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The Glass Castle is a well written memoir written by Jeannette Walls, as she shares the honest truth about how life was like growing up until her adult years. She was raised by two highly dysfunctional parents who neglected Jeannette and her three other siblings and would often fail to provide their kids with the basic necessities of life. Jeannette’s mother was a lazy aspiring painter who would refuse to get a job, as she would rather sit around and make meaningless paintings all day. Her father Rex was a bright man and a loving father when he was sober, but unfortunately most of the time he succumbed to his alcohol addiction. Because of his addiction he could barely hold a job and would often turn into an incredibly destructive person who would become abusive at times. No matter how poor the Walls family’s living conditions were, if they had food to eat, a bed to sleep, or even electricity, Jeannette’s parents just did not care to try and take of their kids. Because of their parent’s negligence, all four Wall’s kids stuck together and supported each other so that they could take care of themselves. They did this all throughout their life, as they would stand up to bullies, provide food for each other, provide clothing for one another, and eventually all head to New York City to start a new life. Their parents would soon follow and head to New York as well but would choose to continue to live in poverty. I would recommend this book as it is worthwhile but would have to say that it is not a book for younger audiences. This book is geared more towards people who are at least in high school as this novel discusses a lot of serious issues that does take some maturity for one to appreciate. I believe this is a novel that majority of people will enjoy as it can affect people in different ways. Whether it brings someone to tears or riels them up with anger, this is a novel that will leave an impact on almost every reader in some way. I would not recommend this book to people who enjoy novels that have the main plot flow smoothly throughout the entire course of the novel, as in my opinion, this is one thing that the book does not do too well. Because each chapter is so short, the book sometimes feels like a bunch of short stories thrown together that don’t really mesh well. All in all, The Glass Castle is a well-written novel with some disturbing parts to it, but none the less, a novel that I would definitely recommend.

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The two central themes in the memoir “The Glass Castle” are neglectful parenting and loyalty, as these two themes go hand in hand. The theme of poor parenting is prevalent throughout the entire course of the novel, as Rosemary and Rex Walls do a horrendous job of raising their four kids, Jeannette, Brian, Lori, and Maureen. These kids were neglected all throughout their lives as they had a mother who was too lazy to raise them, and an alcoholic father who could barely hold a job for a couple weeks. The poor parenting that they received is even evident from the beginning of the novel, when Jeannette discusses how she is cooking hot dogs for herself at the age of three, as her mom is too busy working on her paintings and doesn’t even notice that Jeannette is cooking before she sets herself on fire. This blatant negligence only continues throughout the novel as both parents put their kids in a position where they have to fend for themselves, just so they can get simple necessities like food. The one good thing that came out of this neglectful parenting is the tight bond that all four kids have for each other. Because of the horrendous position that they were wrongfully thrown into, they all had to stick together and support each other through thick and thin as this bond is evident when Jeannette says,

“But if the child-welfare man got it into his head that we were an unfit family, we'd have no way to drive him off. He'd launch an investigation and end up sending me and Brian and Lori and Maureen off to live with different families, even though we all got good grades and knew Morse code. I couldn’t let that happen. No way was I going to lose Brian and Lori and Maureen. (Wells, 194)

This quote was recited by Jeannette after she responds to a man who works for child welfare, and flat out denies that her parents are negligent. This passage is a great example of the theme loyalty as Jeannette could have told the child welfare man the truth to escape her horrible parents, but instead chose to lie solely because she did not want to risk losing her siblings. Overall, it is clear that the two main themes in the memoir are neglectful parenting and loyalty between the Walls siblings which is a by product of the first theme.

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One passage from the novel “The Glass Castle” that I find quite significant is the passage that states, “Dad kept telling me that he loved me, that he never would have let me drown, but you can’t cling to the side your whole life, that one lesson every parent needs to teach a child is “If you don’t want to sink, you better figure out how to swim.” (Walls, 66) This quote was stated by Jeannette Walls, the narrator of this novel, as she is recounting the time where her dad taught her how to swim. She is describing how her father taught her to swim by cruelly dragging her to the middle of the pool, tossing her underwater against her will, and pulling her up, as he would repeat these three steps over and over again. The reason I find this quote so significant is because it develops the theme of perseverance, as this is just one of many examples where Jeannette is thrown into a situation that she isn’t prepared for and must find a way to survive. Usually, a typical parent trying to teach their kid how to swim would ease them through this process at a pace where they feel comfortable, but that is not how Rex goes about this situation. Rather than taking the common approach, Rex throws Jeanette into the pool with no previous swimming experience, as he once again puts Jeanette in a “sink or swim” scenario that is all too familiar to her. This moment perfectly sums up Jeanette’s childhood as just like so many other instances in her life, she finds a way to persevere through this unexpected situation that is thrown at her and ultimately finds her way to shore, no matter how difficult this situation may have been.

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A second passage from the novel “The Glass Castle” that I find particularly poignant is the quote that states, “The house also had termites. …We'd have to coexist with the critters. So we walked around the hole in the living room floor.” (Walls, 101) This quote was recited by Jeanette Walls as she is narrating about the condition of the brand-new house that the Walls family just moved into through the inheritance that they received from Rosemary’s mother. Even though life is running more smoothly with the newfound inheritance, Jeanette brings up how the house has a termite issue which has created a giant hole in the living room floor. The reason I find this passage significant is because of the symbolic significance that this passage carry’s, as it clearly reflects the Walls family. Just like the house the Walls family is living in, the family as a whole also has a lot of “holes” as well. In addition, the Walls family members walk around these issues that they have as if they don’t exist and never try to fix them, just like how they are treating the termite issue that they have in their home. This is a constant theme that is demonstrated throughout the novel as the family has many issues like Rex’s drinking, parental arguments, unrealistic dreams, lack of stability etc. One occasion that the avoidance of an issue is prevalent is when Rosemary and Rex are in argument early on in the novel about the state of the family, and how they currently have no food in the household (Walls 71). This argument escalated to the point where Rosemary was hanging off the second-floor window due to unknown reasons, and the incident was never addressed after the fact. Just like countless times throughout the novel, the family’s dysfunctions never get addressed or worked out, as the Walls family walk around the holes that they have and pretend that these dysfunctions don’t exist.

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Another passage from the novel, “The Glass Castle”, that I find particularly significant is the passage that states,

“They’d stick their heads into the classroom and see the students playing tag and throwing erasers while mom was up front, spinning like a top and letting pieces of chalk fly from her hands to demonstrate centrifugal force. (….)  But mom was always getting confused and filling in the wrong dates on the lesson plans or loosing the homework. Ms. Beatty threatened to fire mom so Lori, Brian, and I started helping mom with her school work” (Walls, 74).

This passage was recited by Jeanette Walls as she is discussing how her mother is doing a poor job of being a teacher, as she refuses to discipline her students, can’t keep up with lesson plans, and is constantly losing homework. She goes on to explain how the principle has threatened to fire her mother and how her mother is holding onto her job by the skin of her teeth. The reason this passage is significant is because it demonstrates the themes of coming of age and neglectful parenting, as these two themes go hand in hand. Rosemary’s irresponsibly in regards to her performance at work, has led to her four kids having to do her work for her and essentially forcing them to mature quicker than other kids. Because Rosemary is being a dreadful parent, which is evident by her teaching abilities and lack of ability to provide for her kids, she is robbing them of their childhood. Typically, when kids are at Jeanette’s age they get to enjoy life and participate in fun actives, but instead Jeanette, Lori, and Brian are being forced to do adult activities at far too young of an age. They are being put in a precarious position where if they don’t do their mom’s work, they will have no source of income and will rarely have food on the table. They are essentially being put in a position where they have to take the role of a parent and provide for the family, which is something that no child should ever have to do. These two themes constantly reoccur throughout the novel, as Jeanette and her siblings are continuously being put in situations where they have to take the role of a parent, which is forcing them to step into the world of adulthood far too early.

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After doing some digging on what the world of poverty was like during the early 1970’s, the time at which the Walls family was living in poverty, I found a reliable source from a book titled, “Families in Poverty During the Early 1970’s: Rates, Associated Factors, Some Implications.” This book/article was written by Catherine S. Chilman and includes an analysis of census data regarding the statistics about poverty during this time. By reading this article I learned that 12% of the United States population was below the poverty line in 1970, as this figure rises to 20% when more realistic poverty measurements are used. To make matters worse, about one – fourth of children living in the united states, over one half of the children being African American, were living in poverty during this time. The major factors that were associated with poverty during this time were female – headed families, large family size, minority group status, age, unemployment and underemployment, region of residence, and little education. The biggest problem regarding poverty during this time was the little attention that was given to this issue by the U.S government. One of the biggest programs that was under attack was the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) which was the most important source of assistance to young children and parents. Some ineligibles for the AFDC were receiving payment, 20% of families were being over paid, and over half of the people who were eligible did not apply at all. The though of the government scapegoating the poor and completely misusing funds at the highest level is deeply concerning to me. It’s very unfortunate how the mission to abolish poverty was completely forgotten during this time, as just ten years prior to this census the United States government made it their mission to try to tackle the poverty epidemic. In conclusion, learning about the historical context of how the poverty epidemic was poorly tackled during this time is quite eye opening, as I was able to learn about the political corruption going on four decades ago.

https://www.jstor.org/stable/351030?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents

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Another text that I found to be similar to the memoir ‘The Glass Castle” is the novel called “The Hate You Give”, which is written by Angie Thomas. This novel is about a sixteen-year-old African American teenage girl named Starr Carter who witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil, at the hands of a police officer. The main connection that exists between these two books is the negative affects that drugs can do to a community and how drugs can create an endless cycle that keeps people in poverty. To start, the use and consequences of drugs is prominent throughout “The Glass Castle” as Rex Walls, the father of four children, is a raging alcoholic. Rex was doomed from the start, as he grew up in a household with a mother who abused alcohol and sexually abused him, leading him down this dark path. Throughout the novel Rex is stuck in an endless cycle that severely hurts his family in a financial and emotional way. This cycle consists of different phases like being a functioning alcoholic, (at one point) stopping alcohol completely, and then fully falling off the rails with his addiction. Similarly, drugs are also a serious issue in the novel ‘The Hate U Give” as it is something that is destroying the African American community of Garden Heights. Drugs are causing an endless cycle of devastation to Garden Heights, as this is evident when Maverick (Star’s dad) says,

“Drugs come from somewhere, and they’re destroying our community,” he says. “You got folks like Brenda, who think they need them to survive, and then you got the Khalil's, who think they need to sell them to survive. The Brenda's can’t get jobs unless they’re clean, and they can’t pay for rehab unless they got jobs. When the Khalil's get arrested for selling drugs, they either spend most of their life in prison, another billion-dollar industry, or they have a hard time getting a real job and probably start selling drugs again. That’s the hate they’re giving us, baby, a system designed against us. That’s Thug Life.” (Thomas, 170)

This passage perfectly depicts the endless cycle of drugs in their community as Maverick explains to Star how drugs are almost inescapable. At the end of the day the Brenda’s are always going to fall back into their drug addictions, and the Khali’s are always going to fall back to selling drugs to make money if the system doesn’t change. Overall, it is clear that drugs pose a serious issue to both the Garden Heights community and the Wall’s family, as they continually create an endless cycle that hurts the drug users, sellers, and the people that they are surrounded by.

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Throughout this memoir there are some areas in which I can find familiarity with the main character and some areas where I cannot relate. One connection from the novel that I can relate with Jeannette Walls is her tight bond that she has with her siblings. Growing up, the four Walls children had a great relationship with one another as they were always there to support each other throughout the family’s common rough patches. The Walls siblings teamed up to help each other survive and were each others support system through thick and thin. Whether it was Brian and Jeannette standing up to their bullies when they were young, Lori defending Brian after she caught aunt Erma violating him, or Lori and Jeannette devising a plan to escape to New York, the Walls kids had each other backs. I too can relate to this sibling bond that the Walls kids have, as my older sister, my older brother, and I have a very close relationship as well. Although we’ve never been put in the situations that the Walls kids were in, we still are always there to support one another. We always go to one another in times of need, and no matter the situation we always have each other backs. A way in which I cannot relate to Jeannette is the types of parents that we’ve both had growing up. Growing up Jeannette and her siblings had parents that would often ignore them and couldn’t even provide them with the adequate necessities that one needs to live. They grew up in a toxic household headlined by an alcoholic father and a mother who was just too lazy to take care of her kids. I have grown up in a completely different home as I have always had a set of parents who have loved me and cared for me through thick and thin. They have always provided me with food, shelter, and have provided me with the best opportunities possible so I can grow up to be a successful person. All in all, there are areas in my life where I can find familiarity with Jeannette, but there are also areas where I have been given privileges that Jeannette has obviously never received.

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One of the biggest issues that goes on in the world today is alcoholism, and how this has many negative impacts on families. Googles definition of alcoholism states that it is an addiction to the consumption of alcoholic liquor or the mental illness and compulsive behavior resulting from alcohol dependency. A beautiful article from American Addictions Centers, states that alcoholism within family’s is a problem that can destroy a marriage and drive a wedge between family members. This article goes on to explain how people who drink can blow through the family budget, cause fights, ignore children, and ruin the health and happiness of the people they love. The novel “The Glass Castle” showcases this exact issue, as the Wall’s family members are constantly dealing with the repercussions of Rex Wall’s alcohol addiction. To start, his addiction is a huge financial burden on the family as Rex constantly blows most of the family’s money on boos. His constant habit of spending the family’s money puts the entire family in an incredibly vulnerable position, as at one point in the novel they have no food in their house and only has one mere stick of margarine left in the fridge. Rex’s alcohol addiction also caused a lot of fights and mood swings, which is the one of the symptoms that alcoholics do show. When Rex would drink “the hard stuff” he would turn into a completely different person who would throw around furniture and threaten to beat up anyone who crossed his path. He would lose complete control of his emotions, to the point where his wife would have to hide, and the kids would have to try to calm him down. Finally, these two terrible issues that were a result of Rex’s alcoholism, played an integral role in his kid’s emotional problems. The kids were forced to live in an extremely unstable home environment and were often neglected, which even caused Jeanette’s little sister, Maureen, to have frequent nightmares and impulsive reactions by the time she got older. At one-point Maureen even stabbed her mother when they were in an argument, as this reaction is an obvious by-product of the years of emotional distress that she had to go through. Overall, Rex’s alcoholic behaviors complexly split his family apart, just like how alcohol abuse today destroys families and has long lasting impacts.

https://americanaddictioncenters.org/alcoholism-treatment/family-marital-problems

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The most prominent issue of social justice in the memoir “The Glass Castle” is poverty and how this is very much prevalent in the Walls family homes. All throughout the novel we see how the Wall’s family never settles into a permanent home and constantly has to “skedaddle”, as Rex would call it. During the entire course of the novel, the family lived in a total of 9 different locations at some point in time, as some of these cities include Tucson Arizona, Las Vegas Nevada, San Francisco California, and many more. To make matters worse, most of the locations that they lived in were small underdeveloped towns that contained little resources, sketchy people, no heat, no electricity, and no beds. Many times throughout the Wall’s kids’ childhood they had no food to eat and even had to resort to questionable tactics, like stealing food, so that they could sooth their hunger. In addition, all the constant moving, lack of food, and terrible home environment leads to the Walls kids having mental health, emotional, and behavioral problems when they get older. As Jeannette gets older and starts working as a journalist she begins to feel ashamed of her past and constantly feels survivors’ guilt, which haunts her for the rest of her life. Her sister Maureen has even worse repercussions from her past experiences, as at one point she demonstrates sever behavioral issues and stabs her mother when she gets in a disagreement with her. These experiences and emotional problems that the Walls kids have experienced throughout their life is not uncommon, as child poverty is still a major issue in America today. In America today, one in five children live in poverty as this makes up 15.5 million impoverished children. Children facing poverty are at risk of having the same issues that the Wall’s kids accumulated throughout their life, as they are more likely to experience hunger, more physical and mental health problems, and more emotional and behavioral problems. In conclusion, it is obvious that poverty is the most prominent social justice issue in the novel as many of the issues that the four Wall’s children accumulated as they get older, are still a very real issue today.
https://www.children.org/global-poverty/global-poverty-facts/facts-about-poverty-in-usa

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A fourth passage from the memoir “The Glass Castle” that I find particularly significant is the passage that states,

“If you want to be treated like a mother, then you should act like one. (…) Then why doesn’t she act like one? (…) And why don’t you act like a dad? (…) you apologize for that comment! Or what?” (Walls, 220)

This passage is one of my favourite passages in the entire memoir, as this passage demonstrates character growth and courage from Jeannette. This passage is taken from a conversation between Jeannette and her two parents, as she calls out her parents on their lazy habits. This is one of the first times in Jeannette’s life where she is able to muster up the courage to stand up to her lazy and careless parents, who have constantly ignored Jeannette and her siblings all throughout their life. This moment in the novel is significant as it showcases an obvious role reversal as Jeannette is entering high school. At this point in Jeannette’s life, she is starting to mature and is ironically starting to take the role of a mother to her younger siblings. Prior to this confrontation Jeannette would always sit back and keep quiet while her parents would make poor decision after poor decision, but here we see a sense of character growth in Jeannette as she is starting to truly understand the level of negligence that her parents depict. She finally put her foot down, challenged her parents to be better, and has said that enough is enough. Additionally, Jeannette also demonstrates a great deal of courage in this passage as she stands up to her father when he demands that she apologize for her comments. Rex even went on to push her against the wall, grab his belt, and threatened to “whip her butt” if she did not oblige. Even after all of this, she stood her ground and refused to apologize not once but twice, which is something that takes a great deal of courage. In conclusion, it’s evident that in this passage Jeannette demonstrates a tremendous amount of courage and most importantly, matures as she stands up and challenges her parents for the first time.