Homelessness in "The Glass Castle"

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A suburban life is a paradise full of shopping, colorful gardens, and well-groomed homes. Despite all these benefits, a suburban life is an isolated life. People living in suburbs are rarely exposed to miseries in society. One of these conflicts is homelessness. When living in an environment surrounded by homes, individuals often have difficulty imagining not being able to sleep in a warm bed, eat a proper meal or even receive necessary medical attention. This grim situation is depicted in the writings of Jeannette Walls. In the autobiography The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls accurately portrays homelessness by explaining its causes, its impact upon daily life, and its effect on victimized families.

Walls’ autobiography establishes that there are several causes of homelessness. More specifically, she discusses that poverty prevents one from affording life necessities. As reported by the National Coalition for Homelessness, “Homelessness and poverty are inextricably linked. Poor people are frequently unable to pay for housing, food, childcare, health care, and education” (National Coalition for the Homeless - Why Are People Homeless?). Such a condition is evident in Walls’ book. In The Glass Castle, the Walls family lives in gruesome conditions because of poverty. “Because on the rare occasion that we paid the electricity bill and had power, we’d get a wicked shock if we touched any damp or metallic surface in the room” (Walls 153). I don’t really think you need this quote, but if you decide to keep it in, say how the fact that they rarely had power is important. Walls and her family also do not have enough money to buy food and clothes. As Walls described, “I had three dresses to my name, all hand-me-downs or from the thrift stor...

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Watson, Stephanie. "How Homelessness Works" 09 November 2007. HowStuffWorks.com. 26 January 2011.

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