Glass Castle Essay Essay

The novel The Glass Castle, by Jeannette W on the wholes, addresses many social issues that we deal with every day. The most important social issues disputed on a daily basis ar the kind of parents we want to be and what we want to teach our children for their future. In this memoir we are able to see how Rex and rosemary Walls choose to educate their children to see the improve side of their daily troubles. The Walls teach their children that no matter what nature throws at them, that they spate handle it. Rex and Rosemary Walls whitethorn non gull been the best parents, or even good parents for that matter, however they were able to turn their children into well-educated and better off adults.They were able to accomplish this by finding creative ways to teach them important lifespan lessons. Like to goldbrick how to face your fears and what doesnt kill you will make you stronger. Although many peck would not necessarily agree with the manner these parents educated their chi ldren, we can certainly accept the fact that most of the children gained exceptional values that otherwise may moderate not been intentional.The positive effects of the Walls parents parenting skills were mainly that their children learned important values, that they learned what it means to stand firm by each other, and that they gained the importance of having something to inspire them to a huge future. The Walls children learned important values like humility, loyalty, forgiveness and appreciation. These unfledged children had to endure many hardships to learn the true meaning of being a family. They had to endure the poorness they lived in and the stubbornness of their mother who always wanted something better.They had to struggle between nature versus nurture and the struggle within themselves. The primary characters Jeannette Walls, Lori Walls, Brian Walls, Maureen Walls, Rosemary Walls, and Rex S. Walls unneurotic are able to define what a family is. Jeannette Walls is a bright young girl who has faith in her father to keep his promises. She learned to have hope for a brighter future. Early in the memoir Jeannettes father teaches her an important life lesson. The lesson to always face your fears no matter what they are. In his words but you cant cling to the side your whole life, that one lesson every parent needs to teach a child is If you dont want to sink, you better figure out how to swim (66) This example is of when Jeannette is beginning to learn how to swim.Her father pushes her to keep trying until she finally is able to swim without drowning herself. Another of import life lesson Jeanettes mother demonstrates is at the beginning when Jeannette burns herself and learns to not fear fire, but face it and eventually becomes fascinated by it. As she states in the adjacent sentence Good for you, Mom said when she saw me cooking. Youve got to get right back in the saddle. You cant live in fear of something as basic as fire. I didnt. Instead, I became fascinated with it. Dad also thought I should face down my enemy, and he showed me how to pass my finger with a candle flame (15).Lori Walls, Brian Walls, and Maureen Walls are Jeannettes siblings with whom she is very close with and together make their dream of escaping their dysfunctional lifestyle a reality. Together they learn how to be loyal to each other. They always stand by each other and sometimes even acting more like parents than their own parents do. The children stand together so they could stand up to those who tried to hurt them. The Walls siblings show loyalty to one another because they are always together and support each other no matter what.While the parents unconventional method of parenting eventually works out, many events suggest that even though the children gained all these virtues, the parents manner in achieving them wasnt totally appropriate for them. An example of this is when Jeannettes father takes her to a bar and doesnt care if an old(a) man abuses her sexually.He just assumes that Jeannette is tough girl who knows what she is doing and can take care of herself just fine even though she is only twelve at the time. Aw, come on, he said and shouted at Dad, Im going to take your girl upstairs. Sure Just dont do anything I wouldnt do. He pointed his pool cue at me. Holler if you need me, he said and winked at me as if to say he knew I could take care of myself, that this was just a air division of my job. (212) However, her father never meant for his daughter to get hurt so this is why he said to augur him if she need it, but he wanted her to learn how to defend herself. In the end she did defend herself and faced her fear like her father had taught her.Another part where we can see Jeannettes father in lack of responsibility is when he is so careless during one Christmas and ends up destroying Christmas for his children. This Christmas incident is a significant example of how alcohol can change a parent and the effe ct it can have on them because it shows the change from how Jeannettes father goes from being a loving, caring, and responsible parent to an alcoholic father. It shows how Jeannette begins to see how her father really is.Like the Christmas incident and how he came home from bars and would get into fights with his wife. This made Jeannette start to not believe in her father as much as she did before. However, this experience served to teach Jeannette and her siblings that it wasnt good to let yourself fall in any perverting habits like alcoholism and betting. Another scene where the mother Rosemary isnt portrayed as a good parents is when she doesnt do anything to protect Jeannette from her uncle Stanley and kinda makes a silly remark that he is so lonely. Mom, Uncle Stanley is behaving inappropriately, I said. Oh, youre probably imagining it. She said. He groped me And hes wanking off Mom cocked her head and looked concerned. deplorable Stanley, she said. Hes so lonely (184) Neve rtheless Jeannettes mother actually taught her a harsh lesson about life through this she showed her that many of these situations happened to young girls and nothing is done to prevent it from happening again instead people turn to look the other way.Overall the Walls parents Rex and Rosemary may not have been the best parents, but they did the absolute best to help their children become great human beings and not have any trouble in confronting their problems. Yes, they probably didnt resort to having taught them in the best circumstances, yet they did the best they could due to their economic struggle. On the other hand the Walls children had a better chance to put those lesson and skills they learned to the use.