Jeanette Walls is reflecting on her life when she states, “I wanted to let the world know that nobody had a perfect life, that even the people who seemed to have it all had their secrets” (Walls 270). The book The Glass Castle is an autobiography about Jeanette Walls’ life growing up. Her father was frequently intoxicated, and her mother was helpless and couldn’t stand up for herself. Because of the lack of steady income, Walls’ family moved often. People didn’t always know or understand her full story, so but Walls’ family had secrets, which I think may be part of the reason she wrote this book. The Glass Castle was a difficult book to read, but at the same time, it was thought-provoking. Walls had a drastically different life than mine. I’ve lived in the same house my entire life, my parents have a steady income, and I’ve never been worried about if I’m going to eat an entire meal three times a day. Walls, on the other hand, even handled her family’s finances for awhile in seventh grade. Because she had such irresponsible parents that didn’t raise her properly, Walls learned from a young age how she needed to be self-sufficient. She couldn’t easily rely or depend on her parents, so she grew up very quickly and very much on her own. I can’t imagine how difficult it would be to be living in the same house as my parents while also knowing that they don’t necessarily have my best interests over their own in mind. After reading The Glass Castle, my perspective on growing up has changed. I may only be in tenth grade, but I’m counting down the days until I can leave for college, which will lead to getting a real job. However, I realized that growing up is something to take your time on. For people like Jeanette Walls, she had no option but to grow up quickly and start making her own money and decisions at a young age. She moved out of the house before she even graduated high school. Although that may sound like a pretty good deal to high schoolers dying to get out of the house, the reality is it may just be better to slow down and take a couple breaths. Walls had reasons for her speedy maturity, and they weren’t pretty. By Kaya H.
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AuthorSTenth grade students at Decorah High School share how they're reading outside of their own experiences and how it has changed them. Categories
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November 2022
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