Literature Analysis #3

Topics and Events

1.) The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls is an autobiography about her totally unique upbringing and family history. She explains the hardships that she faced along side her two sisters and one brother and her unbelievable journey through it all. To say the least, Jeannette and her siblings had it very difficult growing up with their parents' unique views that provided the children with a very unstable and rocky childhood. They were constantly moving, never offered a secure home to come home to and were neglected when it came to being fed and taken care of in terms of hygeine and cleanliness. The Walls children learned to take care of themselves and each other and despite the life they were dealt as children, they were all motivated to make a better life for themselves as adults.

2.) I believe that Jeannette Walls decided to make her life story into her own personal autobiography to share her unheard of life. It was shocking and interesting to read about and it's absolutely amazing to see her succeed at the end of the book.
3.) My mother recommended this book to me by simply telling me how crazy it is. Just after reading the first page I already could tell that this was going to be a compelling story that I wasn't going to want to put down.
4.) Even though the book is in fact an autobiography, it was still almost impossible for me to accept that this was the true story of a real life family. It's just so hard for me to imagine people living such hard lives under the circumstances of the Wall's family. The only connections I could make between the family in the book and my own was how they couldn't be more different. My parents have always done everything they possibly could to provide the best lives for my siblings and I which was not the case in the book. Although it was obvious that the parents did love their children, choosing to show it in extremely odd ways, they didn't provide for them in a way that's expected.

People

1.)  I think that Jeannette wrote about her family members, especially her parents, in a kinder manner than they really deserved because she's partial to them, and really does care about them. She would stick up for them even when it was obvious that they were completely in the wrong. She would make excuses for them even she was the one being harmed by their actions. I do believe that if I were to meet her parents I most definitely would not be as fond towards them as she is.
2.) - Jeannette's describes her dad to be tall and handsome with thick, dark hair. She is constantly complimenting him throughout her detailed writing of her life. She claims that he is the smartest man and really can do anything. He loves her more than anything and has an especially close relationship with her. He struggles severely with his alcohol addiction, which ultimately comes between himself and his whole family. He's known as the town drunk no matter where they move to and has made it clear that his drinking is his number one priority. He's proved that by failing to keep any steady job for longer than months at a time, wandering off and leaving his family for days at a time, stealing from his childrens' savings and drinking so much to the point where he becomes a danger to those who are around him. His family has always depended on him to be the head of the household and relied on him, even though he's seemed to fail as that role time after time. The quality they admire most about him is his adventurous personality and strive to always make things exciting. He taught his kids to fend for themselves and to be brave before they could talk, literally.
         -Jeannette's mother is extremely different from her husband. She does shares the same views as him when it comes to parenting and believes that children will learn through the experiences that life throws at them. She never takes responsibility for anything she does wrong as a mother and fails to play that supportive, nurturing role. She's very selfish and always seems to care about her best interest rather than her children's. She refuses to work, even when her children go weeks without having a real meal because they can't afford groceries. She is so hopeful that her art will get her someday that she remains in denial and never faces reality which is why she ends up homeless on the streets. She feels that her children were a huge burden when it came to her accomplishing her dream of being an artist.
3.) Her parents were the most interesting to read about and I'm assuming to write about as well because of how different they are. Their approach on parenting was the most bizarre thing I had ever heard about. They lived a very nomadic, unstable lifestyle and unfortunately dragged along four children for the ride.

More on Characters

1.)  All of the characters are expressed through both indirect and direct characterization interchangeably. Walls uses speech and actions of the characters to show their personalities but also uses very descriptive details and adjectives as well.

2.) Because it's a memoir looking back at her past, the syntax and the diction don't vary much when talking about the different members of her families and other characters that she comes across.

3.) The protagonist being the author, Jeannette Walls, would be a dynamic, round character. From her as a child to her as an adult, the changes and development she makes throughout all of her experiences are undeniable.

4.) After reading this book, I definitely left feeling like I had just met this person in real life who told me their whole life story. To be completely honest, I actually found myself crying when I got to the last page. Her story really touched me and I think actually made an impact that I will take with me. I think her relationship with her father is what I related to most, so towards the end I became very emotional.

Style

1.)  The title itself, The Glass Castle, is an example of foreshadowing. Jeannette and her father dreamed of one day building a glass castle for them to call their own and live in happily. Her dad made blue prints and really seemed like he was serious about making this dream house for his family, but it never became more than just wishful thinking. This idea had a huge importance on Jeannette's relationship with her father all the way till the end when he passed away. It symbolizes what a huge impact and role her father played in her life.
2.) Although Walls uses both lengthy descriptions of places and people along with focusing on action and dialogue, the lengthy descriptions of the people and places that she experienced are what give the reader the best understanding of what she went through.
3.) The author uses pathos or an appeal to emotion to express her tone and demonstrate a mood. The whole time I was reading I just felt so sad and sorry for this poor girl, I don't believe that was her intention of the story but while reading some of the things she went through it was impossible not to feel that way.
4.) I think that the author is very accepting of her past and her family and when it comes down to it, she really does care about them a lot and love them. I think she is a very strong person who was able to let go of the negativity that her parents brought her and was able to move on, which for some would be impossible. She used her hardships as motivation to become something better and do something greater with her life and has learned to embrace her past.
5.) She doesn't ever offer any resources as evidence, just her own firsthand personal experiences. I don't think that any real resources were needed because it was simply just the sharing of her life story.

BONUS QUESTIONS

1.)  All of the Walls children learned that although they experienced a different childhood and upbringing that proved to provide them with many moments of struggling and being forced to face hardship after hardship, they could still better themselves. They all took initiative to value their education growing up, and became so independent that they were all living on their own before being a legal adult. They all earned careers to be proud of and provided a life for themselves that they had never experienced before. They didn't let their parents view on life bring them down with them. They were able to learn this all on their own, and maybe a little through each other, because of the fact that they had to learn how to survive in a way that most kids can never even imagine. Because of their parents neglectful actions, they learned how to be independent individuals that had to work extremely hard to get to where they wanted to be. They learned from their parents mistakes of what not to do.

Enduring Memory

Like I mentioned in a previous answer, when I got to the very last page of the story I found myself crying all of a sudden. I wasn't sure why at first, except for the fact that I just felt so bad for Jeannette Walls and the rest of her siblings. They were brought into this world by these two people that really should not be responsible for another life, because they really can't even take care of themselves. It's obvious that the parents did love their kids and care about them so much, which is why even I'm still confused about how they could have been so neglectful and selfish at times. They provided the most unstable life for their children and never really thought about how it might be affecting them in a negative manner. Instead they were just convinced that their strange ways were making their children stronger and therefore better. The more I thought about the reason for my tears, I came to the conclusion that the saddest part of this story is in fact how much these parents loved their kids, but just had their own personal issues that made them unsuitable to raise them. With the dad's severe alcoholism and the mother's constant mood changes and selfish ways they led their kids on this wild journey of constant moving and neglect. This book made me realize how lucky I am to have two parents who do everything in their power to provide the best lives for my siblings and I and how not everyone has the same blessing. A part of the story that I'll take with me forever, is at the very beginning when she talks about the time she was making herself her own dinner and got caught on fire, at just three years old. After being in the hospital for serious burns, once she returned home her mother made her make that same dinner to face her fears and "become stronger". It breaks my heart to think of a three year old making her own dinner in the first place, but to be shown no sympathy after experiencing something so traumatic is hard to even think about. This book definitely made me realize how lucky I am and it also made me realize that if you choose too, you can overcome any personal demons and make something of yourself and achieve great things.