Homework Journal #5: The Glass Castle, pp. 214-288

     Jeannette's job at the jewelry store and her interest in journalism allow her independence. For once in her life, she is a part of something at her school. She has never been allowed to try sports or clubs because they cost money. Journalism also allows her a look into the outside world. She has always been fed lies by her parents. "I'd never known what was going on in the world, except for the skewed version of events we got from Mom ans Dad-one in which every politician was a crook, every cop was a thug, and every criminal had been framed. I began to feel like I was getting the whole story for the first time, that I was being handed the missing pieces to the puzzle, and the world was making a little more sense (pp. 205)."
   
     Moving to New York symbolized a turning point in Jeannette's life. She is finally free of her parents and the neglectful childhood she lived through. The move is very justifiable. It is not just another skedaddle for her. Once she moved to New York, she got a job doing what she loved writing newspaper articles, moved into an apartment, and finally started living a life that she wanted to live.

     Jeannette's parents continued living on the street even after their children offered them help because that is how they've always lived. They couldn't live another way at that point. Her parents often refused charity and refused social security, placing distrust in the government. When Jeannette tells her mom, "You can't just live like this," referring to being homeless and on the streets, her mom replies, "Why not? Being homeless is an adventure (pp. 255)."

     Once Maureen feels neglected and begins going down a rough patch, she begins being homeless herself. She becomes a squatter like her parents and eventually moves in with them. After that had been going on a while, Rose Mary decided it was time for Maureen to try and find her own place and be "self-sufficient." Jeannette wrote, "Maureen couldn't bear the idea that her own mom would kick her out onto the street, and she snapped (pp. 275)." All the pent up anger and resent that Maureen had bottled up toward her parents while she lived with others in Welch came pouring out and she truly did snap. Jeannette feels like she let Maureen down and broke her promise that she would always keep Maureen safe when she was born. Jeannette expresses this while writing about Maureen leaving New York for California. "I'd always had mixed feelings about bringing her to New York, but I'd agreed to let her come. Once she arrived, I'd been too busy taking care of myself to look after her. 'I'm sorry, Maureen,' I said when the time came, 'sorry for everything.' (pp. 276)."

Homework Journal #4: The Glass Castle, pp. 155-213

     When the Walls family moves to Little Hobart Street, things get even worse for the Walls. Jeannette and her family learn to accept the deficiencies in their lives and try to deal with them the best that they could. One example is how badly bullied the Walls children were while they lived in Welch. Jeannette and Brian both fought back to keep themselves safe, but the bullies were relentless. One group of kids, lead by Ernie Goad, especially hated the Walls. Ernie and his gang followed the Walls and called them names and threw rocks at them. Jeannette and Brian decided that they weren't going to stand for it. After one such occasion in which Brian got hit in the head, Jeannette and him came up with a plan to stop Ernie and his gang. "Brian sat thinking, then told me he had a plan . . . Brian explained how we could make a catapult, like the medieval ones we'd read about, by piling rocks on the mattress and rigging it with ropes looped over tree branches . . . When [Ernie] came within range, Brian gave the world, and we jerked back on the ropes. The mattress shot forward, and our arsenal of rocks flew through the air. I heard them thud against Ernie's body and clatter on the road (pp.166)." Jeannette and Brian also "became expert foragers (pp. 172)" to make up for lack of food in the house. Jeannette writes, "We picked crab apples and wild blackberries and pawpaws during the summer and fall, and we swiped ears of corn from Old Man Wilson's farm (pp.172)."
   
     Jeannette and her siblings learn to tolerate abuse and deal with it in different ways. Jeannette and Brian found ways to make money. Brian would collect old liquor bottles from their dad and sell them. Jeannette got a job at a jewelry store to help pay for things and collect money so the Lori could go to New York and escape the Walls. Lori often read books and painted to get away from things. She even eventually started a small business selling her paintings to bring in money. Maureen was more or less living with the neighbors to get away. Jeannette and her siblings were put in an incredibly difficult and trying situation growing up the way that they did with the parents that they had. They made the best of a bad situation though. They rarely complained and made their own plan to get out of Welch. Most kids could not even imagine a situation like the one the Walls children faced. In the face of incredible neglect and adversity, the children rose above the challenges.

Homework Journal #3: The Glass Castle, pp. 99-154

     The Walls siblings show loyalty toward each other. As the Walls constantly moved around, the children really only has each other. Jeannette and Brian especially looked out for each other. One night in Phoenix, a man wanders into the Walls house and Jeannette and Brian have to chase him off. "Brian came running into the woods with a hatchet he kept by his bed, and the man bolted out the door. Dad was out that night, and when mom slept, she was dead to the world, so Brian and I ran after the man ourselves (pp. 103)." When the kids have to move to Welch, they all slept in the same bed to keep warm together (pp. 147). However, even while being around her family, Jeannette still had instances in which she felt lonely. While Jeannette is being bullied, she doesn't really tell anyone because she fears they will make it worse. Jeannette wrote, "I thought of discussing the fighting with dad, but I didn't want to sound like a whiner (pp.140)." On the same subject, she also said, "I did try to talk to Mom. I couldn't bring myself to tell her about the beatings, fearing that if I did, she'd try to butt in and she'd only make things worse (pp. 141)."
   
     The Christmas event was a turning point in Jeannette's life. For a long time, she completely trusted her dad and believe in everything that he did. That Christmas however, her father took things too far. Jeannette, her mom, and her siblings had saved up a long time to make that Christmas the best one that they'd ever had, especially because they normally didn't have a Christmas at all. Her dad burnt down the tree from a lighter that Jeannette had gotten him. Normally, someone would have screamed at Rex or something along those lines, but that night, no one said anything. "Once the fire was out and the sodden, burned tree lay smoldering on the floor, we all just stood there. No one tried to wring Dad's neck or yell at him or even point out that he'd ruined the Christmas his family had spent weeks planning - the Christmas that was supposed to be the best we'd ever had. When dad went crazy, we all had our own ways of shutting down and closing off, and that was what we did that night (pp. 115)." After that night, Jeannette loses some faith in her dad. She begins realizing that her dad's behavior isn't normal. After the event, she asks her dad to stop drinking. Her dad seems regretful, and tries to stop for her, but of course, it doesn't last.
   
     Once the Walls move to Welch, things get worse for them, if it's possible. At least in Phoenix and Battle Mountain, they had a house to live in and their dad had a job for part of the time. In Welch, the house that they lived in was little more than a shack that was falling apart and their dad refused to get a job. This forces Jeannette to grow up very quickly. She realizes that she must help provide for her siblings if her parents won't. She gets a job, is left in control of her family's finances, and begins saving up to get out of Welch as soon as possible.

Homework Journal #2: The Glass Castle, pp. 42-90

     The swimming event in which Jeannette's father continuously threw her into the water to teach her how to swim epitomizes how the Walls lived life in general. Sink or swim. Throughout the novel, the Walls encounter many sink or swim situations, though the situations are not as literal as Jeannette's options of literally learning how to swim or drowning. Jeannette's father was constantly bouncing back and forth between having a job and not having a job. When he had a job, the Walls were at least able to keep their heads above water. When he didn't, the family had hard times and sank quickly. With the Walls constantly moving around, they often had to sink or swim in the places they lived. They had to adapt quickly. In many places, Jeannette's father and sometimes mother would find a job, and things would be good for a time. However, once Jeannette's dad turned back to his alcoholism, things declined quickly. Her dad often lost his job, and they were on the move once again. Despite everything, Jeannette was always her dad's biggest supporter. Even after tossing her into the water and nearly drowning his daughter, Jeannette thinks that her dad is still doing good. "Dad kept telling me that he loved me, that he never would have let me drown, but you can't cling to the side your whole life, that one lesson every parent needs to teach a child is 'If you don't wanna sink, you better figure out how to swim.' What other reason, he asked, would possibly make him do this? There was no other way to explain it (p. 66)." Jeannette keeps reasoning that despite everything her dad has done, being a drunk, losing jobs, and putting the family in dangerous situations, that he loved them and that they should try and understand the reason he does the things he does. The water incident compares to the fire incident in that in both situations, Jeannette had to sink or swim. In both situations, Jeannette's faith in her dad remains unwavering. During the fire incident, Rex Walls steals Jeannette from the hospital. Right before they go, Jeannette asked, "Are you sure this is okay?" Her father replies, "You just trust your old man." Of course, after that, she does, and lets her dad run out of the hospital with her.

     Throughout the entirety of the memoir, it is obvious that Jeannette lays a lot of trust in her father. There are several instances in which this is apparent. Rex Walls constantly is forcing the family to move around. Jeannette has never had a problem with this. She puts a lot of faith in her father. Her dad saved her and Brian from a burning shack in the desert (pp.61).

Homework Journal #1: The Glass Castle, pp. 3-41

     The Glass Castle  is a profound and shocking look into the lives of Jeannette and her family. It gives readers not only a sense of her life, but of the hardships faced by America's extremely poor as well. The story begins with a scene of Jeannette's mother digging through the trash. At this point, readers obviously know nothing about Jeannette's mother's tragic past, and are introduced to a homeless woman digging through garbage. As far as first impressions go, it is safe to say this is a bad and embarrassing one. Readers didn't yet understand why this was happening. Many probably thought that she was doing this to herself, that if she wanted a place to live, she should get a job. No one in their sane mind would choose to be homeless, right? Personally, that was my first impression. Jeannette obviously felt uncomfortable seeing her mom like that and went out of her way to avoid her mother. I think readers shared that discomfort with her. This moment, however, was a powerful moment to being the novel with. Without knowing any of her past, readers get a sense of what Jeannette's life had been like, and what it had become. I feel like it was almost like a sense of hope for the readers, because even through all the horrible things that happen in the novel, we know that it gets better for her.

     Jeannette's family was often moving throughout her childhood. One of the first scenes in the book is of them packing up and running away after getting Jeannette out of the hospital. They call running away the "skedaddle." The skedaddle was basically the Walls' running away from issues with where they were currently living. They would sneak off quietly and try not to draw attention. It is obvious that the parents were breaking the law frequently, and they couldn't be caught. The kids didn't seem to know this yet at the young age that they were. "An hour passed before we finally tied Mom's paintings on top of the car, shoved whatever would fit into the trunk, and piled the overflow on the backseat and the car floor," Jeannette wrote, "Dad steered the Blue Goose through the dark, driving slowly so as not to alert anyone in the trailer park that we were, as dad like to put it, doing the skedaddle. He was grumbling that he couldn't understand why it took so long to grab what we needed and haul it into the car (p.17)." This is the first time the skedaddle is mentioned, but this action in prevalent throughout the entire book. The Wall's are constantly on the run, as Jeannette mentions just a few pages later, "We were always doing the skedaddle (p.19)." Rex Walls, Jeannette's dad, tries to justify why they must always move around. He believed he had a plan to get rich quick and have the American Dream. Jeannette tells readers exactly this. "All this running around and moving was temporary, Dad explained. He had a plan. He was going to find gold (p.22)." Jeannette and her siblings' obviously have little say in their constant moves. They react to it in different ways. Jeannette herself, a big supporter of her father, has always had faith in the man that he was doing the right thing and that they were on an amazing adventure. Lori, Jeannette's older sister, seems to be less enthusiastic about the moves. One night while the Walls' sleep in the desert, Jeannette talks to Lori. "I told Lori how lucky we were to be sleeping out under the sky like Indians. 'We could live like this forever,' I said. 'I think we're going to,' she said (p.18)." This is also a foreshadow of years to come for them. Another similar conversation also happens between the two. "'Do you like always moving around?' Lori asked me. 'Of course I do!' I said. 'Don't you?' 'Sure,' she said (p.29)." Jeannette's younger brother, Brian, had always been closer to Jeannette than Lori. At the young age he was, also enjoyed the adventure that laid in the desert. As the kids grow older, all of them begin to see that moving around like they do isn't normal or healthy, and begin to resent their parents.

     The only time that I moved houses, I was very young, and have no memory of it. The only really significant move I can remember is the move between middle school and high school. The jump obviously impacts the lives of everyone who makes it. High school is much different than middle school, and especially being the first sibling in high school, it was very scary. Moving into high school made me realize that while school is obviously important, the people that I tried hard to be accepted by no longer mattered. I began not to care what people thought of me and focused on my goals. I realized that I wanted to be a chef when I grow up and move far away from here. I realized that while it is sometimes nice to have company at school, many of the people here we will never speak to again after graduation. So, my life became much less stressful once I started living for me and looking for ways to improve my life rather than worry about what people thought of me and trying to please them.