Analysis Of Jeannette Walls The Glass Castle

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Pages: 7

Our experiences can shape our lives and our stories. As a matter of fact, we see how our experiences shape lives everyday. We see examples of these stories specifically in The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls. In her memoir, we follow the experiences of Jeannette Walls, with her parents, her siblings, and the people she meets. She is living a rough life full of pain and hardships. With this in mind, she feels the need to say something about everything that is going on in her life, and share it with someone, to help her carry the weight of everything. We see more examples of this when Esperanza, from The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros, and Scout from To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, feel the need to tell their truths, and their …show more content…
The experiences someone may have at school is also a big part of a person’s life. This is also true for Jeannette and Scout. Jeannette grew up receiving an education, for some of her life. However, her parents did not really push studying or doing well in school. But, Jeannette, who has grown up to take care of herself and her siblings, knew that she would need an education to get out of Welch, and help her siblings get out of Welch, and that she would need an education to do well in New York, where she wanted to move to. However, Jeannette's parents brainwashed her throughout her whole life into thinking that the way their family does things is the best way to do things. Their family lived with no money and no food, and their parents left them to take care of themselves. And Jeannette, being a strong woman, was fine all by herself. She had made it to New York with her and her siblings safe and taken care of. And eventually, as Jeannette’s life went up and down, she switched her mindset into thinking that education is not as important, “As for the learning itself, I figured you didn’t need a college degree...” (Walls 250). Jeannette’s parents had taught her a life where you can still get what you want even without a full education, as long as you are hardworking. Jeannette did complete, and graduate college. But after everything in her life, she figured she did not even need to graduate. On the other hand, Scout’s family pushes for a good education from a young age. Scout’s father, Atticus, is lawyer, who is educated and has good morals. Atticus teaches Scout valuable lessons that she can use in everyday life. But he also teaches her that a formal education is important if she wants to do well in the future. However, because of many different factors, Scout does not enjoy school at all, “The remainder of