Typewriter

In the Welch family their was said to be two writers Jeannette Walls and her mother. Mrs Walls never actually published anything but she wrote whenever she wasn't painting. Jeannette Walls' works were published. At first, Walls began with newspapers; now she has novels that have been published and are successful.

Houses

Usually, Walls' family lived in places that were so cheap that they had several problems. For example, in Welch, their house had holes in the ceiling and the porch was falling apart. Also, there weren't enough rooms in the houses for everyone and sometimes they were used for more than one purpose.

New York

After many years of living with their family, Lori and Jeannette Walls decided to finally move out to New York; they believed they would be able to find many opportunities. After four years, everyone in the family ended up in New York.

Maureen

             "...Maureen stabbed Mom," Walls revealed the surprising statement.

             What Maureen did at the end of the novel really surprised me. I actually thought that she was going to be the strongest one. Maureen was being practically living with other families that would be considered normal by her neighbors. Jeannette Walls said that Maureen always looked for someone to take care of her. I never really took a moment to look at it that way. I always thought she was doing what her other siblings hadn’t done yet: getting away from the family.

Going and Leaving Behind

             "I also knew that I'd never be coming back," Walls wrote, sounding very sure of herself.

             I wonder how she could be so sure of everything. I mean, what would she do if it didn't go well? Where would she go? Would she stay or decide to leave and start over for a second time? Everything was such a risk.

             When Lori and Jeannette Walls left Welch for New York, I thought they were being selfish. They left their younger siblings behind without thinking twice about it. They did not think about the fact that they would be escaping everything, but would put more pressure on Brian and Maureen. I was surprised by how supportive Brian was of the plan. Honestly, I thought they were going to forget about everyone backing Welch. Of course, I was proved wrong when the sisters decided to call Brian to convince him to move in with them; later, they did the same for Maureen.

The Bright Side VS Realistic World

            “Look on the bright side” could not apply more than it does in The Glass Castle. As a young girl, Jeannette Walls was taught to see everything as an adventure. Though she had an alcoholic dad, she was the one to always have faith in him. Her family would go days without eating, weeks without new clothes, and months in a house that would start to fall apart; her parents reminded her that there were other kids out there that had it worse. As she grew up, matured, and saw the world around her, she saw that her family could have it better. Walls was the most supportive of her dad, but was the first one to stand up to him or to even think about living a different way. As the years flew by, it became harder for her to believe in her dad. I believe that she began to have a more realistic view of the world, one where you have to see both sides of the world: the good and the bad.

Imagination

             On page thirty-nine Walls makes a confession: " I never believed in Santa Claus.... Mom and Dad refused to let us."

             Many who have read the book probably think that Jeannette Walls’ parents robbed her and her siblings of a proper childhood or even having imagination; after all, they were taught basic school subjects at a young age and that they should not believe in Santa Claus. However, they do not seem to realize that he had to encourage their imagination in order to convince them that goals as big as an actual glass castle were actually possible. Without imagination they would have called their father’s plans foolish. People such as Mr. Walls had to have some kind of imagination to be able to envision grand things or something no one else has thought of before.

Childhood and Success

Almost all of Jeannette Walls’ childhood makes me wonder how she was able to become so successful. Walls came from rock-bottom or as close as you can get to it and had very stubborn parents that were set in their ways. She grew up in a very nontraditional family, where rules weren’t very important and neither was having a stable job, as long as money was coming in somehow. Reaching a safe place must have been difficult with parents that seemed to pull her down so much. Perhaps, all the oddness was what made her so different that she eventually became successful.