THE GLASS CASTLEBY JEANNETTE WALLS

PRESENTED BY: GINA BOWLING

Poverty

• Children who live in poverty have a hard time fitting in.

• “The principal decided that Brian and I were both a bit slow and had speech impediments that made it difficult for others to understand us. He placed us both in special classes for students with learning disabilities (136).”

• When children struggle to survive, it causes them to be more cautious.

STRUGGLE FOR SURVIVAL

• ““I’ve got bills piling up,” I said. I heard my voice growing shrill, but I couldn’t control it. “I’ve got kids to feed.” “Don’t you worry about food and bills,” Dad said. “That’s for me to worry about. Okay?”” (210).

ALCOHOL

• Consuming too much alcohol can effect a relationship with the family.

• ““Do you think you could maybe stop drinking?” Dad said nothing. He was staring down at the cement patio, and when he turned to me, his eyes had a wounded look, like a dog who’s been kicked. “You must be ashamed of your old man,” he said. “No,” I said quickly. “It’s just I think Mom would be a lot happier. Plus, we’d have the extra money””(116).

HUNGER

• When children have to go without food they are forced to fend for themselves.

• ““Mom wasn’t making any sense to me. I wondered if she had been looking forward to eating the margarine herself. And that made me wonder if she was the one who’d stolen the can of corn the night before, which got me a little mad. “It was the only thing to eat in the whole house,” I said. Raising my voice I added, “I was hungry”“(69).

MATURITY & RESPONSIBILITY

• A parent’s selfishness makes the children act more mature.

• “We couldn’t afford wood any more than we could afford coal, and Dad wasn’t around to chop and split any, which meant it was up to us kids to gather dead branches and logs from the forest (175).”