The Glass Castle

 Knowing the Past to Understand  the Present

Jeannette Walls

Glass Castle

As The Glass Castle unfolds, Jeannette Walls opens her heart to her readers, telling the story and details of her life. The focus of her memoir, in her early years, was the lack of care her parents showed her. The care that her parents overlooked, marked her life and influenced the personality she has today. Her parents' actions affected Jeannette as a child, even though she believed that her childhood was normal. The little care they took of her made her the strong adult she became.

Lack of care-

  According to Jeanette's reports of her neglectful childhood experiences, she had no stable place or home to live. In the second portion of her memoir, “The Desert”,  we learn that while her mother was in the next room singing, Jeanette, as a three year old, was cooking for herself. While cooking, she caught on fire, “Then the flames leaped up, reaching my face. I screamed. I smelled the burning and heard a horrible crackling as the fire singed my hair and eyelashes.” Jeanette had obviously been cooking alone since she was a young girl because her mother did not cook for the children. The mother left Jeanette alone because she thought that at her young age she was self-sufficient to cook for herself. Perhaps if the mother had had more time to devote to her daughter this accident would not have happened and Jeanette would have had another story to tell.

  Jeanette is rushed to the hospital by her neighbor, the nurses put her in a stretcher and then lay her down on a bed filled with ice cubes. She is questioned by the doctors and nurses to find out if she was being abused, but Jeanette is too young to realize what is going on at home, “I also liked it that I had my own room, since in the trailer I shared one with my brother and sister. My hospital room even had its very own television set up on the wall. We did not have a TV at home…” After what happened with the fire, Jeannette liked being in the hospital because she had her own room, food, television, and above all, someone who was attentive to her care and recovery. All the comforts she didn't have at home she found in this new place. 

  Following Jeanette's childhood memories a few days after she was taken to the doctor for her mother's neglect and the burns on her body. Jeanette is visited by her family and her father has an argument with the doctor because of the bandages she had on her body, “The doctor said bandages were necessary to prevent infection. Dad stared at the doctor. “To hell with infection”, he said. He told the doctor that I was going to be scarred for life because of him, but, by God, I was noy the only one who was going to talk out of there scarred.” Jeanette's father fails to understand that the bandages are necessary and shows little respect for her and the rest of the family by arguing with the doctor. He does not set a good example for Jeanette as he is ignorant in the medical field and challenges the doctor who was only looking for a speedy recovery for his daughter. 

Jeanette's life reflects the negligence of her parents in caring for their children, the little attention they pay to them and how this affects their upbringing and growth.  The way Jeanette narrates her life is impressive, since she was a little girl she showed to be more mature than the age she appeared to be and this was due to the little attention her parents gave her.