The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

Children these days have a variety of needs, often being surrounded by the ideas of freedom and security. While some people seek complete freedom from society’s rules, others seek the comforts of security that a normal life provides. Children’s preferences on freedom and security are reflected from their Mom and Dad’s parenting style. In The Glass Castle, by Jeannette Walls, the characters Brian, Lori, and Jeannette show that while growing they would rather have security over freedom because they repeatedly find themselves in a state of danger due to their parent’s lack of security. For example, if Jeannette’s parents were accountable while Jeanette was in proximity to fire she would not have been traumatized and severely burnt. Another reason the children want security is Rex is an excessive alcoholic who is very dangerous to be around while he is under the influence of hard liquor, they would rather a father that responsibly handled alcohol. Rex’s surplus of expenses on booze led the family into poverty because instead of using the family’s rare profit to pay off bills Rex uses it to buy alcohol and items that were not a necessity to their survival. Therefore, their parents struggled to give even the simplest things for them such as food and clothes.

The children of the Wall’s family met many dilemmas with fire that could have been easily prevented if they had the security of their parents. The author begins the story with a flashback to when Jeannette was a three year old toddler. The scene starts off with little Jeannette standing on a chair cooking a hot dog on the burner for herself without any parental guidance. She then leans too far over the stove and her clothes combust into flames that cause her severe burns that ne...

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...s such as mom’s Indian jewelry set, the valuable ring, and the large reservation in Texas for oil drilling that was worth one million dollars. The children were led into danger and poverty due to Mom’s and Dad’s poor decision making and execution.

Ultimately, the children lacked security all of their childhood and were still able to get out of poverty and be successful for once in their lives. This story is a perfect example that people that are brought up in poverty can get themselves out and live a healthy life style. Security would have shielded the children from traumatizing events such as Jeannette getting raped by Billy Deel and Brian getting molested by Erma. Mom and Dad handled their economic situation poorly because they could have started their life from scratch again with one million dollars, but instead chose to live off the land and on the streets.