Section One

Jeannette Walls and her younger siblings;
Brian Walls (middle) and Maureen Walls (right).

In the beginning of, “The Glass Castle” Jeannette explains how she was always on the move with her family. Moving from one old mining town to the next the kids didn’t get much schooling nor made many friends. The family was always on the move because of finances or because of brawls her father had gotten into. I had felt bad for Jeannette and her siblings from the beginning especially after reading the part where she was burned from a fire, started from her making hot dogs by herself, because of the reckless parenting. Her parents believed that children were independent beings and learned things from experience, I on the other hand disagree because there is a fine line between parenting and just plain ignoring the kid until he/she is hurt. Although I had disagreed with the parenting another thing bothering me was the fact that sometimes the kids didn’t eat for a few days at a time because of their finances. Honestly, I couldn’t stand the feeling of parents with children could be so irresponsible due to lack of interest in working to feed them and clothe them and shelter them. I came across a few times that they just laid blankets out on the sand in a desert and slept right there under the stars or sometimes in the car, only if the weather was bad though.