Parenting is arguably the toughest and most exciting job. But since no two humans are the same, some excel at it better than others. The Glass Castle is a memoir by Jeanette Walls detailing her childhood and her parent’s hands-off parenting style. Her parents tried to justify their neglect by claiming danger and hardship would help their child build resilience. Despite achieving their goals, it came at the cost of short and long-term trauma. Let it examine The Glass Castle – a destitution, resilience, and forgiveness tale.
The Resilience in The Glass Castle
The tale is of the author’s dysfunctional family, with parents struggling with penury and chronic alcohol addiction. Despite the difficult experiences, this topic needs to be known to avoid such problems in the future. Feeling the author’s experiences, students will be more responsible for their lives in adulthood. The Glass Castle essay example is a perfect story for teaching about bad parenting, escapism, relationships, and many other subjects. Lecturers assign students to research The Glass Castle essay examples to allow subject exploration from different angles. If you need assistance, consider reviewing StudyDriver’s free paper collections on The Glass Castle to research various talking points and explore the topic in-depth. The Walls children faced three primary problems growing up. They are:
- Alcoholism.
- Parental abandonment.
- Broken promises.
Rex Walls could not control his alcoholism. Despite knowing his alcoholic lifestyle is robbing him of a high-quality relationship and his income, he doesn’t stop. Mom’s way of showing compassion to their dad was accepting a life of penury, instability, starvation, and the physical danger he inflicts on everyone. In the face of the deprivation, Jeannette built resilience in the following ways:
Adapting to Constantly Changing Environments
The Walls often moved a lot. They migrated from one place to another and sometimes lived in makeshift homes instead of the grand palace the patriarch promised. Some days, Jeannette and others go without food for an extended period. Jeannette recalled when she and her sisters and brother came to an empty fridge. To make cash, they went out to an ally to hunt for bottles to redeem. At another time, their dad was simply fed up with civilization and decided to return to the desert to resume their hunt for gold.
Constantly moving house made the kids feel alienated at college. But despite the instability, they found ways to cope. For example, when they lived in a rundown apartment, Jeannette and Brain, her brother, would build a solar furnace out of cardboard and foil to stay warm.
The Determination to Succeed Academically
The last and probably the most significant show of resilience in the story was absolution. Jeannette was raped by a vagabond that stole into their home on an evening when the patriarch was not home. While growing up, she almost killed a neighbor with their father’s gun, and they were abandoned to their childish devices.
Their father’s addiction eventually spiraled. He developed chronic alcoholism and was hospitalized before his death. During the ordeal, Jeannette forgave him and became a caregiver. She sympathized with him in his final moment and rewarded his parental abandonment with dutiful consideration. Likewise, she accepted her mother without feeling ashamed of her appearance.
The Ability to Forgive Her Parents
The last and probably the most significant show of resilience in the story was absolution. Jeannette was raped by a vagabond that stole into their home on an evening when the patriarch was not home. While growing up, she almost killed a neighbor with their father’s gun, and they were abandoned to their childish devices.
Their father’s addiction eventually spiraled. He developed chronic alcoholism and was hospitalized before his death. During the ordeal, Jeannette forgave him and became a caregiver. She sympathized with him in his final moment and rewarded his parental abandonment with dutiful consideration. Likewise, she accepted her mother without feeling ashamed of her appearance.
Exploring The Hardships in The Glass Castle
Jeannette and her siblings grew up in a home where their dad drove and smoked with one hand and held a brown beer bottle in the other. These adverse conditions affected the little ones in several ways. The most popular ones are:
Penury
Walls senior did anything to feed his addiction, even if it meant no money and more struggles for the Walls. The Walls were homeless and took refuge in abandoned buildings, shacks, and even their car. They went days without food, and the little ones stole or scavenged for scraps to survive.
Abandonment and Abuse
Their alcoholic father often became violent when drunk, and their mum was emotionally distant and neglectful. The youngsters fend for themselves without adult supervision, which almost killed them. At the age of three, Jeannette suffered burns from cooking in an attempt to prepare what to eat, and she was hospitalized from a kitchen accident. Interestingly, Walls senior checked her out before getting the necessary care. He hated hospitals.
Jeannette was four when she became an expert with her dad’s pistol. As usual, the family’s handgun was exposed and in the children’s attainment. One day, a bully neighbor squirts them with a water gun, and they shot and seriously wounded him. The Walls had a heightened sense of looking for dangers and taking precautions to protect themselves. Their parent’s irresponsibility often endangers them, and even when Jeannette was molested by Uncle Stanley, Rose Mary simply said he attacked her due to loneliness.
The Main Moral Lesson of The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
Jeannette called her narrative “The Glass Castle” out of the desire to have a stable place she could contact home. The theme is when their father promised them a glass castle where they would live blissfully without worrying about any challenges. But unlike fairy tale castles, his version is fragile, transparent, defenseless, and a fantasy. So, in the end, Rex’s promise represents the empty promises of a household and hope for the future. The Walls waddled adversity and challenging disappointments as children. They attempted to find natural minerals and came up with various structures. Despite failing, they developed resilience. The little ones understood early that grand promises fail and life is not a bed of roses. They also learned forgiveness by enduring a challenging and tumultuou
Conclusion
The Glass Castle tells a story of destitution stemming from poverty and a dysfunctional family. Not only this but how adversity affected the lives of adolescents. It shapes their experience and impacts their future trajectories. Thankfully, the Walls remained resilient and persevered, eventually rising above their difficult upbringing. Through her memoir, Jeannette highlights the essence of forgiveness and understanding towards her parents. Their unconventional upbringing, coupled with poverty and occasional neglect, did not impact their academic and career success. Although their parenting style was flawed, the youngsters were still loved in their own way. Overall, the story depicts that individuals can overcome adversity and succeed with enough hard work and resilience.
