The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls is arguably one of the most heartbreaking stories you’ll ever read. The memoir details her life from her earliest memory of three and this work of nonfiction reveals the strife and struggles she endured. Walt Disney suggests, “I don't believe in playing down to children, either in life or in motion pictures. I didn't treat my own youngsters like fragile flowers, and I think no parent should. Children are people, and they should have to reach to learn about things, to understand things, just as adults have to reach if they want to grow in mental stature. Life is composed of lights and shadows, and we would be untruthful, insincere, and saccharine if we tried to pretend there were no shadows. Most things
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As Jeannette and Brian walked home from the candy store they passed by the Green Lantern, a green house with christmas lights where women sat on the porch in very little clothing. “Mom said it was a cathouse” is Jeannette’s response to Brian when pondering what goes on inside the Green Lantern. Rose chooses this phrasing instead of telling them directly that it’s a brothel. The knowledge of what it truly is may seem insignificant, however the Green Lantern is revisited again a few pages later. When Rex treated Brian to a comic book for his birthday he also treated himself with a visit from one of the ladies that work there. Brian comes to understand that the women there do more than their mother implied. “She makes a lot of money…” is what he tells Jeannette when she asks him about it later. Brian doesn’t share his new understanding with her. Understandably Brian and Jeannette were only six and seven; most parents would oppose their children hanging around brothels. It was inappropriate of Rex to have Brian interact with her with no idea what her job was and that she would sleep with their father. This is “playing down to children” as Disney would put …show more content…
Rex and Rose valued experiences not material things. If we lived in a perfect world everyone would value experiences and people rather than money and the things it brings. Unfortunately we must pay for things like food, water, shelter- things needed to sustain living. The children of this family went hungry on many occasions, while their parents were living their own lives. When Lori and Jeannette resort to eating margarine and sugar they finally speak something their delusional parents ignore, “I was hungry” with emphasis. Jeannette conveys “I’d broken one of our unspoken rules: We were always supposed to pretend our life was one long and incredibly long adventure.” If life is one great adventure i’m pretty sure you don’t want to go through it hungry. “... Life is composed of lights and shadows, and we would be untruthful, insincere, and saccharine if we tried to pretend there were no shadows…” Is letting your children starve letting them see the shadows or is it neglect? Rose and Rex often let the kids learn things on their own but no child should have to learn what being hungry feels like. Rose seemed surprised when Jeannette told her she was hungry: she suppresses the thought that life is not going well and forces this on the kids. They “play down” their situation to their
As Jeannette and Brian walked home from the candy store they passed by the Green Lantern, a green house with christmas lights where women sat on the porch in very little clothing. “Mom said it was a cathouse” is Jeannette’s response to Brian when pondering what goes on inside the Green Lantern. Rose chooses this phrasing instead of telling them directly that it’s a brothel. The knowledge of what it truly is may seem insignificant, however the Green Lantern is revisited again a few pages later. When Rex treated Brian to a comic book for his birthday he also treated himself with a visit from one of the ladies that work there. Brian comes to understand that the women there do more than their mother implied. “She makes a lot of money…” is what he tells Jeannette when she asks him about it later. Brian doesn’t share his new understanding with her. Understandably Brian and Jeannette were only six and seven; most parents would oppose their children hanging around brothels. It was inappropriate of Rex to have Brian interact with her with no idea what her job was and that she would sleep with their father. This is “playing down to children” as Disney would put …show more content…
Rex and Rose valued experiences not material things. If we lived in a perfect world everyone would value experiences and people rather than money and the things it brings. Unfortunately we must pay for things like food, water, shelter- things needed to sustain living. The children of this family went hungry on many occasions, while their parents were living their own lives. When Lori and Jeannette resort to eating margarine and sugar they finally speak something their delusional parents ignore, “I was hungry” with emphasis. Jeannette conveys “I’d broken one of our unspoken rules: We were always supposed to pretend our life was one long and incredibly long adventure.” If life is one great adventure i’m pretty sure you don’t want to go through it hungry. “... Life is composed of lights and shadows, and we would be untruthful, insincere, and saccharine if we tried to pretend there were no shadows…” Is letting your children starve letting them see the shadows or is it neglect? Rose and Rex often let the kids learn things on their own but no child should have to learn what being hungry feels like. Rose seemed surprised when Jeannette told her she was hungry: she suppresses the thought that life is not going well and forces this on the kids. They “play down” their situation to their