Jeannette Wallss memoir The Glass Castle is an inspirational and heart breaking story of her life. Walls begins the memoir writing in the present day, but as she panics when sees her mother on the streets of New York City, immediately begins to describe her life from the very beginning in order to explain how her mother and father ended up on the streets while she and her siblings live prosperous lives. From the very beginning, Walls describes her parents as loving, thrill-seeking, brilliant people who approach childcare with the intent of giving only tough love and the production of independent children, when in actuality, her parents committed crimes, neglected their children, thought primarily of themselves, and were consistently irresponsible.
The first flash back she recalls from the book is when she was on fire. Frozen with fear, I watched the yellow-white flames make a ragged brown line up the pink fabric of my skirt and climb my stomach (Walls9). Jeanette Walls was on fire at three year old and her mother acted calmly about it. Mom, in an unnaturally calm voice, explained what had happened and asked if we could please have a ride to the hospital (Walls10). I cannot imagine why a mother would let her three-year-old daughter cook hot dogs by herself on the stove. The way her mother reacted towards her child having burns all over her body is truly baffling. A mother like that does not seem brilliant but truly irresponsibly.
Walls describes their barbaric and nomadic lifestyle as a constant adventure and was amused at her fathers lies that the Mob was after them or the CIA would kill them if they were found instead of seeking the real truththat her parents were unable to pay bills and unwilling to face consequences of their actions. Her dad couldnt hold a job for to long and her mother was to lazy and self absorbed to get a job. As the family moves from desert to desert and finally to a poverty stricken town in West Virginia, only to finally separate in years to come because the dysfunction of the family drove the children away, the children start to realize that their lives are not one big adventure.
As the move to West Virginia they begin to discover how much their life is different then every other kid. The kids start to go to school and at school they realize how poverty stricken they are when every kid has nice cloths and food to eat. The kids are struggling with hungry so much they take things out of the garbage to eat. When other girls came in and threw their lunch bags in the garbage pails, Id go retrieve them. I could get over what kids tossed out all this perfectly good food(Walls173). Jeannette would bring home food she found in the trash to feed her family. If her hunger situation wasnt bad enough her living situation was just as bad. Everything in the house was damp. A fine green mold spread over the books and papers and paintings that were stacked so high and piled so deep you could hardly cross the room. Tiny mushrooms sprouted up in the corners. (Walls185). A parent is supposed to provide a stable and safe place to live for their kids. Living in a house full of mold is unsanitary and not suitable for the Walls children to live in.
From the very beginning, Walls describes her parents as loving, thrill-seeking, brilliant people who approach childcare with the intent of giving only tough love and the production of independent children, when in actuality, her parents committed crimes, neglected their children, thought primarily of themselves, and were consistently irresponsible. They let their kids do dangerous stuff at little ages. They committed crimes and dragged the kids along like it was a game. They also couldnt provide a good living situation and food for the family. Walls parents were not loving, thrill-seeking, brilliant but instead committed crimes, neglected their children, thought primarily of themselves, and were consistently irresponsible.
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