Tow #4 - "The Glass Castle" by Jeannette Walls (IRB)

     With a memoir of her past, Jeannette Walls writes The Glass Castle to motivate others into working to achieve their dreams even if they grew up with a rough childhood. The idea of a successfully well-known author being brought up from next to nothing serves to inspire others into striving for their own goals. The first half of Walls’s memoir consists of her early years from three to ten. The book is organized into chronological snap shots of Walls’s life, and the reader learns about the family’s not-so-perfect dynamics as well as the different places they hopped as a result of bill collectors and other legal issues since they have little to no money. They are often left eating very little food until the few opportunities arise in which there are items to eat, but nothing is ever set to last, and they soon move on yet again to the next town. Although almost anyone with past struggles could look to this book as a source of inspiration, those with more extreme problems, such as poverty, may feel the weight of this book the most.

     Walls uses colloquialism in her memoir for credibility. In many instances, Walls recounts her memories through her child-self’s eyes, and she often echoes the insults her father or others used most likely because she had no real knowledge of what they actually meant at the time. For example, “the Owl Club had a bar where groups of men with sunburned necks huddled together over beers and cigarettes. They all knew Dad, and whenever he walked in, they insulted him in a loud funny way that was meant to be friendly. ‘This joint must be going to hell in a handbasket if they’re letting in sorry-ass characters like you!’ they’d shout” (Walls 55). Like most children, Walls freely repeats words that she had heard around her and, unlike most, she is rarely, if ever, reprimanded for it. This embraces the reality of her skewed childhood with the fact that vulgar language was not as heavily restricted as many more middle-class families would expect despite the good manners the children display towards most adults. It makes the reader feel less skeptical of the bibliography if the more unappealing sides of the family are not obviously avoided for the sake of a more positive image, and they will be more likely to feel motivated by Walls if they find it easier to believe said bibliography. By using this technique, I feel as though she successfully managed to generate that sort of effect for her audience in order to reach her end goal.