I have finally finished The Glass Castle. Never before have I enjoyed an assigned book for school, but this book changed the game. I found myself laying in bed, planning to read for twenty minutes and looking back at the clock an hour later. The Glass Castle stopped time, and took me into a different world. It created emotions in me I had never felt before.
Jeannette finally got away, like I said she would. She had finally had enough of the way her parents treated them. Eventually, all of the children abandoned their parents and started their lives over in New York City. She created a new and improved life for herself. She followed her dream in becoming a reporter and made a successful life out of her new found career. Jeannette and the children live a happy life all together; with a roof over their heads, heat, water, and food. Sadly, the parents found a way to weasel themselves back into their lives. They were unable to keep a steady job and lived on the streets for years. Thankfully, Jeannette, Brian, and Lori were able to escape the corruption their parents constantly brought upon them, but Maureen was not capable of doing so. While living with her parents, she lost it. She stabbed her mother. This causes their family to drift apart. Maureen ends up in mental institution, and the rest of them go on living their lives apart.
Rex Walls, her father, later gets sick; deathly ill, and sadly passes. This causes Jeannette to reevaluate the life she was currently living; away from her family, hiding her past, she was no longer herself anymore. She longed for the reckless life and inclusiveness of family, her parents instilled in her from the start. She decides to make big changes and began to be proud of who she was and where she came from, instead of embarrassed. She remarried to a man who loved her for who she was and had the same ideals about life as she did. Jeanette was finally happy and at peace; living her life for the present, but never forgetting her past.
This book was life changing in a sense. It really made me think and appreciate the life that I am blessed with. It helped me to see that someone always has it worse than you do. It was honestly crazy to me that this was actually a life that someone lived, and that these stories and experiences were all real. I am so happy that I chose to read this book as opposed to the other options I had, because this book has taught me more than I ever thought it could; in a fun, captivating way.
