Perfect. We live in a world where all anyone strives to be is perfect. Is that the sole purpose of life? To belittle or gain power over someone’s struggles? Merely to make yourself feel better or look as though you're perfect? Jeannette Walls takes us on a journey through her memoir The Glass Castle and explains her struggles throughout life. Jeanette grew up with a set of neglecting parents who never tried to provide for her siblings or herself like they should’ve. Jeannette begins to see just how bad her living situation is and so do those around her. Bullying and struggles with her self image start to play a factor in Jeanette’s life. Some struggles she has throughout the whole book is being belittled, made fun of, not understood, and
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Her Father was dead at the time, but her Mother was still homeless and struggling to get by. Although Jeannette has offered to help her Mother she refuses and explains how happy she is with her current lifestyle. Jeannette is afraid of what others will think of her and she’s afraid they won’t accept her anymore. Walls writes, “It had been months since I laid eyes on Mom, and when she looked up, I was overcome with panic that she’d see me and call out my name, and that someone on the way to the same party would spot us together and Mom would introduce herself and my secret would be out. I slid down in the seat and asked the driver to turn around and take me home to Park Avenue” (Walls 3). Jeanette is conflicted with the way she’s currently living and doesn’t know how to combat her situation. She has a nice house and nice furniture and all the basic essential things needed to survive while her Mother has nothing. She feels very guilty and upset with herself for feeling embarrassed of her parents. She doesn’t want her friends to see or treat her differently by knowing her past, so she chooses to avoid it. She later finds out that it isn’t the best way and that if they were truly her friends they would accept her for anything. Jeanette wants to talk to Mom and figure out what she can do to feel less embarrassed. This topic will be hard for her to talk about and she doesn’t want to …show more content…
She doesn't want anyone to find out that her family doesn’t even have money for the essentials such as food. She also wishes her parents would try harder to provide for their children. Walls writes, “I told people that I had forgotten to bring my lunch. No one believed me, so I started hiding in the bathroom during lunch. I’d stay in one of the stalls with the door locked and my feet propped up so that no one would recognize my shoes. When other girls came in and threw away their lunch bags in the garbage pails, I’d go retrieve them” (Walls 173). Jeanette is embarrassed that her family can’t afford to provide her with something as basic as a lunch everyday. She begins to avoid the problem by spending her lunch period in the bathroom instead of the cafeteria. Afraid that one of the girls would see her picking in the trash for food, she always makes sure the coast is clear. Jeanette later learns that she needed to do what she could to survive by herself. This helped her realize that she should never take anything for granted. Another quote which supports this evidence, “We can’t keep dumping garbage out there,” I said. “What are people going to think?” (Walls 157). Jeanette’s Father has yet again broken his promise and given Jeanette a sense of false hope. She believed she was helping her family by digging a hole for the Glass Castle, but instead her
Her Father was dead at the time, but her Mother was still homeless and struggling to get by. Although Jeannette has offered to help her Mother she refuses and explains how happy she is with her current lifestyle. Jeannette is afraid of what others will think of her and she’s afraid they won’t accept her anymore. Walls writes, “It had been months since I laid eyes on Mom, and when she looked up, I was overcome with panic that she’d see me and call out my name, and that someone on the way to the same party would spot us together and Mom would introduce herself and my secret would be out. I slid down in the seat and asked the driver to turn around and take me home to Park Avenue” (Walls 3). Jeanette is conflicted with the way she’s currently living and doesn’t know how to combat her situation. She has a nice house and nice furniture and all the basic essential things needed to survive while her Mother has nothing. She feels very guilty and upset with herself for feeling embarrassed of her parents. She doesn’t want her friends to see or treat her differently by knowing her past, so she chooses to avoid it. She later finds out that it isn’t the best way and that if they were truly her friends they would accept her for anything. Jeanette wants to talk to Mom and figure out what she can do to feel less embarrassed. This topic will be hard for her to talk about and she doesn’t want to …show more content…
She doesn't want anyone to find out that her family doesn’t even have money for the essentials such as food. She also wishes her parents would try harder to provide for their children. Walls writes, “I told people that I had forgotten to bring my lunch. No one believed me, so I started hiding in the bathroom during lunch. I’d stay in one of the stalls with the door locked and my feet propped up so that no one would recognize my shoes. When other girls came in and threw away their lunch bags in the garbage pails, I’d go retrieve them” (Walls 173). Jeanette is embarrassed that her family can’t afford to provide her with something as basic as a lunch everyday. She begins to avoid the problem by spending her lunch period in the bathroom instead of the cafeteria. Afraid that one of the girls would see her picking in the trash for food, she always makes sure the coast is clear. Jeanette later learns that she needed to do what she could to survive by herself. This helped her realize that she should never take anything for granted. Another quote which supports this evidence, “We can’t keep dumping garbage out there,” I said. “What are people going to think?” (Walls 157). Jeanette’s Father has yet again broken his promise and given Jeanette a sense of false hope. She believed she was helping her family by digging a hole for the Glass Castle, but instead her