Tow #8 IRB The Glass Castle

The second half of The Glass Castle focuses on Jeanette's transition into adulthood from her adolescence to the present. During Part 3, Walls primarily focuses on her life during her teenage years. Compared to the first half of the book, Walls' family life seems to deteriorate even more, especially during the winter seasons. The children have to fend for themselves as Rex and her mother make no attempt to find a job. Out of desperation, Jeanette is forced to hide in toilet stalls during school and scavenge the left overs of her peers. However at home one day, Brian discovers their mother hiding underneath the blankets secretly eating a family sized chocolate bar. Walls specifically chooses this memory to tell the audience because it appeals to pathos. The audience pities the children because they are forced to live in such poverty with no way out of it because they are so young. It also gives the readers a deeper view of the mother's selfish personality and allows them to realize that she isn't as helpless as she seems. By Part 4, Jeanette is almost an adult and has moved to New York City with Brian, and Lori. Rex and mom, who are homeless soon follow. In these chapters, as some of their merits are revealed, Jeanette learns to come to terms with her parents' lifestyle and accept who they are. When Jeanette decides to quit college because doesn't have enough money to pay tuition, Rex scrounges up nine hundred dollars and a mink coat for her from gambling, covering her tuition. It is in these moments, just as Jeanette wants to give up on her parents, that they redeem themselves. At the very last chapter, Walls depicts a scene of the whole family together during Thanksgiving dinner. When  Brian says, "you know, it's really not that hard to put food on the table if that's what you decide to do", Lori tells him to let it go by saying, "Now, no recriminations." Brian reminiscing of the their childhood represent how their past will always affect the present. However by forgiving their parents and moving on as Lori says to do is how the family survives and remains in touch.