Glass Castle Final Post

Finishing the book, The Glass Castle, was the most rewarding part of reading a semester reading book. While not to say I prefer this process over reading with the class, the most obvious benefits made reading the book a special experience for me. I could not have picked a better  book for this experience, while Catcher in the Rye was also special to me, it was in a different way. Analyzing Catcher was easier in a way because there was room to infer about this time that Holden was telling us about, but in the Glass Castle, it's Jeanette Wall's job to tell this story as it happened, in the most descriptive way possible. That is the only way to get to know these real life people. But in a book like Catcher, it's not what Holden says always but how he says it and what he doesn't say. Also a main point of the Glass Castle is how the character ends up. Making the connection between their childhood and how they end up is important to reading the story. It truly says something about the Wall's childhood. Like how Maureen was given special treatment as a child as result of her beauty, it is her that chooses the dangerous path of drugs and lack of shelter. But her sister (Jeanette) find luxury and happiness even though she was forced to take care of herself. Although as a child I would much rather be Maureen, Jeanette really says something about the connection between independence and strength. It's not as if Jeanette has the better set of skills like how oldest sister, Lori, is exceptionally talented in art, but at a young age, Jeannette took it upon herself to take care of the family. The divide between Jeannette's childhood and adolescence is very clear once her mother leaves the family in her hands. It's the divide between believing in her family and handling it her own way. Even this strength is better than her mothers weakness. The personal connection I felt to Jeanette involved major respect, which I felt develop as I chose to read more about her, is something that a long term story offers solely. That connection is why this story appealed to me most.