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.