the book during their summer break.
Introduction: The glass castle by Jeannette Walls is the book I chose to read for our summer reading assignment. The glass castle is about 3, eventually 4 kids who have always been told to chase their dreams no matter what happens or where it takes them. The parents which consists of a selfish mom who does stuff to benefit her own needs and a dad who’s a drunk, live by this quote and unfortunately chasing their dream leads them to live their life in poverty, filled with lies, misery, and struggle but with a little hard work, and perseverance the walls children flourish. Summary: The story starts off with little Jeannette walls at the age of three making herself a hotdog.
The Invisible Chapter It is hard to believe that a girl whose background is rooted in poverty has been able to become a successful writer after graduating from not just a college but from one of the Ivy League colleges. Living with an erratic and alcoholic dad and a distant and irresponsible mom - both of whom, even into her adulthood, have not changed for the better – compounded this girl’s difficulty of living in poverty. This scenario may sound alien in nature to the common middle class person, but was a reality for Jeannette Walls. Based on this description, it is easy and reasonable to believe that Walls is ashamed of her parents, Rex and Rose Mary, as well as her past when initially reading her memoir The Glass Castle.
The poverty rates are growing by the year as many families struggle to afford sufficient housing, this ultimately impacts the quality of life for their kids. In the novel The Glass Castle written by Jeannette Walls, it shows the life of Jeannette as a child growing up in a house with a constant cycle of poverty, and homelessness. To push past her families issues, Jeannette thrived in her schoolwork and became a writer for her school newspaper. As she grew older and worked harder, Jeannette moved to New York with her siblings to pursue her career in newswriting. Soon after, both of her parents followed and were homeless for many years.
The Glass Castle is a memoir by Jeannette Walls covering her growth from childhood to adult life. Throughout her journey, Jeannette formed a close relationship with her siblings to combat the often unstable environment created by their parents. Financial instability, constant uncertainty, and persistent hunger burdened the Walls family; however, their adaptive lifestyle overshadowed these daily onuses. Jeannette and her siblings did not make the life-changing realization that they were growing up in an unhealthy setting until their teenage years. The Glass Castle depicts this tragedy, one often filled with false hope and satisfaction.
The Consequences of the Walls Children's Insufficient Upbringing In Jeannette Walls' memoir, "The Glass Castle," the author reflects on her childhood and the impact of her parents' unorthodox parenting style. Throughout the book, Walls recounts instances where her parents, Rose Mary and Rex Walls, neglected, starved, and failed to provide a stable home for their children. As a result of their irresponsible behavior, the children in "The Glass Castle" suffered from a lack of basic necessities, emotional trauma, and long-lasting scars. Although Jeannette’s parents’ parenting style can be clearly identified as horrific as it left Jeanette and her siblings afflicted and broken, their unconventional methods can be argued that it actually had a few
After reading Jeannette Walls book, The Glass Castle I can say with honesty that it is one of the best books I have ever read and will always be one of my favorite books. Three particular elements of the work stood out to me- the honesty of her writing style, the stories she shared, and the incredible character development. Throughout the book, in each and every story Walls tells the stories with complete honesty, not adding or detracting details to make the stories better. The writing is easy to understand and therefore it is easy to get caught up in the book and really enjoy it.
“If you don't want to sink, you better figure out how to swim. ”(Walls 41)This is what the protagonist had to do for everything in her life. If she wanted to live a good life she had to be independent and figure everything out on her own without any help. The memoir The Glass Castle is based on a true story that happened to Jeannette Walls beginning in the 1960s.
It is evident that her childhood may have impacted her in a more severe psychological way. The book The Glass Castle is a very interesting narrative. The author Jeanette Walls is able to bring new light to circumstances that many people choose to ignore or overlook by writing about her own childhood. This gives the book a new perspective and allows the reader to gain insight.
The Glass Castle is unlike any other ordinary book. This true story holds almost every detail of a poor family’s life. It holds in its pages hardships, adventures, fighting, longing, and loving. With an artistic mother named Rose Mary, a smart daughter named Lori, a beautiful daughter named Maureen, a country son named Brian, a drunk father named Rex, and herself, an adventurous hard-working daughter named Jeannette, they were those very people who made up the Walls family. They faced more challenges than the average family would.
A balance between a enriching intellectual environment and comfortable living conditions is what all families, especially parents want. This is a constant struggle in the Glass Castle because of the Walls poor living condition, but eagerness to explore and adventure the world. Rex and Rosemary Walls, parents of Lori, Jeannette, Brian, and Maureen, obviously take an exploratory and learning environment over a comforting living space. Although living in rough conditions, which leads to bullying, poverty, I believe that it was more important that the Walls created circumstances for most of the children to explore and enjoy learning. Jeannette Walls, the author and the narrator throughout the book, tells a story about her life from when she was
When life throws them curveballs, they pack up what little they have, and start someplace new. Aside from being burned by the fire, some of Jeannette’s first memories are being loaded up in the car and driving to a new home, out west. Her dad was always sure that after they moved again, they would start building the glass castle and all of their problems would be gone. Even if Jeannette was given empty promises as a child, she remembers having hope, because “Dad started telling us about all the exciting things we were going to do and how we were going to get rich once we reached the new place we were going to live” (18). This quote reveals that while the Walls family lived out west, their parents (mostly her dad) somehow had the assurance that one day their lives would be
The Glass Castle is the life story of a girl, Jeannette Walls, and her siblings who grew up in poverty unnecessarily because of their parents’ irresponsibility. One of its themes is that strength and perseverance can significantly improve your chance at success and your future. The Walls children did not allow their childhood struggles prevent them from creating better and brighter futures for themselves. They all grew up impressively sane considering their living conditions.