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This novel is written by Jeannette Walls and is based on her life. In it, she writes about her experiences as a child, the environments she lived in, and the abuse she suffered through. The book mainly focuses on her childhood, with only a few chapters at the end about her life as an adult.

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How can abuse result in homelessness?

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Although the Walls were never completely homeless, they always lived in run down places that often had one or more problems they could afford to fix, except for when they lived in their grandma’s house in Phoenix. Their near homelessness was the effect of Rex Walls’s addiction to alcohol. He never kept a job and was unable to provide for his family.

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While Jeannette is never physically attacked, she is mentally and sexually abused. There are many examples of this throughout the book. The majority of the mental abuse comes from her parents. The sexual abuse comes from others around her, but when she tries to tell her parents about it, she is brushed off and told to get over it.

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At one point in the book, Jeannette’s mother as well as Lori leave for the summer, so Jeannette becomes in charge of the house. She is given money for groceries and is put in charge of the other kids because her father is never around to care for them. Jeannette tells herself that she is strong enough to say no to her father if he asks for money. “But one afternoon about a week after Mom had gone to Charleston, he caught me alone in the house. ‘Hon, I need money,’ he said. ‘For what?’ ‘Beer and cigarettes.’ ‘I’ve got sort of a tight budget, Dad.’ ‘I don’t need much. Just five dollars.’ ... He simply waited for me to fork over cash, as if he knew I didn’t have it in me to say no” (Walls 209). This is an example of mental abuse to Jeannette. She is trying to use the money smartly and take care of her siblings, but her father is bullying her into giving him money for useless things.

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This house has no indoor plumbing, no insulation, and a giant hole in the roof. It is the house that the Walls lived in during their time in Welch. The reason that they lived in this dump was because Rex Walls was an alcoholic. He could never keep a steady job, therefore could not provide for his family.

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“The consequences of alcohol consumption can be severe, especially for the poor. Alcoholics spend all of the money they have to sustain their addiction, and in return can cause their family to face extreme consequences such as not being able to afford clothes, rent, or even food.”

This is exactly what Jeannette went through. Her father was an alcoholic and was not able to provide food for his family because he couldn’t keep a job.
https://www.cram.com/essay/Consequences-Of-Alcoholism-In-The-Glass-Castle/FJXE9Z93QG

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Mother’s Actions are Why the Kids are Hungry

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Mother’s Actions are Why the Kids are Hungry

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Although this quote is not technically a form of abuse from her mother, the fact that she had food and was hiding it from her children when everyone was hungry is very selfish. Instead of being a good mother and giving the food to her kids, she kept it for herself. “At one point Brian looked over. ‘Are you chewing something?’ he asked. ‘My teeth hurt,’ Mom said, but she was getting all shifty-eyed, glancing around the room and avoiding our stares. ‘It’s my bad gums. I’m working my jaw to increase the circulation.’ Brian yanked the covers back. Lying next to Mom was one of those huge family-sized Hershey chocolate bars, the shiny silver wrapper pulled back and torn away. She’d already eaten half of it. Mom started crying. ‘I can’t help it,’ she sobbed. ‘I’m a super addict, just like your father is an alcoholic.’ She told us we should forgive her the same way we always forgave Dad for his drinking” (Walls 174). When the mother related her hiding food from her kids to their father’s drinking, it shows how irresponsible the parents are and gives an example of why the Walls’ living conditions are so bad.

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“But recent studies from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) have found that about 38% of the homeless are dependent on alcohol, while a further 26% abuse drugs.”

This is a quote that explains how the fact that Rex’s dependence on alcohol resulted in his homelessness.
https://sbtreatment.com/homelessness-addiction/

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This is the town that Rex Walls grew up in and this is where Jeannette lived from when she was 10, to when she left for New York at 17. The town is old, run down, and not very clean. The Walls lived here because this where Rex’s mother lived, and the family needed help.

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When the Walls live in Welch, their house has no indoor plumbing, which means they can’t take showers. They have to go to Rex’s parents’s house to shower once a week. However, Jeannette’s uncle starts behaving inappropriately while she is waiting for her turn to shower. “I felt Stanley’s hand creeping onto my thigh. I looked at him, but he was staring at the Hee Haw Honeys so intently that I couldn’t be sure he was doing it on purpose, so I knocked his hand away without saying anything. A few minutes later his hand came creeping back. ... ‘Mom, Uncle Stanley is behaving inappropriately,’ I said. ‘Oh, you’re probably imagining it,’ she said. ‘He groped me! And he’s wanking off!’ Mom cocked her head and looked concerned. ‘Poor Stanley,’ she said. ‘He’s so lonely’ (Walls 184). In this situation, Jeannette is trying to tell her mother about what her uncle is doing, but her mother is brushing her off and telling her to let it go. This is a form of mental abuse to Jeannette because she is being taught that the way her uncle is behaving is normal and that she shouldn’t make a big deal out of it.

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Jeannette is not only mentally abused by her parents, but she is also basically handed to an older man by her father. “ ‘Dad, that creep attacked me when we were upstairs.’ ‘I’m sure he just pawed you some,’ Dad said as we pulled out of the parking lot. ‘I knew you could handle yourself’ (Walls 213). This conversation takes place as Jeannette and her father are leaving the bar they were at. While they were there, Rex allowed a man to take Jeannette upstairs, knowing full well what could happen to her. This is yet another example of the abuse she went through as a child.

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The Walls lived in Battle Mountain for less than a year. This is the house they lived in. Clearly, it is very small, and looks like it needs some fixing. This was the result of Jeannette’s father drinking and being gone for half the time. He could not provide for his family and couldn’t keep a steady job. This resulted in their homelessness at the end.

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This is a picture of some statistics about abuse and homelessness in our world today. As you can see, there are some parts about alcohol abuse, which was one of the reasons the Walls lived the way they did.

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“Credible estimates of the prevalence of alcohol and drug abuse suggest that alcohol abuse affects 30% to 40% and drug abuse 10% to 15% of homeless persons.”

Although Rex never actually did any drugs other than smoking, his alcohol addiction created a major problem for Jeannette and her family. This resulted in their homelessness near the end of the book.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1772151/

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After Jeannette’s mother comes back from her summer renewing her teaching certificate, she realizes that she feels like she needs to focus more on herself than taking care of her children. “ ‘It’s time I do something for myself,’ she said. ‘It’s time I started living my life for me.’ ‘Mom, you spent the whole summer renewing your certificate.’ ‘If I hadn’t done that, I never would have had this breakthrough.’ ‘You can’t quit your job,’ I said. ‘We need the money.’ ‘Why do I always have to be the one who earns the money?’ Mom asked. ‘You have a job. You can earn money. Lori can earn money, too. I’ve got more important things to do’ (Walls 218). This shows how selfish Jeannette’s mother is. This is child neglect, which is a form of abuse. When she refuses to make money to help support her family, she is putting all of the pressure on her daughters to be in charge.