Bretey 1

Micaela Bretey
Professor Polking
Comp II
30 March 2016
The Glass Castle Response 1
Its not my fault if youre hungry! She [mom] shouted. Dont blame me. Do you
think I like living like this? Do you? (69). Growing up, at least for me, I did not have
the nicest things. My parents simply could not afford to get me the new Nintendo DS or
the latest cell phone that had a camera. We always had food on the table and a place to
call home, which is all that truly matters to our family. My parents did their best and
worked as hard as they could to give their five children the best life possible. Although
my siblings and I did not get everything we had wanted, we were blessed with a family
that held unconditional love for eachother. Jeannette Walls created an exceptional book,
The Glass Castle, about her life growing up, where she is her main character. She goes in
depth on what it is like to live in a dysfunctional and uniquely energetic family.
No matter how many times her parents either betrayed, disappointed,
downgraded, or scared her half to death, there is always some way of turning their
actions into deeds of love. This family consists of a mother, father, and four children.
Jeannette has an older brother and sister, along with a younger sister. She never blames
her parents for their neglect. When sober, Jeannette's extremely brilliant father taught
his children physics, geology, and how to embrace life fearlessly. But when he drank, he
was dishonest and destructive. Her mother was a free spirit who hated the idea of family
life and didn't want the responsibility of raising a family.

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Jeannette tells us, Mom believed that children shouldnt be burdened with a lot
of rules and restrictions (59). Her mother also spoke about how having no rules was
such a good thing because most people learn best from their mistakes, which they will
make a lot of if they do not have rules to follow (59). Although I do find it true that
people can learn from their mistakes, I do agree that children should be let free to do as
they please. They simple do not know any better and there are better ways in learning
right from wrong than letting a child out on their own. One thing that I found
interesting was that her mother did give the kids one rule; come home when the
streetlights turn on (59). During the summer when I lived across the street from South
Side Park, that was what my mom always told me. Thats how we told time back in 2010!
Throughout the book, I felt I could relate to many of the lessons she learned and
things she has gone through, to an extent. These things can and do happen, some cases
being worse off than others. There were many times when I would stop and think about
how my siblings and I did something similar to that or my parents and I also did that.
Jeannette told a story about learning how to swim, which was not her favorite memory.
Her father had picked her up and threw her into the Hot Pot, a natural sulfur
spring in the desert near Phoenix where they were living at the time. Without knowing
how to swim, she sank right to bottom, injesting water through her mouth and nose. Her
father helped her to the shallow water, allowing her to catch her breath before throwing
her into the water once again... which also happened a second time. The third time he
threw her into the Hot Pot, she took hold of what was going on and used all of her might
to get away from him. By pushing away and kicking her legs to escape her father, she
found herself able to get away from his grasp and hold herself above water (66).
Dad kept telling me that he loved me and that he would never let me

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drown, but you cant cling to the side your whole life, that one lesson every
parent needs to teach a child is If you dont want to sink, you better figure
out how to swim (66).
When I learned how to ride a bike, I went through a similar situation with my
parents. I was a very... scared and shy child. I never did anything that could get me hurt,
in trouble, or cause attention to myself. I bet you can imagine how I felt being at the top
of a hill, a rather large, steep hill, on my brand new bicycle. Only ever riding a bicycle
with training wheels accompanying me, I began bawling when my dad unscrewed my
little helpers at the starting point of this great experience. I finally got over it when I was
at the bottom of the frightening hill, still alive, and after screaming louder than ever
before and tears streaming down my face. Although my experience was not nearly as
horrendous as Jeannettes, I understand what her father was talking about. He was
trying to teach her how to survive and to rely on herself.
Her mother and father emphasized the need for their children to gain selfreliance. They showed this the most when they were unable of giving their children the
guidance, especially being young children, that they needed. Jeannettes carefree mother
was not a fan of cooking. She told the kids, Why spend the afternoon making a meal
that will be gone in an hour when you can spend the same amount of time on a painting
that will last forever? (56). This could be part of the reason the entire family often
found themselves scrounging for food in the neighborhood trash cans.
The children were starving for food most of their lives, along with their two
parents. When looking deeper into this, I also feel such hunger cant be fixed by food.
They never have a stable place to live or clean clothes, they do not have close friends or
relatives, and most the time they do not have heat or air conditioning in extreme

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temperatures. There is also the hunger for love and attention, friends, and a stable
environment. The Walls children learned to take care of themselves. They fed, clothed,
and protected one another.
Unconditional love is something I found often in the book. Though she is
typically embarrassed or disappointed in her parents and the life they have made her
live, she still loves them. Her love for them never fades, although she has plenty of
reasons for it to do so. She truly shows that her family is her family, no matter their past.
She did not have the best childhood, but she knows that her parents love and care about
her. Their parents would not knowingly let anything or anyone hurt their children.
Jeannette discusses so many issues that any family could be facing or has faced.
She elaborates on how they do not have money; they do not have a stable home; her
father cannot hold a job; her mother is so carefree; her siblings and her often get into
trouble. Throughout all of this, though, they are still a fairly respectable family.
Jeannettes parents made them say sir and maam and please and thank you,
which got them many compliments, like such good manners from the waitresses.
(55). Although they did not come from much, they still appreciated the life they had and
were respectful.
She does a great job by dividing her book into chapters and within those chapters,
she has different topics/ experiences. She shows where she is transitioning by boldfacing
the beginning letter of the new sentence on the following page. She makes this book
very easy to follow along with due to it flowing very nicely. I thank her for that! I also
enjoyed reading her personal experiences rather than a fiction book. Being able to
connect the many experiences I have had that are similar to hers made this book so
much better for me.

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This is one of the most interesting book I have read and I am only halfway
through. Jeannette Walls' experiences were detailed and there were several times I
caught myself relating to her whacky stories. The Glass Castle is truly amazing, while
being filled with the adoration of an abnormal but loyal and strong family. Jeannette
does an excellent job on explaining the life of a unconventional and uniquely caring and
positive family.