Book Review "Glass Castle"

Julia Burns
BLS 320 – Telling Stories
Professor D Seabrook
23rd September 2010
Janette Walls
Posting – Glass Castle

I do not see how these four children made it past infancy.  In the beginning of this book, I got the first impression that Wall’s parents were “hippies.”  I realized both parents had mental illnesses, and that being married to each other brought out their worse side.  In my lifetime, I have actually seen this happen – two people in love and their love was destructive and they just didn’t realize it.  I have also had the pleasure of meeting several people, as well, who’s IQ were so high they were on the doors of a psychiatric ward.  What was interesting, the children started down the same paths, but through their experiences they realized there was something else better in the world. They were taught (educated) well.  Figuring this out took time and separation from their parents.  They received this when they were able to stay in one place for a length of time, for example Battle Mountain, Phoenix, or Welch.
To say that Walls was lucky growing up this way, would be like tossing life’s odds to the wind like her parents did. I cannot in all honesty say yes, but then I cannot say no. Children make do with what they learn from their parents and their surrounding influences.  It is up to the children to decide how they use the knowledge they have acquired.  Do they want to learn more or stick with what they know?  In the case of the Glass Castle, I would say that Janette Walls is fortunate.  She dreamed with her father and loved her mother’s spirit.  She knew when it was time for the survival skills to kick in.  Her parents, throughout this book, taught her not to fear life, not to let the negative get you down, but to seize every opportunity. That is why she was able to live through the death of Grandma Smith, not get scared when Billy tried to shoot her, or not to be afraid to use her instincts calmly to out-smart a potential molester/rapist.

There was never a doubt that she wasn’t loved by her siblings or her parents.  Although I did doubt their ability to provide for their children at times simple things like food or a stable home. There were times, I wish I could have shoved that liquor bottle down her father’s throat or for that fact, slap her mother around and say “wake up!”  I cannot imagine going without food to the point of digging in dumpsters or for that matter being in really hot weather and the inability to clean up after sweating all day long.  But who is to say that a stable home and plenty of food would have made a difference? I felt for Lori, Janette, and Brian each time they were beaten up or picked on.  I could almost see Maureen as a little urchin, with enlarged eyes, with a little under nourished body sitting at my table wanting more.   Her life turned out the way she was raised, wondering (which brings up a point.)  Maureen was basically raised by neighbors and friends who had more in their house than she did.  She was left for other’s to raise her.  She was gone all the time.  Then she lived with Lori for a while with some stability from a much younger age than Janette and Brian.  She did not really have the same up-bringing as her older siblings.  Is this why she wondered as a young adult from relationship to relationship and was rebellious toward her mother?

I can almost picture each house that the author described, especially the one in Welch with the messed up ceiling, rotten steps, mold, the full out-house, the big over flowing garbage hole, and make-shift beds.  Through all of this, she did have some outside influences (school, odd jobs, and her interest in reading); she had seen another side of what life could be.

She really didn’t put all of it together until she learned how to live.  She learned to be herself not something or someone she thought she wanted to be.  The greatest lesson that Wall’s had was simplicity. She didn’t have to have money or live in boredom with her first husband.  She just had to be basic, be herself.  Many people like Walls are lucky enough to be taught the same thing but are they fortunate to use it? I do know that the author learn to appreciate the value of a human life and the misconceptions that people have about homeless people. I feel she learned how not to be embarrassed for her youthful familial status.