Essay Comparing The Glass Castle And A Raisin In The Sun

One of the most amazing things about literature is how there is always some way to compare any two types of work. There is also always some way that two works are similar. The Glass Castle and A Raisin in the Sun are two works that are completely different in almost every way. The two are different in the way that the two have a completely different American Dream that they are trying to achieve, the struggles that the families go through, and that The Glass Castle is a memoir, while A Raisin in the Sun is a play. However, their differences also bring out their similarities. Since both stories contain family struggles, they contain similar themes and literary works.
The Glass Castle is a motivational autobiography about overcoming the troubles …show more content…
One of these elements is imagery. According to Literary Devices, imagery is when the author uses “figurative language to represent objects, actions and ideas in such a way that it appeals to our physical senses.” In A Raisin in the Sun, one of the main uses of imagery was the plant that Lena or Mama, took care of throughout the play. She has had that plant since she first moved into that apartment. It is obviously not thriving because it is in a little pot and sitting beside the only window in the little apartment. Lena makes several comments on how the plant will flourish once it is able to get out of the little pot. That plant represents her family. She continues to take care of them the best way that she can, but they will not be able to thrive until they get out of that apartment. Once they get into a house of their own, the family will be able to flourish just like the plant will when it is able to move to a garden. In The Glass Castle, the main imagery used is the glass castle that the family continues to mention throughout the story. Rex tells his children that one day when they are rich he is going to be able to build the first ever glass castle for the family to live in. He carries around blueprints of the house and continues to make changes on them. Building a glass castle in the desert is obviously an unrealistic possibility for any family, but the family can dream, right? The …show more content…
The Glass Castle has multiple cases of irony throughout the story. One of the first that comes to mind is how Rose Mary disapproves of habits that she considers low-class, like chewing bubble gum. She considers this to be low-class, when it’s completely normal to chew gum and her family is low-class. Another situation in which there is irony is during the time that Jeannette gets burned from cooking hotdogs. Jeannette is healing properly and actually happy staying at the hospital. However, Rex comes to break her out of the hospital and tells her “you don’t have to worry, you’re safe now.” Any hospital is most likely going to be considered a safe place, especially when your home life is like that of the Walls family, but Rex said he was doing his daughter a favor by getting her out of there. There are also cases of irony in A Raisin in the Sun. One example is when Bobo comes over to see the family, during a time when the family seems to finally be at peace with each other. It is apparent to the reader right away that something bad has happened, however the characters seem to be oblivious. The reader than finds out that Walter had invested the insurance check into the liquor store without anyone’s approval and Willy has run off with all of the money. Another case of irony is when Mr. Lidner from the welcoming committee comes over.