Jeannette Walls Thesis

Improved Essays
Andrew Davidson said, “I am more than my scars.” Despite being faced with burdensome challenges, mankind possesses traits that give them resilience in which they can make the best of situations and overcome them. Jeannette Walls is an American journalist and author that is known for being the author of The Glass Castle. She was born on April 21, 1960, in Phoenix, Arizona to Rex Walls and Rose Walls. Walls has two sisters, Lori and Maureen, and one brother, Brian. In Jeannette Walls’ memoir The Glass Castle, she tells the heartbreaking yet humorous story of her upbringing with her dysfunctional family. Living a life of poverty, the Walls’ family is constantly on the move around the country, trying to re-settle. Her father, an alcoholic, and …show more content…
Parent may think that the book is too mature for young teens. Because of its mentions of sexual assault, violence, and adultery, some parents would prefer their children not be exposed to those circumstances. The story could be seen as a bad influence on teens as some of the advice Walls’ mother gave her can be taken in the wrong light. For example, when Walls conveyed to her mother that Uncle Stanley had been touching her inappropriately and in respond her mother tells Walls to calm down and says sexual assault is a “crime of perception.” In other words, Walls’ mother tells her if she doesn’t think she’s hurt, then she isn’t hurt. This lack of concern can be perceived wronging by young teens, specifically females, and allow them to doubt what they consider sexual assault and how they react to it. Parents may wish to keep their child away from that logic. On the contrary, others may believe the opposite. Such exposure could be beneficial to teen as it could be a lesson to them. To be specific, it could open teens eyes to several predicaments and allow them to be open-minded rather than later on in life. There will always be an opposing view, but it is fundamental in a child’s life to provide them with information whether from a story or book that they can carry with them throughout life.
In conclusion, The Glass Castle is an efficient memoir for rising senior to read as their summer assignment. Teens may find Walls’ childhood motivations and lifestyle after moving away from her family relatable. Although the memoir has its humorous moments, it also contains experiences that show the true reality of life. This is a story those that are rich, those that are poor, those that are coming of age and even people who simply like reading can find something in common with as Walls gives her pure and raw honesty of her

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    The book the Glass Castle represents how a person can achieve the American dream. It shows how someone born and raised in poverty can still make the american dream a reality just like the Walls children did. Despite her past, Jeanette Walls was able to forgive her parents, and achieve her dream. The memoir can inspire people no matter who and where they came from, they still have the possibility of achieving their dreams and…

    • 752 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Throughout Jeanette Wall’s memoir The Glass Castle, the author utilizes diverse and creative language, diction, and style to convey themes about nonconformity and self-sufficiency, while teaching strong lessons on individuality, endurance, and strength. Although both of Jeanette’s parents, Rose Mary and Rex, are irresponsible, selfish, and reckless, they did instill valuable life lessons and reflect meaningful sentiments onto their children, Lori, Jeanette, Brian, and Maureen. Rex Walls creates false pretenses to replicate a lifestyle of wanderers or explorers and to make up for insufficient income; however, he inspires young Jeanette radically and becomes a catalyst for her hopes, dreams, and uniqueness. The parents manage to teach their kids to be thoughtful, intelligent, brave, and hardworking, despite suffering and unfavorable conditions.…

    • 999 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Jeannette and her three siblings Lori, Brian, and Maureen have been through so much in their lives from birth to a young adult. Jeannette Walls in her memoir of The Glass Castle shows that she went through almost all eights stages of Erickson’s Psychosocial Development. The memoir of Jeannette shows that she is a very strong individual and even though she has been through a lot of her early development she still over comes her struggles. The memoir of The Glass Castle shows that Jeanette goes through almost all of Erickson’s stages of Psychosocial Development. According to Snowman & McCown (2013), “Erikson described theses crises in terms of opposing qualities that individual typically develop.…

    • 2153 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The memoir, The Glass Castle, by Jeannette Walls brings the reader back in time to when she was very young and recalls her life experiences that deal with poverty, dysfunctional parents, and the choice between family first or herself. The Glass Castle reveals that Wall lived a large portion of her life on the run due to her adventurous, yet troublesome parents. Overtime, Walls discovers that life has more to offer if she gives herself a chance to experience the real world. Because of her parents’ influence, Walls grew up assuming that her parents’ views on society and the way life should go was inspiring, but now that she is grown and she makes choices for her own good. The memoir gives off a deep, meaningful feel to the reader.…

    • 1173 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Glass Castle The Glass Castle, written by author Jeannette Walls refllects a beautiful memoir of her childhood. The focus of the story includes Jeannette 's struggles as a child and having to grow up in a dysfunctional family. The protagonist of the novel being Jeannette Walls herself , describes the brutal yet honest truth behind growing up within the circumstances of an unstable home of her alcholic father and her mothers rather rustic lifestyle. With the use of theme, symbolism and irony, Jeannette Walls has illustrated and captured the essence of a true story through The Glass Castle.…

    • 1026 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The Glass Castle The Glass Castle is a memoir written by Jeannette Walls in 2005. The book recounts Jeannettes childhood experiences that lead up to her success in becoming a famous author. The book begins in Jeannettes adulthood after she has dealt with the affects of her destructive upbringing. It is a cold night in March in New York City and Jeannette is sitting in a taxi that is driving her to an upscale party.…

    • 1630 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Rose Mary Walls In the memoir “The Glass Castle” by Jeannette Walls she focuses on the struggles and strange parenting skills of the Walls. Rose Mary Walls is a selfish free-spirit who values self-sufficiency and resents her children because in her mind they are standing in the way of her being a journalist. Jeannette Walls outlines Rose Mary’s unique outlook on life by demonstrating her selfish free-spirited behavior. One way Rose Mary demonstrates her selfish behavior was when she was eating a huge family sized Hershey bar while her children were in the same room starving.…

    • 941 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    As if the world is not already difficult on its own, the hand of poverty can slap you in the face and knock you to the ground every single time you begin to stand on your feet. Poverty arrives easily and like an unwanted pest; it is challenging to get rid of. One has to be open to living a completely different lifestyle than what they are used to or what they wish. The novel, “The Glass Castle” by Jeannette Walls is a perfect example of a child’s development through poverty. In fact, it is a memoir of Jeannette Walls’ life.…

    • 1073 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls writes about her early childhood struggles, which included some of her mom’s crazy episodes. Jeannette knows that her mom has some degree of mental illness that had caused her emotional breakdowns, bipolar behavior, compulsive lying, and lack of responsibility. It was also clear that Mrs. Walls lacked common sense and reason when she had possession of a million dollar property but refused to use the money to pay for the family’s needs. In the end, the children were able to cope with their mom’s instability. They found out how to understand her and how to effectively communicate with her.…

    • 1400 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Do you ever ponder the idea of why every family is so diverse and why people act the way they act? This family studies class offers an exploration of unique families, how to manage resources, environmental influences, and the important steps in the decision making process. All of these factors come in play when answering why people are the way they are and the varying traits within families. The Glass Castle, written by Jeannette Walls is a memoir that expresses the hardships and obstacles she faced while growing up.…

    • 1215 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the memoir “The Glass Castle” there are 6 main characters. I will first start out with my thoughts on Jeannette. The narrator of the memoir. I think that Jeannette has a very forgiving personality, that likes to see the good in people, and feels sympathy for them. Because she was able to feel sympathetic for her parents, and see the good in them.…

    • 544 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    “The Glass Castle” The Glass Castle was a memoir that takes you on a very detailed journey of the events that occurred in Janette Walls life. In her lifetime her family faced many challenges and went through, what some might call, abnormal circumstances. Over an extended period of time she was homeless, hungry, and often socially isolated from her surrounding environment. The conditions the Wall’s children had to endure throughout the book were harsh and unfair.…

    • 1420 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the memoir The Glass Castle written by Jeannette Walls, Jeannette endures many events that have shaped her childhood and made her the woman she is today. One day when Jeannette was cooking hot dogs at just the age of three she caught on fire and was burned badly, later being rushed to the hospital. After being in the hospital, this life threatening event turned out not to be the worst thing that could have happened to her. In fact she turned out to enjoy the time she spent during her stay there. Being a part of the Wall’s family you quickly learn to fend for yourself when it comes to education, food, clothes and survival in general.…

    • 1153 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Jeannette Walls takes us on a journey through her memoir The Glass Castle and explains her struggles throughout life. Jeanette grew up with a set of neglecting parents who never tried to provide for her siblings or herself like they should’ve. Jeannette begins to see just how bad her living situation is and so do those around her. Bullying and struggles with her self image start to play a factor in Jeanette’s life. Some struggles she has throughout the whole book is being belittled, made fun of, not understood, and…

    • 1427 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the book, The Glass Castle, the author named Jeannette Walls opens up about the hardships her family was forced to experience. Main factors in those hardships were poverty and Jeannette’s father’s drinking habit. Through these issues, Jeannette along with her siblings managed to tackle the parental role and take care of themselves, as well as each other. Although Jeannette’s parents were at times negligent, they had undoubtedly taught their children long-lasting morals and values. These lessons have proven to play a significant role on the children and brought them together, even in the worst of situations.…

    • 994 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays