The Glass Castle, By Jeannette Walls

Colson Whitehead once said, “Let the broken glass be broken glass, let it splinter into smaller pieces and dust and scatter. Let the cracks between things widen until they are no longer cracks but the new places for things”. In the memoir “The Glass Castle,” author Jeannette Walls faces despair and turmoil as a result of her impoverished and dysfunctional upbringing. As Jeannette grows up, she watches her father Rex fail to reach his full potential and his dream to build a Glass Castle shatter as his alcoholism takes control. Aware of the devastation her father was causing, she begins to slowly lose faith in him but doesn’t fail to escape her destructive household and pursue her dreams of becoming a journalist. Due to her parent’s lack of parenting and being forced to fend for herself, Jeannette developed a sense of responsibility to care for others and make amends to improve the family’s lifestyle. Despite the turbulence and destruction her parents had caused over the years, unlike her father, Jeannette was able to find the strength to overcome obstacles, developing characteristics that ultimately lead her to achieving her dream, thus illustrating that adversity has the power to shape one’s identity.

This summer I read the memoir “The Glass Castle” by Jeannette Walls. This is the first book that I have read of hers, although I would be interested in reading one of her other books such as “The Silver Star” or “Half Broke Horses”. The memoir takes place in many different cities and states. The novel starts out in New York City when the author is an adult and married, but then it flashes all the way back to when Jeannette, the main character, was three and living in southern Arizona. Jeannette was home alone and she was making herself food when she caught on fire and was taken to the hospital. After six weeks of being in the hospital, her dad, Rex Walls, decided that the nurses and doctors were not trustworthy and was uncomfortable with hospitals, so he snuck her out without being discharged. Soon after, the family “did the skedaddle” as Jeannette called it, and moved to Las Vegas. On the way to their destination, at night, the kids asked their dad to tell them a bedtime story. He told them mostly stories about himself and in the stories he was always the hero. In this particular story, however, the author’s dad describes the plans that he has for the future. This plan consisted of building the Glass Castle, which he has been planning for a very long time. The castle would be a large house for the whole family in the middle of the desert and it would have a glass ceiling, thick glass walls, and a glass staircase. For electricity, there would be solar cells on the

Jeannette Walls is an American writer in journalist who found success in New York City, most notably writing a gossip column for MSNBC in which she details the effects of gossip in politics. She published her memoir, The Glass Castle, in 2005. The book spent 261 weeks on the New York Times Best Seller list. In it, Walls recounts her childhood while growing up in an unstable family with her father and mother, Rex and Rose Mary Walls, her older sister Lori, and her younger brother and sister, Brian and Maureen. Rex and Rose Mary could not settle down and constantly uprooted their family of six to different locations in the southwest region of America. Neither parent could keep a job and struggled to feed and put a roof over their heads. In the novel, Walls views her parents as irresponsible because it rarely seems as though Rex and Rose Mary genuinely want to work and make money to support the family. They thrive off their sense of adventure, as they drive all over the country in a rundown car, looking for their latest shack to pile their family into, usually without running water, heat, or indoor plumbing. Walls will tell the story of her childhood through a series of pivotal moments that ultimately shape her opinion of her parents and lead her to a successful career in New York City.

Walls utilizes literary devices throughout her memoir to illustrate her adversity growing up. The most crucial literary device to take note of is how The Glass Castle doubles as both the title and an extended metaphor. Jeannette’s father, Rex, is always telling his children of his plan to build a glass castle, but the idea is always changing and shifting. Finally, when the family is living in the shambles of West Virginia, it seems progress is going to be made when the children start digging a hole as a foundation for the castle. Though once

As frigid snow frosts the sun-licked ice, a glacial wind howls against the trees. As a child, one would sip hot chocolate and watch a movie with their family. However, Jeannette Walls would be sitting on a dirty floor, cold with no food. In The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, it is revealed that as Jeannette grew up, she endured hardships inflicted upon her by her own parents. However, if Jeannette had not gone through these things, she never would have gained the characteristics that she values present day. Although Jeannette Walls faced destitution and endured anguish during her childhood, these obstacles formed her into a self-reliant woman who proves that just because she did not have as much money as other families, she can still achieve success in her life.

In order to create a building, you must first make sure the foundation is durable. Without a sturdy foundation, the structure won’t be able to stand up properly causing it to come crumbling down. Roofs are supported by pillars, wagons with wheels, and the human body with legs. Without pillars, wheels, or legs, the entire machine wouldn’t be able to do what it’s meant to do. In order to create a castle out of a material so fragile such as glass, it is crucial for the base to be as robust as possible. The ideals of a mighty foundation can be seen in the structure of a family. The parents are the bases that have the duty to make their children reach the clouds. Sons and daughters are a result of the nurturing

Dear parents, if you want to know what not to do in terms of parenting take notes from Rosemary and Rex Walls. In the memoir Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, both Rosemary and Rex Walls were terrible parents. They always put their own needs and wants over the needs of their own kids. Rosemary did many selfish acts like when she refused to get a job, she didn't give her children food, and wouldn’t sell her land or the diamond ring. Rosemary and Rex Walls are both terrible parents, but Rosemary was definitely the worst.

Success in life does not ultimately rely on a person’s upbringing. Often, society tends to blame their parents, or the lack of opportunities given to them as a reason for their failure to achieve an ideal lifestyle. This is one of the main ideas represented throughout Jeannette Walls memoir, The Glass Castle. She overcomes all the destructive people and behavior in her life. Even though she had no advantages growing up, we still see Jeannette become a successful adult.

Jeannette’s entire adolescent life consisted in never really having a real home to call her own. While she lived in many places her father's inability to hold a job because of his volatility as his pride kept them from having everything that the Walls needed. Constantly moving to escape unpaid bills, casinos that Rex had knocked off, or inability to find work the Walls family was constantly on the move. As a young child Jennette is able to cope with sudden changes because of her father's ability to make her believe in the vision “The Glass Castle” that he will build for the family once they strike gold and become rich. The inability to have a stable home with a stable income has a direct correlation to the father's struggles. You see that Rex loves his family but doesn’t have the power to fight his notions of a real man is so his family continues to struggle. The fact that he can’t ask for help or graciously accept help from people willing to provide for them aids instability and in the hunger. The memoir does show how stability and instability can be good as well as bad in people's lives. Forced to grow up a little faster than most the Walls children learned that the only people they could count on were each

Rex Walls, her father,  was very hands with his parenting bringing issues to the family, while contrasting Rose Mary, her mother, was very relaxed in her parenting technique. Ironically, because Rose Mary  and Rex continued to neglect their family's needs throughout the novel, Jeanette, who still was a child, took over their roles as adults. As a child Jeannette should be dependent on the parents, however, Rex spent money on unnecessary liberations and Rose Mary selfishly refused to keep working. ' "Why do I always have to be the one who earns the money?' Mom asked. '

In Jeannette Walls’s memoir, she describes how her father, Rex, wants to build a glass castle for him and his family to live in. In the book, she writes, “...All of Dad’s engineering skills and mathematical genius were coming together in one special project: a great big house he was going to build for us in the desert” (Walls 25). Rex wanted to make this happen for his family but unfortunately, his plans weren’t so realistic. So if I could build a glass castle the location of my glass castle would be in Atlanta, GA. I chose this location because I have family down there and I always travel down south every year. I chose to have 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, a kitchen, an attic, a living room, a dining room, patio, and a basement. I chose to have these things because if I’m going to have a dream

Jeanette Walls is a journalist and a writer who is best known for her work as a gossip columnist for MSNBC and for her memoir, The Glass Castle, which spent over 200 weeks on the New York Times Bestseller list, received the Christopher Award, the American Library Association 's Alex Award and the Books for Better Living Award, and is being made into a film by Paramount entertainment. She now lives in Virginia and still writes occasionally for MSNBC.com.

Throughout everyone's lives, we are given chances at having hope and being positive. Jeannette Walls, the author of The Glass Castle, took advantage of many of these chances. She started in a life of brutality and darkness. But soon, her hope for a better life helped Jeanette find a life of happiness and light. In fact, it was stated by Desmond Tutu that, "Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness." Growing up in a family that is constantly moving around and then settling in a town with close to nothing is never easy. For the Walls, it was not even close to easy. It was the complete opposite. But somehow, Jeannette was able to find a little bit of light at the end of the tunnel. Yes, she would have to do

“The Glass Castle” by Jeanette Walls is an extremely captivating novel that really kept my attention throughout the entire story. It’s a fascinating story of growing up in circumstances that kept me shaking my head as I turned the pages. The Walls family is unquestionably one unlike any I’ve ever come across. The lessons and experiences that the children learned and endured were ones that molded their lives and established who they are today. Jeanette Walls goes through many descriptions of situations that she faced that people normally should not face. For most of her childhood, her family traveled from town to town because her parents always thought that they would hit it big, unfortunately her father was never ever to find a

“Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome.”