Thu
26
Nov
2009
One College, One Book Blog 3
Now that the book is completed, discuss an answer to your earlier personal question from
blog 1.
Also, depending on your major, would you have responded differently than the teachers, social workers, nurses, etc. in the book. Explain. (The explanation is where your points are in this question - use terms learned in class.)
46 Comments (Discussion closed)
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#1
My earlier question was if Jeanette still sees a lot of truth behind her parent's actions and the reasoning for their actions.
I think that she knows that her parents were not exactly the most proper parents, but I do not believe that she holds many negative feelings towards them because out of her rather bizarre life, it gave her a career that she loves and it gave her fame. Yes, she may have suffered as a child, but that is behind her now and her life is probably a lot better now because it it.
I think that the possibility of me acting any different than the adults in her life, sad to say, would be low. I do not think that the adults in her life knew to an extent how her life really was. Jeanette never really acted like a troubled youth, nor did she show signs of family dysfunction. So if Jeanette appears to be normal, then how is one to suspect that her life is the way it was? -
#2
I would ask Jeanette what her escape is? Has she been able to go through the emotions of being really angry at her parents for not protecting her and making her grow up faster than she should have? Has the experience of writing this book helped silence some of her demons?
I still can't get it out of my head when Jeanette's father takes her to the ba and pimps her off. I do think it's courageous that she has written this book and I am sure it has helped her but the more I think about it and see her videos, it all seems too neat and pretty in a bow. It has taken me a long time to get angry with my parents. Not that I have to be angry but rather process it. I think you have to feel all of the emotions. I don't know, maybe she has.
As far as the reactions from the nurses, doctors,social workers I would have to say, it would horrify me to see a 3 year old girl coming in burned like that because she was cooking herself hotdogs. Yes children need to develop physical skills and independence but because their were no boundries for these children their safety and wellbeing were in jeopardy. I think their is a fine line between being strong because you are supported and being strong because you have to support yourself. -
#3
After reading this book, I still find I am overcome with anger. There are nights where I had to put down the book and recover from the anger I felt. I developed some new questions for Jeanette with still the same underlying approach. Just thinking of a lot of the chapters I read I was really angry about and almost made me not want to pick up the book again. How could you just go through life keeping your mouth shut about toward your parents? How could you not harvest hatred towards your parents for brushing off things that had happened to you and you brother in your dad's mothers home? What is wrong with the towns you lived in? Why weren't there any half decent people around that could help you and your siblings? I started the book thinking that maybe I could see the relationship she had with her father through the hardships she faced. I proved myself wrong. I think that your father and mother refusing to collect clothes from the church or food from others is horrible. They can't provide food or anything for there children and not allowing others to help makes me so angry. They should have gotten there children taking from them when her dad kidnapped her from the hospital after letting her cook over the stove at age 3.
My major is Visual Arts. I'm studying to be an interior designer. The way I look at this is the continuous enviroment they were forced to live in. The one place ther children felt safe didn't matter. The one place there children actually felt good about themselves a place that could change they weay they lived was taken away from them. Phoenix quickly became a memory and their new rat infested home seemed more logical then a free house. This book makes me extremely angry, clearly -
#4
Questions from blog one: Is it possible that the empowered, positive woman she portrays herself to be is some sort of a coping mechanism? Does she really think that the extreme lack of stability during her childhood didn't effect her psychological development? I can understand that she is not resentful towards her parents, but does she at least hold them accountable for their exceedingly inadequate parenting? How much abuse, in any form, does she believe is necessary for a person to endure before they can deem themselves damaged?
With the exception of the fact that she seems to hold her parents at least partially responsible, the majority of my questions were not answered by the end of the book.
I am currently a double concentration (psychology and nursing). At the present time period I would have most definitely responded differently than that of the nurses in the book. I would have requested some sort of psychological evaluation. The results of which may have indicated that Jeanette wasn't developing normally. That being the case, further investigation into the family would ensue. However, I'm afraid that it might be to no avail because the family would have just taken off anyhow.
I also found myself asking where the school psychologist may have been in all of this. Did such an occupation exist at this time? Given this question, I feel it's important to consider the time period as well as the geographical location of these children during these events. Now there is a lot more information and knowledge on the signs of abuse. I don't believe such education was available to these occupations during the childhood of the Walls children. This information is widely available now. The areas that they found themselves residing in were, of the majority, ill-educated people. How were they to know something was severely wrong? And if they did know, how would they know what to do about it? They had teachers in some of these areas that didn't have a degree. Obviously, these two reasons (time period and geographical location)create an abundance of variables that make it difficult to answer this question with absolute certainty. -
#5
These are the questions I had before reading this book..What is the glass castle? Has anything that has happened to Jeannette happened to her siblings as well? Do her siblings feel the same way she does?
I found out that the glass castle was a a big house that their father was going to build for them in the desert . It was going to have a glass ceiling, thick glass walls and a glass staircase. Also , solar cells and water purification system(page 25). The glass castle was never built and Jeannette new it was not going to happen. I think the glass castle is a very interesting idea . Looking behind the words glass castle I think it could describe how the family is broken and glass breaks easily,maybe there are no ties between this but it was a thought that came up.
My second question was did Jeannette's siblings go through the same thing she did. I think that Jeannettes brother and her went through a lot together, but Jeanette's sister was off painting and spending more time with her mother than her siblings. I believe Jeanette went through more than her siblings because of being molested and she was always closer to her father, taking care of him.
I do not think that her siblings feel the same as her. I think that they all have different opinions on what happened to them in life. For example, Jeanette did not seem bothered by much. Maybe when her siblings became older they felt differently about what happened to them. Im sure they agree on a couple of things but feel differently on other parts of their life. -
#6
After finishing the book, I am left hanging, in that I feel like I was waiting for more. I was really mad throughout the book, and now I'm just disappointed. I wonder how the youngest sibling, Maureen, is doing in CA. To answer my question from blog one, I think that Jeanette used the book as a way top heal, but I do not think she is fully healed. I think that a lot of hurt and pain will one day come out for her. Maybe she'll be really angry, or cry a lot. I also still have to wonder if the Walls children have successfully made it through Erikson's stages. It seems as though the 3 older ones have, but I worry about Maureen because she's been depending on other people & families to take care of her. Will she be able to take care of herself oneday ? I would have responded differently, in that I would have tried harder to get these kids some help, or at least provided better support for their individual needs.
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#7
Questions from Blog 1;
Why does Jeannette feel as though events in her past weren't all that bad?
I feel as though Jeannette is content with what her past was like. She wants her story to help others who may be going through similar problems, and think that if she could get through it, that maybe they can.
What is the "glass castle"?
This was referred to the house, which Jeannette’s father promised he was going to build for his family. I believe that the “Class Castle” could have symbolized hope for the future.
I am currently pre-nursing, and am applying for the nursing program next fall. If I were to be a nurse in the book, I would have responded differently, especially knowing what is going on with the family. It seemed the nurses, were not really paying attention to how the children were acting. As a nurse, on of your main priorities it to evaluate the patient by seeing how they talk, and act by themselves as well as when they are with their parents. I would have tried to get them a psychological evaluation, which could have shown evidence on how the children were developing.
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#8
One of my questions was "Do her siblings feel the same about their past?"
After reading the book, I don't believe her siblings feel the same way.
I think that all of her siblings have noticed they've been affected by their past. Her brother moved far enough away to have his own family and not have to see his parents. Her younger sister ended up in jail for attacking her mother. And her older sister has her own life, while still seeing their parents. I think they all know how it has affected them, and are dealing with it in different ways. In some sense, I believe they all want to escape their past, except for Jeanette who believes that her past was not such an awful thing.
I am currently in the elementary education major, but will be switching to human services. In either of these majors, I know I would have reacted differently. If I had noticed the burn on Jeanette's arm, I would have contacted someone to investigate the family, or if I were the one assigned to the family I would have the children removed from the house. As a teacher, I would've tried to get the young children to open up to me and trust me so that I could help them. I think it is ridiculous that no one helped these children, and they would be better in foster care because they would have basic needs, and maybe if their parents ever straightened out they could go back to them. -
#9
After finishing the book i feel the same way about Jeanette I just don't understand her.Her book made me angry. Her way of thinking about things just makes me angry with her. I know it is not her fault but she just approaches it as if "that's life" and nothing can be done or said about it. My first question from blog one was isn't she embarrassed to look back at her life with such acceptance? the answer is no she feels that she has overcome it and is better than it because it never affected her growth as a person she does not harbor anger for her parents or anything she just talks about what happened openly telling everyone that she is alright and they'll all be alright too if they have lived a similar horrible upbringing...I don't agree but that is how she would have answered my first question. My second question was would she want to raise her children in that environment, honestly I don't know the answer she would give because although she claims she wasn't affected and it was no big deal I highly doubt she'd put her own children through any of her experiences, so I think that just says she knows it does affect a person.
I'm a Psychology major and as for all the people in this book that did not for some reason notice anything was wrong I can't believe it, If a little girl had come in with a burn from cooking for herself at three, red flags would have gone off, why in the world would a three year old be aloud to cook alone! where were her parents something is wrong, I would have known the situation was off when that happened. -
#10
After I have read the book, I assumed the following answers for my questions from the beginning.
1.)Why is she always speaking that positively about her father, and just telling stories that refer to him as a good guy who always tried to make them feel special?
Well, I think that she talks mostly in appositive way about him, as she probably tries to avoid unpleasant memories from her childhood. Further, I have the impression that she got used to the irresponsible and dangerous behavior of her parents. So in the end, those nasty situations seem to be normal to her and not that extraordinarily dangerous. It is also said in the end that her dad passed away. Often people just want to remember the good times. The whole family just thinks positively about him. At the dinner where they met after a long time they toast to the dad with the words “Life with your father was never boring.” These words seem to be very mildly considering the dangerous and humiliating situations he got them into.
2.) Now that she's successful, does she support people financially or personally, that live in poverty or poor circumstances as she did?
It is not said in the book that she supports homeless or poor people now. There is just one scene on page 256 where she gives some money to a homeless guy. Her friend reacts angry and says that she should not support them. Jeanette reacts angry as well, but does not show her anger. Instead of telling her friend about the past, she just carries on. I think she just gave the guy some money because she felt sorry for him. But she knows as well that the life on the street cannot work out forever.
3.) Is she considering the abuse of children as not harmful for their life in general later on, when they are abused at a certain age (e.g. same age as she was)?
I could not find an answer to that, because she does not mention that in her book. But her younger sister obviously suffered from that situation, as she dropped out of school and moved to the West Coast where she lived as a homeless person. The other siblings adapted successfully into society. I think actually she cannot deny that her upbringing was harmful and devastating, and had an impact on every member of her family.
As a teacher I would try to talk to children, as well as to the parents to gain their trust in a situation like this. Depending on the situation I would also work together with the principal, and if necessary with the child protective service.
The doctors in the hospital should have reacted to that situation when she came in as a three-year-old child with all this blisters and burnings.
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#11
As a teacher I would have noticed the clothes the children were wearing, health and maybe what they were eating.We learn about signs like this in one of ur classes. I would work with the principal and see if we could set a conference up with the parents and see if there was any way the school could help the family. If there was nothing to be done I would maybe anonomously call the department of social services to tell them about the situation.
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#12
As a teacher, I would have noticed the envrionment, the clothes wearing, conditions of the houses and the food that the children were eating. I learn that parents should have reach out and help the children with their homework and be there to talk to them when the kids have a problem.
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#13
Now that I have finished the book, my attitude has not really changed. I feel for those children and I wish things were different for them at certain times of their lives. But Jeanette makes everything sound way lighter then it really is and I feel like in some ways she icould behinding from certain experiences. I want to be a teacher and I can't imagine having a child come into class every day and going through bad times at home. I would never want to take children away from from their home or even suggest it to someone but when push comes to shove, Jeanette and her siblings should have been pulled out of their parents lives. It is amazing that "she is so fine" and I hope she actually is. This book was crazy in the sense to imagine life being that way.
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#14
To answer my previous questions, first, I do believe that Jeanette felt loved. The difficult part to answer however, is the manner of how she felt loved. To be honest, I really can not say that I have a good reading on the love she experienced. It is difficult to understand why the parents kept the children in the first place, it often seemed as if the children were a passing thought in the minds of Rex and his wife. So my speculation is still largely under developed ,however, if I had to make a frantic guess, I would say that the parents kept the children out of obligation. Second, on the question of intention, I do believe that Jeanette looks at her parents behaviors as unintentional. Interestingly, to reply on question three, I also do believe that Jeanette feels that her parents were psychologically unstable. After all, Jeanette was a smart person, it does not take a lot of intelligence to figure out that a teacher with a degree should not want to live on the streets of New York. Finally, to answer question four, yes I do believe that the autonomy helped in developing her personality of being an over achiever.
It is also difficult to answer the question on what my response would have been if I had witnessed those difficult conditions. As a professional doctor, social worker, or teacher, I guess I would have wondered why Jeanette had loved her parents even after the situation with the fire. Also, I would have wondered why Jeanette and her siblings were always so dirty. It seemed as if no one payed attention to the fact that the children needed help. Perhaps it had something to do with the social norms at the time. -
#15
After reading The Glass Castle, I looked for answers to my questions and didn't find any. The only question that I could formulate an answer to was why would she be fearful of losing or offending her friends after writing this book? I could only imagine she must have felt some embarrassment and shame about her past and was worried that people would see that person from Welch West Virginia that she has tried to forget and move on from. I can only assume that because they moved to New York City to escape their parents repression and move on to enjoy the opportunities of a normal lifestyle that they didn't have before, she and her siblings wanted to forget about their past and move forward. I wonder if their parents staying in Welch instead of moving to NYC would have made it easier for them and would they have severed all communications with them in the hopes of forgeting their past? As for my other questions; If she hadn't crossed paths with her mother, would she still have been motivated to write this book? Is she presently close with her syblings and mother? What do her syblings think about the book and have they read it?, after reading the book I haven't found the answers to these questions and I could speculate all I want but I still won't know how her brother and sisters feel about The Glass Castle, and if she is still close with her mother.
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#16
My questions pertained to her adult life and her profound openness about her story.
After reading the book I've come to realize that Jeanette is quite unique. Her reluctantness to write it doesn't stem from shame but rather, did she think it would intrigue and move others. In that regard I cannot even relate to her. If put in her situation I would be shut in, humiliated, and downright embarassed to write such an open tale of my life. At first I was going to characterize her as a repressed person in desperate need of some psychiatric help, but now I honestly think she is mentally stable. I think that is the major reason this story appeals to so many people; her resolve is absolute and allows the reader to carry on with her as she grows.
Secondly, we do find out that she is happily married and does have children. I find that incredible, but it's again a testament to her character. The grandparents are partially involved, but in a smart way, which leads me to believe her parenting skills are up to par.
I'm an early ed. major and I hope to God I will be able to sniff out children with these kinds of family issues. I can't say that I would be able to because I'm not in there shoes as of yet. Also, I feel that teachers are left powerless when it comes to interfering in a student's family life and is attacked when they attempt to do so. Either way, if I had even a glimpse into what a kid like Jeanette was experiencing, I would make every effort to get them help. I consider myself very intuitive when I get to know people and I hope that aspect of my character will help me to pursue justice for kids that have these horrible parents. -
#17
My question was why didnt she let her mother stay with her on park street?
after finishing the book, i now see that her mothers views on life are very different than jeannettes and her mother would never stay with her.
My major is early childhood education and i would have done EVERYTHING different if i was any of those people in her life.i dont see how the teachers or even the social worker missed the fact that all of the children were filthy, starvin and wore rags for clothes. If i had been the social worker i would have absolutley come back to the house in Welch until i had all the answers i needed to take those children to a safe home. -
#18
What would I do if i was in the teachers, social workers, and various other adults shoes who had been in contact with Jeanette? Off the top of my head i would say that i would have confronted the parents directly as if they were abusing their child, with the intent of telling them they were wrong and that they had a problem. But after thinking about it again i don't know what i would have done. If i had done that the dad might have thought Jeanette told everyone about the abuse and then when he was alone with Jeanette he might have attacked her or worse killed her. She was in a very delicate situation, with what seemed like very unstable people. I would have tried to take notice to things like the burn scars or bruising and talk to Jeanette and not the parents. But then again i am not a social worker or any of those other roles and i am glad, becasue that would be a tough situation to be in.
My question i feel is still un answered, and i'm pretty sure the only person that can answer it is Jeanette.
I asked:
If you had a child who went through the same situation as you did in terms of abuse how would you deal with it,what would you tell him or her? What if the child isn't in the same mind set as you are? Also how would you treat the person who abused your child?
From the videos i suspect that she would be very supportive to the child and would know how to make her child feel better. But as for how she would treat the person who actually did the abuse, i have no idea. I hope she won't be so understanding to them as she was to her parents. -
#19
After reading the book and looking back on a question I had beforehand, I now find that I have plenty of knowledge to answer my own pondering. My question was: how could she live in such great conditions if she knew her mother was living on the streets? I find that Jeannette was comfortable living in suitable conditions while aware of her mother living on the streets alone because Jeannette would never want to relive her childhood. After so many years of a dysfunctional family and lack of structure that encircled her, I’m sure she tries to stay away from anything even similar to that. It was even stated in the book towards the very end that there are few times in which the family gathers together after the death of her father. It is clear that the family was not normal by any means, but Rex’s hope and optimism is what kept the family’s spirit alive. Also, at one point right after Jeannette’s parents moved to New York, they had lived with Lori. They were convinced that they would only stay a month or maybe two until they could find a place of their own. Long after two months had passed, Lori had to tell them to leave because she couldn’t stand the ways of their living. Later in Jeannette’s life, she probably looked back on what had happened and had no wishes of that happening between her and her mother.
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#20
Also, as a teacher, I probably would have acted the same as the director of the school newspaper; using positive reinforcement to make Jeannette realize that she is able to achieve her dreams and make it out of the dead-end town.
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#21
One of my questions that i had from the first blog was did her siblings get effected by this too?
Well as i read the book i found out that her silblings went throught just at much hard ship as she did. They came from very poor family and din't not have much at all. Through out the whole book both her and her sibilings would go with out food for the whole day, and if they were lucky they would get one meal day.She diffently had a hard life her mom didnt realy want to work she was a struggling artist and her father could beraly keep a job very long before geting fired or quiting. I think this had a realy big impact on their life sience that ment they had to move from house to house all the time. She wasnt at one school very long and kept having to make new firends. But beside all this jeannette still had a realy good relationship with her dad untill unday later in when she was in high school whene her and her sister had saved up money in a jar to move to new york he find it anf took it she never reakt forgave him ater that.
My second question i had was how did she recover from this i belive she started to recover from this when she moved to new york with her sister. When she moved their she was away from her dad,who happend to be an alcholic.
Also i want to be a teacher so i think that if i saw this going on this home and i noticed that she was not well taken care of i would have aleast tried to talk to the parents first. Then i would talk to the child about what is good and what is wrong. If nothing changed then i would talk to the principle about the child well being and that the child is not geting enought food. I dont think the teacher in the book did much of anythig to help those kids. -
#22
The questions i had after watching the videos of Jeanette Walls were:
1. Does Jeanette Walls really think that her childhood was not that bad? Or, is she just putting on an act for the public, to maybe help other people like her not feel so bad.
2. If Jeanette Walls could go back and change anything about her child hood, would she really not want to change anything?
3. why is the book called the glass castle?
Jeanette walls will not admit to being affected by her child hood. She acts like it is a good thing that her childhood was the way it was. I don't believe that she could feel this way after all she has been through, I think that she does it for publicity.
Jeanette Walls does not want to change anything about her childhood, she believes that it brought her to where she is today and had it not been for the way she was brought up she wouldn't be where she is now!
The Glass Castle refers the castle that Jeanette's father promises to build her when he has his fortune. He wants to be able to provide for the family but clearly will never be able to. I think she named the book The Glass Castle to resemble some kind of hope.
My major is dental hygiene, if i were one of the teachers or nurses or any other people surrounding her i would have done something to help her. How is it that nobody noticed how dirty her and her siblings were, or the ragged clothing they wore. They were different than other children in their age group and people that specialize in working with younger children should have picked up on it! If i was a teacher i would have demanded a school counselor talk to these children about their home life so they could get enough information to get them out of that house!!! -
#23
Now that the book is completed, discuss an answer to your earlier personal question from
blog 1.
Also, depending on your major, would you have responded differently than the teachers, social workers, nurses, etc. in the book. Explain. (The explanation is where your points are in this question - use terms learned in class.)
-Did she ever receive any form of psychiatric help as an adult or a child?
According to the research of done on Jeanette, she never received psychiatric help. Some could argue that this is unhealthy. A majority of the class said that they think that Jeanette is "full of crap" and that she is truly messed up and hides behind a lie. I entirely disagree. Jeanette's story wasnt written for people to judge her or her parents, but she says that it was to shed light on the images that the world has of us, but that beneath it all we are alike. Jeanette discusses how messed up her parents really are. She said in the past she has difficulty discussing the truth of her childhood, but in my opinion writing this book was almost like attending counseling. She had to face the reality of the situations. I think she said it best when she said "the truth is a liquid and not a solid; it takes many shapes".
-What is her trust for men like now?
After some more research and reading her biography online I couldn't find much about her current personal life. However, I did find was that she has divorced one time and remarried one time. This could mean nothing, or it could mean everything. But since I was unable to gather more information about it, I am only left with assumptions.
Taking my majors into consideration, as a teacher and an aspiring social worker, I believe that some intervention should have been made. In my personal opinion they didn't need to be put in someone's care until the molestation in her grandmothers house started to occur. Before that, they weren't behind in school, they were intelligent and even ahead of their peers. Sure, their living situations weren't ideal but I believe that placing them outside of their family would have made an adverse affect. I would have pushed for the father to go to rehab and stay in rehab with court order. We can ponder many options of what should have happened, but the reality is that it has already happened.
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#24
My earlier questions from blog one was this: I couldn’t understand why she was acting like what happened to her was perfectly normal. How could she be ok with everything and able to be so open to write this book about her life. How could she not be angry and upset and everything with her parents. How is her relationship with her parents now? What is the “Glass Castle” ? After reading the book I came to the conclusion that maybe by Jeannete writing this book she finally came to see that she can’t change her pass but she could write this book to maybe help people out there who are going through the same thing she had gone through. What is the Glass Castle? It was this big house that the children’s father promised he would build for them but never did.
Currently I’m in the certificate program for Medical Assisting and I would definitely acted differently. If Jeannete and her siblings came in the way they were (example, the burn on the arm) I would probably get someone to check out the family.
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#25
My question was how her siblings felt.
I had read the book before this semester, so I knew that her siblings all had problems of their own. Not all of them were so keen to have her write the book, either. But they're all dealing with their past in their own ways, most by growing up and simply moving on.
I'm currently a liberal arts major, but I want to be a psychology major. I would have suggested she go through therapy to talk and work through her problems. -
#26
My questions from blog one are the following:
Even though as a child she though that the bad or horrible things that happened to her were OK, when she got older and learned more knowledge between what people and society believes to be right and wrong, how did she feel about it? If she thought it was fine, why?
After reading the story, I think that Jeanette realized that her living conditions weren’t that good for her. I believe this because as she got older you could tell she would get concerned and upset with her parents. She got a job and started saving money to move and get her own place. When she was stealing food from school and eating out of the trash she was sneaking it, therefore she was embarrassed and knew it was not normal while other children brought lunches. I also did a little research and watched a couple videos and saw that she admitted that she was ashamed of her story and it took her a long time to get it out. But all together, she is ok with how she grew up and accepts it.
Has she ever had any emotional suffering with any of the trauma that she’s been through, at all?
There was nothing in the book that answered this question really. I couldn’t find any information on whether she had to or is getting psychological help but she says she hasn’t which is very hard to believe. Having a life like the walls children it’s hard to believe that they are perfectly ok. Rare. I know that her younger sister is not ok, and as for her brother and older sister they seem to be fine too just like Jeanette. Odd.
Because of her perspective on things and how she was raised, did that affect any of her relationships in life such as friends, boyfriends, co-workers, and teachers?
There weren’t many relationships in the book to really figure this question out. All the relationships mentioned are between the Walls family. There weren’t really any friends’ mentions and the teachers weren’t spoken of much either. At the end of the book it does say that she gets a divorce, but that is very common now a day so I’m not sure that’s anything serious.
My major is Nursing. Coming from a nurse perspective I would be concerned about Jeanette’s psychological health. Also when Jeanette was a child I would have been concerned about her more and her family when she went to the hospital with that burn. I probably would have someone look into it.
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#27
After reading this book i seriously don't understand how she can just live a normal life now and not really think anything of what she's been through. Not only that but not be mad at her parents for all that she put her and her siblings through.
I plan on going into the nursing program so from that stand point i would have been very concerned for Jeanette and her siblings and i probably would have gone to someone or even tried talking to her parents myself about how dangerous it is to raise there kids that way but considering how her parents are it would be hard but worth trying to convince. -
#28
After I finished the book I am confused on how Jeanette can just pretend that her past never happened. That sh'e is able to live the way she does and telling those that it is ok. After how her parents were towards her and her sibilings you would think that it would have an affect on her. I understand if writting this book was a certain way for her to tell what happened to her and express herself instead of theorpy and she's a good writter. But I don't agree with what she tells people.
Question From 1st Blog: Even though her mother didn't help her why didn't she go to someone else?
I realized that Jeanette at a young age she didn't want to leave her family, for she believes that everything that was happening was ok. But as she got older she realized the difference between right and wrong. She got a job, saved money and moved from her parents. If only she could of realized it when she was younger then she would have been protected better.
I am majoring in Early Childhood Education. If I was to be a teacher and see Jeanette and her sibilings, I would of kept track of what I saw; how the children were acting and their marks. then I would of told someone about what I had record of
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#29
in response to my question in Blog 1, what kind of negative feedback has been given to Jeannette Walls for her true testament of her life, I feel she may be criticized for making a life for herself while ignoring her mother digging in dumpsters, but she has risen above any expectations one would have for someone who grew up in that environment.
Jeannette has become an advocate for succeeding in life by having a positive attitude and motivation. This can be seen in her memoir and in her videos. She uses public speaking to educate people on turning a negative situation into a positive one.
She has the ability to laugh at the misfortunes of her past and give others hope for their future.
I have been a Pre-K teacher for ten years and can honestly say that if a child came into my classroom filthy, wearing the same clothes daily and appeared malnourished , I would do some investigating. In this day and age we are obligated to contact DCYF and report what would appear to be neglect. Social workers would be more involved and persistent. It would be a miracle if those children stayed in that "home." -
#30
After reading Jeanette's story, her reaction and her complacency make more sense to me. Over the years of her abuse and hardships, (being molested by her uncle, then having her mother dismiss it completely) she has developed a very different coping method. After seeing people react to child molestation as a mere dirty habit, equivalent to that of picking one's nose, one can only imagine how she had to deal with trauma in her life. Dismissing it as it were simply a fact of life, this story could only breed an individual hard to the world and matter-of-fact in the face of pain.
I am an elementary education major, and I think that the amount of things children of rural poverty go through is appalling. These children must fend for themselves at an incredibly early age, where no one is there to help them or even sympathize. Abuse and neglect are ways of life and a child who is a product of rural poverty is identified as one who has become incredibly self reliant at an early age. (e.g. Jeanette cooking herself hot dogs at the age of 3) -
#31
My questions were for Jeannette. How has her childhood affected her life now. I truly believe we carry forward what we were taught as children. As a parent, I said I would never do certain things my parents did, and have copied some of what I was taught to my children. I think it is unrealistic to believe we are not affected by our childhood. However, I also wanted to improve on my parents and feel I have succeeded in some areas. I am an education major. As a teacher, I would have noticed the red flags such as dirty clothes, lack of food and the constant moving from place to place. I would think the administration would have asked questions. Even now, I work with students in a middle school, and I put their needs first. They are children who sometimes need help having a voice. If I notice a child does not have a lunch, I make sure they have something to eat. Or if they seem upset, I try to help by listening and coming up with some sort of a solution. I enjoy working with kids. There are so many sad stories in my school. I feel if I can help in some small way, it makes me happy.
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#32
Alcohol obviously had a huge part of the Walls financial struggles, as Rexs' alcoholism clearly progresses when he moves back to Welch. I also feel that Rose Mary had issues, she looked out for her own interests not her families. Although Rex and Rose Mary didn't fulfill the first step in Maslows Hierarchy of Needs, I believe that they cared for their children, encouraged them, and were supportive. The up bringing of the Walls kids may not have been conventional or up to today's standards, but you have to keep in mind that this was thirty years ago, in a different time.
I am a math/science major and father of four, but if I had been a teacher, social worker, or nurse involved with the Walls children, I can honestly say that I would not have tried to remove the children from their home. I feel that removing the children from the parents would have caused more crisis for the children. The state should have been involved to the point of a family plan (which most likely did not exist at that time), housing, and rehab/therapy for the entire family. As Rex and Rose Mary may have lacked in providing the children with the "basics" (food and shelter) they did provide for them in so many other ways.
In reading this book I was brought back to my own childhood, not as extreme but very similar. I bring this up because the children that are brought up without don't realize that they are going without (within the first four stages of Ericksons theory). So as an outsider looks in they might be offended because it is not the way they were raised or how they would raise their own children, but if we look at Jeannette as an example you don't need material items to achieve a healthy ratio to move through the stages.
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#33
My major is Elementary Education, so this book was very interesting for me to read. I had asked the question: what happened differently in Jeanette's life that allowed her to be so strong? After finishing the book, I think that it really comes down to the fact that she had to be strong for her siblings. If she had fallen apart, what was left of her family would have fallen apart inevitably. Her siblings were very fortunate that she was as strong as she was. All of the children pulled together and made each other stronger. The other question I asked was: How did she survive without any therapy whatsoever? I think the answer to this is linked with my answer to my first question. She came up with her own form of therapy, which was looking after her siblings. She had to keep a positive attitude for them: that was her therapy. This book made me realize that there are going to be children that I am going to teach that may not be as strong as Jeanette after facing hardship. I am going to have to learn how to relate to those children and help them become successful and move past their hardships and not let it shape their future.
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#34
3)Why does her mother not take care of her children like she should?
- Honestly i still don't know why but i will make some guess's. I know she loves to paint but honestly if you have children then they are your top priority. It seemed like to me that she would rather paint then be a parent. I think that the dad even played with them more than she did. Not to stick up for her or anything but I think she painted so much because that was her escape. I know she didn't like not having food for her kids and to continually ask her mother for money. I know that because she had a huge fight with her husband about those things. So what I'm trying to say is that deep down she was depressed and painting helped her a lot, but i still don't think that is any reason to not be a good parent. -
#35
My major is Elementary Education, and this book really made me think about the different backgrounds that children are going to come from. The first question I asked was: How could Jeanette not be bitter towards her parents? After completing the book I think that the answer to that is she couldn't be bitter. She had to learn to move on and not let circumstances define who she was going to become. By dwelling in the past and hording bitterness towards her parents, would just be letting what they did defeat the person she was supposed to become. She realized where her parents had made mistakes and moved on from how they had affected her. Those mistakes would still be affecting her if she had bitterness towards them. The second question I asked was: how did she make it without any therapy or adult figures in her life? I believe that the answer to this was that she found both of those within herself. She found the adult inside of her, and that transformation that took place in her was her therapy. She was not going to let anything bring her down. She knew that she was going to be a disadvantage going into the adult world, but she stayed strong through everything because she knew that she had to be there for her siblings.
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#36
my first question was if she had ever managed to help her family.
and it seamd to me that by the age of 12 she already was.
im curently taking libral arts but going to brigwater to study child care. -
#37
One of my questions in the first blog was did you feel completely alone and abandoned through your entire childhood. To answer my question now I would agree that she did feel completely alone and abounded. She may have not shown it through even aspect of the book. But the more and more I read about the book I felt as though she was embarrassed about the way she was living. As she grew to realize and feel that she could not even trust her own parents, let alone trust them with information about her personal life. If I was unable to trust my own parents, and not be able to share my personal goals or any personal information with them I would feel completely alone and helpless. Especially at a young age, your parents are all you have at that particular age, and I feel as though they may have not expressed or proved that she could trust them overtime. The more and more I read I feel as though she became farther and farther emotionally apart from her parents. In a sense that she was completely embarrassed of their actions such as picking through the garbage. My major is Elementary Education and as a teacher I believe that if I noticed these actions that I belived were taken place at a child’s home I would make an effort to speak to the parents, and try to get to the bottom of the issue as best I could. I would relate the child’s actions in school and there personal emotion to myself as the teacher and to the other students, and try to incorporate the fact that they were the ones who gave me the hint that there was an issue at home, almost as if I could not look over the situation without trying to solve or help the child’s problems. I would also take into account the information that the child gave me, sitting down with the child and expressing what is correct behavior from a parent to a child and the correct way life should be at home. If there was no change I would speak to the head of the school, and try to get the bottom of it, and mention that I feel that DSS and social services should be notified and that there should be a drastic change in the child’s home life. I don’t believe any child should be treated that way, I would make sure to do everything possible in my power to make the sure the child was taken care of and something was done to change. I do not believe that this was the case with the teachers in the book, which made me wonder how people could know a certain situation was going on and not do everything in their power to help the child.
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#38
I would have defantly try to provide the children school lunches if I was their teachers. that i
defantly would have taken that in my on hands if i had the means too. as for the nurses and social workers, well even though their children, you can't take full control over a 13 year old with out the childs consent, but the nurses
who had her as a patient at 2 should have really forced themselves into there lives and taken the
children away at least for a little while. because the mother and father did care for them you
could tell in the book. and only trying their best and what they thought was right. -
#39
What i would of done if i hade seen Jeannette Walls and her siblings living in the conditions that they were living in to help the children out is to try to get them away from such neglectful parents. I know that the parents feel that there way of raising there children is the right way to raise them and i see how they do have love for there children, but they dont realy have the stability or the necessities needed in order to take proper care of there children. I feel that they need to begin to try and look after there children more often, maybee get the help that they actually need in order to help raise both Jeannette Walls and her siblings.
My question from the first blog is, Why is she so ashamed to see her mother?
After carfully reading the book i came up with the conclusion that she still seems to be a little messed up with her emotions. I think this because only a couple of days later she had lunch with her mother at a resteraunt. One of the other reasons that i feel she was ashamed of seeing her mother was that Jeannette Walls became very successful and she saw her mom rumiging through a garbage can on the side of the street. -
#40
If I or anyone else could of done somthing to help these children,they in some way would be effected by what had already happened and then getting taken from their parents would have been even worst for them, they would have thought that their parents didnt want them or love them, by them staying with their parents made them ashamed of them and it was a hard childhood but at least they still had their parents.
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#41
I believe that Jeannette used this book to help cope with her past life. But I was left hanging at the end. What happened next? How's her mother doing? I expected more of Jeanette when her parents came to the city. She still bent for her father, with her soft spot. But she is still an unbelievably strong person. I don't think she needs any psychological help. She learned values in her life that most people don't have and she's seen things most of us can't even imagine dealing with.
I want to be a pediatrician. And if I saw a three year old girl coming into a hospital covered in burns from cooking hot dogs unattended, I would be very concerned. Even though some people, like the social worker for example, tried to step in to help her out, no one made a huge effort. But I personally feel like Jeanette wouldn't be the person she is today if she had been taken away. She always had her family by her side and her siblings took care of eachother.
Bravo Jeanette Walls, your an inspiring writer, making people feel that no matter how hard their life has been, things get better. -
#42
I didnt really have many questions to the book except what was the glass castle and what it is was house that was going to be made out of glass. I definally liked the book but you were absolutly right in the beginning of class that it is a very distrubing book. Teachs us that all though we think out lives are hard .... think again they were basically on their own and all that traveling was craziness. I doubt anyone in this class could handle all the pressure that theses kids had to go through. Over all I think in time I might pick this book up again and read it all over again maybe ill even have more of an insight and different feelings towards this book.
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#43
After finishing the book the questions I had first thought about quickly came to mind. I asked what were her parents thinking, and what was going through their heads, when really they were thinking this was all perfectly normal. And how could Jeanette take everything so calmly, but after reading the book I was able to see that this was her perception of reality, and she didn’t know a world without this. After reading this book I began to think about Hitler and his ways of brain washing his troops on what is right and what it wrong, and his followers thought his was were the only right way in life. Where in Jeanette’s life this was all that she knew, and this was considered “normal”. This book was an eye opener, and left with many questions unanswered, this book is differently a book I would pick up again.
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#44
Questions from first blog:
Did Ms. Walls feel so positivly about her childhood all along or did she only start to see the hope after writng the book?
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Has she gained any awareness of her own behaviors through revisiting her past and now been able to change?
After reading the book I can't say that my questions were completely answered, but i get a better idea of what the anwers would be.
I beleive Jeannette always had some sort of hope, she never seemed to give up. Even when she realized she didn't believe in her Dad anymore, she found hope in moving to New York.
As the book ended I think Jeannette Walls did become aware of some behaviors. Maybe not directly mirrored of her parents but effects of her childhood, esspecially in relationships. And she seems to be willing to change, she divorced her husband, and she continues to work on her relationship with her Mother. I think that writing this book was theraputic for her, allowing her to let go of those demons. Her shame lessened and she is now free to make desisions based on her present life, not her past.
My major right now is psychology, Im thinking clinical, maybe a therapist. So if i were one of the profesionals the Walls kids encounterd, i would like to think I would have acted differently. The teachers in Pheonix I was most surprised with. That was the only place they lived that may have had resources and education for teachers. If i was working in their school i may have conntacted social services. However, after getting to know the patterns of the family would that really have helped? The parents problem with authority would have created a problem, and hte kids probably would have been split up, and possibly worse off. I think encourageing the kids in school, sense they were very smart, was the best thing for them.
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#45
My earlier questions were as follows:
1. Does she resent her parents in any way for the way she was raised? After reading this book i believe that by jeanettes writing this book she came to a reality about her past and her parents and is now able to move on from all the hardship she faced as a child.
2. Do her siblings feel the same way that she does? Can they joke about these issues as well? I do not feel as though her siblings have gotten over these issues as well as jeanette did. But they are all working through their own problems in their own ways.
3. Why was Ms. Walls afraid of losing everything she has earned by telling the truth about her past? Jeanette was fearful of losing everything she has worked for because she would never want to live the way she lived as a child. -
#46
My major is early childhood education, as a teacher i would have spent more time with the children getting to know them and gain their trust. I would have noticed the way they were acting and dressing and I would have tried to help them and their home life.
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