Preview

Stereotypes/ the Glass Castle Essay Example

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
816 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Stereotypes/ the Glass Castle Essay Example
Final Draft
Stereotypes/ The Glass Castle Stereotype plays a big part in today’s society. In the Memoir “The Glass Castle” by Jeannette Walls, others would easily misjudge Jeannette’s family just by their image and the way they lived their life. Although they lived the way they did the walls family had much potential and were very well educated in their own ways. People need to live by the quote “Never judge a book by its cover” because you never know who they are until you meet them. In todays society people tend to stereotype others in many ways. The media has created a misconception on humanity that has spread among society. News, Internet and other sources of information have created a negative view on certain people in the world. The negative thing has to do with the different ethnic groups, social class, etc. Others don’t realize that stereotyping has negative effects on those experiencing it. “Instead of being presented with stereotypes by age, sex, color, class, or religion, children must have the opportunity to learn that within each range, some people are loathsome and some are delightful.” (Mead). This quote works great with the topic of stereotyping. It explains that you shouldn’t go by what others have made people to look like; you should get to know them because you never really know who they are until you meet them. The misconception of the media and others would be one of the main reasons why the Walls family would be judged. In the memoir “The Glass Castle”, Jeannette’s family would easily be judged by their appearance and the way they choose to live their life. They grew up very poor and were always moving from place to place. Jeannette and her family would wear handy downs and clothes they found in dumpsters. Seeing the walls family and the way they lived their life I would easily misjudge who they truly were. I would say that they were weird and lacked intelligence, because who would willingly want to live in those circumstances.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • 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

    In the Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls describes her childhood and her views of the world as she grew up. She pushed herself through poverty to eventually become successful. Throughout the book, Jeannette describes her horrific ordeals and crazy adventures her family had. They moved to dozens of different places and even lived in the family car for some time. The Glass Castle shows Jeannette’s power of forgiveness, a common theme in the book.…

    • 990 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Consequently, the novel “The Glass Castle” the main character , Jeannette Walls; emanated from a lower class family and situations were exceptionally strenuous. She scarcely had anything to victual the majority of the time , took showers in public pools , conversely even slumbered in a car with her three siblings. She kenned that it was going to be a very unyielding to get an optimistic future , conversely, when her family isn’t financially immovable and will endeavor…

    • 366 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Glass Castle Summary

    • 707 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In addition, The Glass Castle, “Poverty in America Is Mainstream”, and “Number Of Homeless Children In America Surges To All-Time High: Report” all have a similar author’s purpose. Jeannette Walls’s purpose of writing her memoir is to teach readers to achieve their dreams and not let their past hold them back. Especially, she describes her house as a compact residence that is located on a steep hillside. The front of the house includes a drooping porch, which is supported by spindly cinder-block pillars. It has been a long time since someone has painted it (Walls 150). Evidently, Jeannette Walls has had many obstacles while growing, but she does not let them stop her from prospering throughout her life. She decides she would like to move to…

    • 707 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    To begin with, The Glass Castle is a memoir that follows Jeannette Walls and her family. Throughout the book Jeannette, her brother and sisters, and her parents move throughout the southwest living in all kinds of different places, but no matter where they go they are always facing poverty. Rex, Jeannette’s father, is a brilliant man, who when sober, taught Jeannette and her sisters and brother physics, geology, and most of all, how to take on life courageously. Rose Mary, Jeannette’s mother, who painted and wrote, could not handle…

    • 1547 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Jeannette Walls’ memoir, The Glass Castle, characterises Jeanette’s childhood as having dysfunctional parents and having constant poverty. What I found remarkable about Jeanette’s story is that although Jeanette’s parents were careless, neglectful and irresponsible, they were able to manage to create key children qualities and raise well adjusted adults. Jeanette's parents taught their children to be independent, resilient and to have a love for learning. These are invaluable gifts that will last a lifetime and breed success.…

    • 697 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    It was a very touching story: the Glass Castle, in which author Jeannette Walls tells the world about her greatly influential past. This passage I chose reveals one of the most significant characters in her life, her father; it recalls on the things that he did for her, or his attitudes and ways of life that is very influential in the author’s life. When her father speaks in the book, it can be interpreted that he is someone who has dreams, but could never achieve anything. It’s ironic and displays flawed reasoning in how he kidnaps his daughter from the hospital, but then tells her that “she’s safe” and that she “doesn’t have to worry anymore.”(Walls, 14) She then goes on and talks about her father’s stories. He talks about “stories” of his past, which is inferred that in realty, they’re really just fiction. The way Wall’s dad portrays himself symbolizes his need to have his children believe in him, to prove that he can still be strong and intelligent-not the drunk that he is-, to describe what he wants his life to be. Walls explains to her audience why her childhood was troubled through using parallelism, she said that her and her family didn’t fit in “because they had red hair, because dad was a drunk, because we wore rags and didn’t take baths…..” (Walls, 164) In this passage, Wall’s uses simple words, easy to understand diction, and clearly tells us her story. Even though it may not be the best experiences a child can endure, she doesn’t complain, but simply looks at it as something that she has overcome. Jeannette Walls wrote a story about her life, her parents, her upbringing, and she did so calmly and objective, yet still connecting with her readers on an emotional…

    • 317 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory 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
  • Satisfactory Essays

    |Race |All Blacks are criminals |White men are abusers |Mexicans are related to gangs |…

    • 518 Words
    • 3 Pages
    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

    Glass Castle Essay

    • 973 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In order to explain that the individual has full control over how they choose to perceive their own situation Eric Hoffer says, “It still holds true that man is most uniquely human when he turns obstacles into opportunities.” This remarkable trait is apparent in Jeanette Walls’ memoir, The Glass Castle, in which Walls retells the story of her childhood surrounded by her extremely dysfunctional yet oddly vivacious family. The reader becomes engrossed in Jeannette’s endless battle between defending her family and the greatness she hopes the Walls will amount to, and settling for the fact that her family is based on false hopes and meaningless lies with her extraordinary story telling techniques. Walls uses her story to encourage others to embrace their past because it affects the person one grows to be, and also to inspire them to look for the opportunity in every situation.…

    • 973 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Glass Castle Essay

    • 418 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Jeannette Walls’ memoir The Glass Castle, documents her childhood which is surrounded by poverty and inattentive parents. Both of the parents of the Walls children were self-absorbed in their own lives, the children learned that they must depend on each other to meet their own basic needs. Even though Rex Walls was an alcoholic and Rose-Mary was indulged in her paintings, they managed to teach their children the most important life lesson that well-rounded adults must know. The memoir expresses Jeannette’s feelings towards her parents, which follows a quote by Oscar Wilde, “Children begin by loving their parents; as they grow older, they judge them; sometime, they forgive them.” As the memoir starts, Jeannette writes about how she loves her…

    • 418 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Stereotypes have existed since the beginning of time in our everyday life through religion, politics and the media. There has been a change that made criticism the main subject of conversations among human beings. The media that made a huge impact is television which is the industry that is most guilty of perpetuating gender stereotypes; it can be basic or complex generalizations where people apply to individuals based on their appearance behavior and beliefs. There are also positive contributions to society since it helped the industrial development. The question is People is what they think they are?. In this world there are different ways of thinking, but is society absolutely sure of who they are? or all this time they became the person who society created? perhaps this is because we seek approval or admiration?. Many times people misinterpretation of who they really are for fear of being judged. This fear that society feels when they want to be themselves is a fear that have being created by society day by…

    • 1299 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Compare and contrast

    • 944 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Everyday, stereotype is used in the society. Sometimes, when people use stereotype on other people, they don’t even recognize it because it’s so common and is ignored by the society. It’s a way to judge people through their common believes based on ethnicity, gender, skin color, appearance and language of the people who are being judged. For example, when people see a Vietnamese woman in her 20’s, 30’s and 40’s just migrated to America, they would assume that she will be working in a nail salon and flirt with some rich guys to get married with. Being stereotype is difficult deal with, and it’s really offended and hurtful. “The Myth of the Latin woman: I Just Met a Girl Named Maria” by Judith Ortiz Cofer and “Mother Tongue” by Amy Tan share some common and different stereotypes that they had to go through. In the story “The Myth of the Latin Woman: I just met a Girl Named Maria”, Judith Cofer wrote about her experiences being stereotyped as a Latin woman. In “Mother Tongue,” Amy shared her personal experiences being stereotyped with her language’s barrier. Even though the two female authors shared the similarity for being stereotyped by the society, they faced different situations on the way they were stereotyped.…

    • 944 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Compare / Contrast Essay

    • 587 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Stereotypes are conventional and oversimplified conceptions and opinion that can create tough misconception of certain people which most of the times turns out harsh and harmful. Brent Staples in “Just Walk On By” and Judith Ortiz Cofer in “THE MYTH OF A LATIN WOMAN. I Just Met A Girl Name Maria “ Both had experiences of being stereotyped even though they had different experiences in different situations and incidents it has the same concept. They were both stereotyped as d someone else. Staples was stereotyped by his African American appearance as a rapist, mugger and a bugler, however he did not fit his stereotype an educated individual with a college degree. Staple dealt with his stereotype in a calm manner by changing his behavior to make people less nervous around him. Similarly cofer was stereotype as housemaid, waitress and a sexual object. Cofer did not fit her stereotype either a colloge educated individual she also handles her stereotype in a calm manner. Her goal however is to replace stereotype with a much more interesting set of realities. Both staples and cofer faced the challenge of dealing with stereotypes in their lives.…

    • 587 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays