https://padlet.com/341535/emt0t3cjcb4l The Glass Castle By: Jeannette Walls en-us 2018-09-28 19:53:56 UTC 2018-10-02 19:17:02 UTC hello@padlet.com https://padlet-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/icons/Removelove.png 341535 https://padlet.com/341535/emt0t3cjcb4l/wish/287140783 ¨When Dad wasn’t telling us about all the amazing things he had already done, he was telling us about the wondrous things he was going to do. Like build the Glass Castle. 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.¨

For a majority of Jeannette´s life, her father Rex had always kept one big promise to her and that was the Glass Castle he was going to build her. Over a long period of time, Jeannette eventually lost hope in Rex and knew the Glass Castle was never going to happen and was nothing but a broken promise. ]]> 2018-09-28 20:26:47 UTC https://padlet.com/341535/emt0t3cjcb4l/wish/287140783 341535 https://padlet.com/341535/emt0t3cjcb4l/wish/287141243 ¨No child is born a delinquent. They only became that way if nobody loved them when they were kids. Unloved children grow up to be serial murderers or alcoholics. (p. 83)¨

Neglect and Bad Parenting is one of the more obvious themes of the Glass Castle. All throughout the story, we see how Jeannette´s parents are treating their children. In one part, it is revealed that their grandmother, Rex´s mother, had been abusing Brian. When Rex comes back and finds out what had happened, he yells at his children for fighting back their grandmother. ]]> 2018-09-28 20:28:51 UTC https://padlet.com/341535/emt0t3cjcb4l/wish/287141243 341535 https://padlet.com/341535/emt0t3cjcb4l/wish/287838359 ¨Mom gave me a startled look. I’d broken one of our unspoken rules: We were always supposed to pretend our life was one long and incredibly fun adventure.¨ (p. 84)

Jeannette and her family were always expected to pretend their life was normal and perfect the way it was. When Jeannette mentions to her mother about their reality, a ‘startled look’ came on Rose Mary after Jeannette and Lori ate the last bit of sugar and margarine. Jeannette mentioned how they were hungry after their mother accused them of being selfish.]]> 2018-10-01 19:32:24 UTC https://padlet.com/341535/emt0t3cjcb4l/wish/287838359 341535 https://padlet.com/341535/emt0t3cjcb4l/wish/287848087 "If you don't want to sink, you better figure out how to swim." 

Jeannette's whole childhood can be summed up by this moment when her Dad "teaches" her to swim. Rex basically keeps throwing her into water over and over again until she just figures out how to swim. Jeannette's constantly thrown into situations that she isn't prepared for…and she constantly survives. This is Rex´s way of preparing her for the rocks life will throw at her. Jeannette´s parents believe kids will learn their lessons best the hard way. ]]> 2018-10-01 19:52:51 UTC https://padlet.com/341535/emt0t3cjcb4l/wish/287848087 341535 https://padlet.com/341535/emt0t3cjcb4l/wish/287851110 ¨To the people walking by, she probably looked like any of the thousands of homeless people in New York City.¨

Usually, homeless people tend to blend together into one generic "homeless" identity, but this is where Jeannette humanizes her mother and gives her a unique identity. This is where Jeannette knows her Identity and ]]> 2018-10-01 19:59:21 UTC https://padlet.com/341535/emt0t3cjcb4l/wish/287851110 341535 https://padlet.com/341535/emt0t3cjcb4l/wish/288336019 “Everyone has something good about them,’ she said. ‘you have to find the redeeming quality and love the person for that.’ / ‘Oh yeah?’ I said. ‘How about Hitler? What was his redeeming quality?’ / ‘Hitler loved dogs,’ Mom said without hesitation” (Pg. 144).

Not once in the story has Jeannette's mom shown any attitude of non-forgiveness. She may have had a life of poverty, but really that's the beauty of it all. She never saw that, she just saw the best in people, even those who shunned and hated her.

]]> 2018-10-02 19:03:28 UTC https://padlet.com/341535/emt0t3cjcb4l/wish/288336019