I recently read “The Glass Castle”, Jeannette Walls’s memoir/autobiography, and I wrote my reflections on how her parents’ philosophy eventually motivated her, as well as her siblings, to go to New York. Though it doesn’t exactly qualify as a book analysis, it was the closest I could come to a title that wasn’t extremely long. I’ve also written a book review on “The Glass Castle”, which can be found here. This is my mini-essay:
In “The Glass Castle”, a memoir by Jeannette Walls, Jeannette’s parents encouraged their children to be independent and follow their dreams, though their actions didn’t always support this philosophy. Ultimately, this philosophy led Jeannette, Brian, and Lori to go to New York on their own despite their parents’ unwillingness to let them go.
Jeannette’s parents had a lot of philosophies that made Jeannette and her siblings more independent and better able to follow their dreams. For example, Jeannette’s father once tossed Jeannette into the lake, rescuing her whenever she sank only to toss her back in, so that Jeannette would learn to swim. Meanwhile, Jeannette’s mother didn’t like the clean city water, explaining that unfiltered water was better because “Water from the wild helped build up your antibodies.” Her mother also thought that “Suffering when you’re young is good for you . . .” Her parents also taught Jeannette a lot, as well as making her more responsible. Jeannette’s father was very knowledgable when he wasn’t drunk, and he taught the three siblings a lot about math and science, while Jeannette’s mother taught them a lot about living in the wild. Jeannette had learned how to cook hot dogs by the time she was three! Eventually, Jeannette, Brian, and Lori went to New York against their parents’ wishes–their father even stole their money for going to New York!–because of these philosophies. Jeannette’s parents also taught the three not to be materialistic, and instead to do what they loved. They were independent and had been taught to follow their dreams, so they went to New York despite their parents’ reluctance, and they had the ability to survive their because of everything they had learned because of their upbringing as well as their parents.
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