Poverty In The Glass Castle

In The Glass Castle, the author named Jeannette Walls thinks of a plan to aright a bended Joshua tree that she sees in the Desert. The tree that Jeannette discovers grows sideways due to the harsh weather conditions and struggles to survive every day. Jeannette’s mother tells her to leave the tree how it is because it is “the Joshua tree’s struggle that gives it its beauty” (Walls 45). Similarly, the tree symbolizes Jeannette’s life. Both of these living creatures are negatively impacted by their environment, face criticism, work hard regardless of what they are provided with and live an admirable life. Jeannette Walls’ childhood struggles help to transform her into a stronger person. To begin, Jeannette’s poverty as a child helps to make …show more content…
The food problems stem from her parents not having jobs to properly support the family. Jeannette hides in the bathroom during lunch hour and decides to eat food from the wastebaskets when she is hungry (Walls 173). Jeannette’s school experiences help her to adapt to being bullied and having little food at home. Jeannette adapts to be bullied by ignoring and leaving the children, while she adapts to her lack of nutrition by eating food that other people do not want. She adapts to both situations by trying to fix them: Jeannette leaves the bullies so that they do not bother her and she gets food that she does not have at home. Therefore, Jeannette’s lack of food as a child causes her to become a stronger person due to developed adaptability. Moreover, the lack of proper parental rules during Jeannette’s childhood contributes to her becoming a self-sufficient individual. For example, Jeannette is cooking hotdogs in her family trailer in Southern Arizona. At the age of three, she wears a puffy pink dress and it catches on fire. The fire severely burns Jeannette; however, when Jeannette returns from the hospital, her mother says, “Good for you…you have to get right back on the saddle” (Walls …show more content…
Although Jeannette is not a victim to rape, she is still harassed because she is forced by Billy into a situation that she does not want to be part of. The sexual harassment that Jeannette deals with helps to transform her into a mature person because she learns how to deal with rumours, harassment, people that she does not trust and people that she does not know very well. Overall, the harassment that Jeannette experiences makes her a stronger person due to the maturity that she gains from experiences with a gang of children and Billy Deel. In conclusion, Jeannette Walls’ childhood struggles help to transform her into a stronger person. To begin, Jeannette’s struggles with poverty help to make her an adaptive individual by teaching her how to avoid harmful situations at school, such as bullying or not having any food to eat. Also, Jeannette’s problem with a lack of proper rules from her parents causes her to transform into a self-sufficient person by figuring out how to get the food that she needs on her own from a Dumpster. Conjointly, Jeannette’s struggles with her father help her to become a forgiving person due to the acquired mutual love between them. Furthermore, the harassment that Jeannette deals with in Welch from a gang of boys and Billy Deel contributes to her to becoming a more