Preview

The Life of Jeanette Walls

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
783 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Life of Jeanette Walls
The Life of Jeanette Walls The Walls family did not exactly live what you would call an ideal life, but to their family it was as good as it could get. In the book The Glass Castle, the author Jeannette Walls explains her life story. Jeannette, being the main character in the book, lives with her family who is always moving to different cities whether it be Arizona, California, or even West Virginia. Being a kid at the time, Jeannette does not quite understand how irresponsible her parents are, but by the time she is an adult she understands how badly her parents have screwed up. Jeanette decides to leave her family and build a new and improved life for herself. Throughout the book, Jeanette Walls changes from an adventurous girl to a responsible woman. When Jeannette is just a little girl, she was full of adventure. She would always be out around in the outdoors, shooting bb guns with her brother Brian, collecting rocks out in the desert, or even playing football with the kids on the street. “Lots of other kids lived in our neighborhood, which was known as the Tracks, and after school we all played together. We played red-light-green-light, tag, football, Red Rover, or nameless games that involved running hard, keeping up with the pack, and not crying if you feel down,” (58). This quote shows that Jeanette is kind of a tomboy and is also fearless. Many girls would not play these types of games because they would be too scared about getting hurt by the boys playing rough. Also, having these personality traits could make Jeanette not worry too much about her dad drinking or her mom not taking good care of the family. Being adventurous could also result in her behavior as well. “So we mixed up a batch of what Brian called nuclear fuel, pouring different liquids into a can. When I tossed in the match, a cone of flame shot up with a whoosh like a jet burner. Brian and I were knocked to our feet. When we stood up, one of the walls was on fire,” (61). This quote

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    “The Glass Castle” by Jeanette Walls, is a novel about the hardships throughout her life and the several lives of her family and how they overcome those hardships. Within the novel, Jeanette goes into detail about some of the incidents that her parents made and how they each chose a different parenting style. Her father, Rex Walls, was very hands on with his parenting, while contrasting her mother Rose Mary was very relaxed in her parenting technique. In each of the tiny stories Jeanette told during the novel, they each revealed more about how her parents chose to raise her and her siblings. In order to be a successful parent it takes hard work and a lot of effort, but you have to achieve a balance between both hands- on and relaxed parenting.…

    • 908 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Jeannette Walls is an author of many books, one of which being her memoir The Glass Castle. After years keeping her story a secret, in 2005 Jeannette’s husband inspired her to write her sad story for the world to see. Through the 288 pages, Jeanette illustrates her story of a life as nomads constantly on the move, with a passive mother and a drunken father. The stories she shares show the side of an abusive childhood that we rarely have the opportunity to understand. The glass castle is shattered in the reader's face, and its pieces rebuild their broken perspective.…

    • 1149 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Although it is recalled in Jeannette Walls’s memoir Glass Castle her hard and difficult childhood, Jeannette Walls says that “we were luckier than other kids.” This is because of the fact that the Walls children have each other. Lori, Brian, and Jeannette continue to look after each other throughout their childhood. When Billy Deel starts attacking the Walls children with a BB gun, Lori “had Dad’s pistol, and she pointed it dead at Billy” (Walls 88). Although Lori is the most unlikely of any of the children to shoot the gun, she does it anyway in order to protect her family. In addition, Jeannette spends her whole summer working to earn money in order to support Brian and Maureen. Even after paying for food and other necessities, Jeannette…

    • 218 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    A. Jeannette, at the beginning of the story, is a prosperous news reporter in a pretty dress on her way to a very fancy party. This is the first glimpse we see of her, but the book is done as a ‘flashback’ of sorts, so even though technically she is a 30-something woman at the beginning of the story, she transitions back to when she was 3 years old. She talks, at least when she was talking with her mother when she was older, as if she knows what she’s talking of. She knows who ‘she’ is, even if she cannot at first come to terms with who her parents are. She begins by seeing her mother digging through the trash while she was on her way to a party. This upsets her enough to tell the cab driver to turn around so she could go back home.…

    • 1395 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The book, Glass Castle, by Jeannette Walls, is an unbelievable memoir about a dysfunctional family. The author, Jeannette Walls, is also the main character in the book. Jeannette and each of her unique and interesting family members differ from any other character in a book you can imagine. Jeannette’s father teaches and inspires her each and everyday with new and interesting things. But when Jeannette’s father was not helping them embrace life, he was drinking alcohol, leaving his children with no one to take care of them. “In my mind, Dad was perfect, although he did have what Mom called a bit of a drinking situation.” (page 23). This quote describes how much Jeannette cares for her father, but sometimes his drinking problem got in the way. Jeannette’s mother was a very nice, sweet, and caring woman, but the whole idea of responsibility and being a parent wasn’t her cup of tea. Jeannette and her brother and sister are left to take care of themselves. Throughout the story Jeannette and her family persevere greatly, and prove to each other how…

    • 603 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    deal with it. This was life for author Jeannette Walls until the age of 17 when she escaped to…

    • 1857 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Born on August 6, 1911, in Jamestown, New York, Lucille Ball got her start as a singer, model and film star before becoming one of America's top comedic actresses with the 1950s TV show I Love Lucy, co-starring on the show with her husband, Desi Arnaz. The two divorced in 1960, and Ball went on to star in The Lucy Show and Here's Lucy while also becoming a top TV executive. She died in 1989.…

    • 553 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The occurrence of many negative situations in Jeanette’s memoir, the Glass Castle, presents Jeanette and her family with many challenges which their actions, often times, results in a positive outcome. When Billy and Jeanette and her siblings get into a gunfight, it results in the Walls “family coming down to the courthouse the next morning and see the magistrate” (Walls 89). However, Jeanette’s father, Rex, makes them move that night, driving to “an older house, made of adobe, in downtown Phoenix” that Jeanette’s mom, Rose Mary, inherits from Jeanette’s Grandma Smith (Walls 92). This reveals that the negative situation was the gunfight, forcing the Walls family to dash at night to avoid going to the courthouse. Jeanette saw Battle Mountain…

    • 475 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Glass Castle, a memoir written by Jeannette Walls is an eye-opening look at the world of poverty that touches so many lives within in the United States. There are many reasons for poverty wheather they be out of consequence or one is simply born into it there are many reason for its occurance. The story of Jeannette Walls is not only inspiring but motivating as her climb from the depths poverty allow her to become the successful journalist and novelist she is today. Throughout her life there have been many struggles including her own father, Rex Walls, the finicial instability their family faces together, and the bullies Jeannette must face alone. She clearly outlines her own growth with her father throughout the novel and proves that with…

    • 1140 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Mary Rose Walls Analysis

    • 677 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Jeannette Walls, had a complex relationship with both of her parents. Mary Rose Walls was more of a free-spirit, as well as an artist. The first time the readers are introduced to Jeannette’s mother she was rooting through a dumpster. The second encounter isn’t much better. At the age of three in some words, Jeannette could be described as mature. However mature for a three-year old to most people would be: putting on their own clothes, and being properly potty-trained, but Jeannette was not like most three year olds. Which speaks to her character, but at the same time shines light on her relationship…

    • 677 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Living her childhood brimful of hope and optimism, Jeannette Walls prospered in the face of her hardships. As the second-oldest child to Rex and Rose Mary Walls, Jeannette had to adapt to an undomesticated lifestyle along with her three siblings. At the first glimpse of her childhood, three-year-old Jeannette burned herself, and after being hospitalized, she went back to working with fire. Her parents believed this to be an act of resilience, contrary to it being perilous. They would pretend their turbulent life was a glorious adventure. She was constantly put into circumstances that were typical for her, but unsound in the eyes of most people. She was sporadically on the move, and faced challenges in each stop. She and Brian would be bullied for their attire, and in one case, Jeannette witnessed…

    • 392 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    One of the most well-known figures in televised history, Lucille Ball led a complex life full of joy, hardship, loss, and success. She grew from humble beginnings to nationwide fame for her fiery personality. Not only did she achieve personal success, she made many American’s lives better. She helped others, namely women, embrace a new modern world by running her own business, not following typical gender roles, and forging her own path in the television industry.…

    • 231 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    No two childhoods are exactly alike. Some children are lucky to be born into wealthy families, while other families struggle to make ends meet. In the memoir, The Glass Castle, by Jeannette Walls she described the events in her childhood which lead her to become independent at a very young age, made an effort to make the most of the education offered to her, and learned to appreciate what she had. Her unusual upbringing and lifestyle as a young child shaped her into the successful woman she is today.…

    • 1134 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Glass Castle. Sounds like a story about some fantasy kingdom with a castle made of glass, but it’s not. This is a story about the early life of a young woman, Jeannette Walls. From drinking to living in the desert to going to New York, her life is a roller coaster ride. However, there is one thing you notice in the story: forgiveness. This happened many times in the Walls family. The act of forgiveness ultimately led the family to peace.…

    • 1052 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Glass Castle Theme

    • 2048 Words
    • 9 Pages

    In The Glass Castle by Jeannette Wells, many hardships and themes of struggle are present. The story explains the story of Jeannette, her siblings, and her unusual parents. Jeannette and her family are constantly moving around and living in less than adequate situations. Jeannette’s mother, has mental health problems. Her condition makes the children have to grow up and help provide for the parents. Additionally, her father, is an alcoholic. His behavior is violent and puts the family through a lot of struggles. While growing up, Jeannette did not have any good friends to confide to. She was constantly met with bullying and the act of trying to fit in. Jeannette and her siblings were not brought up like a normal family. They were taught to…

    • 2048 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Good Essays