Sunday, May 8, 2011

The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls is a memoir about a family who made life an adventure without any money. Jeannette's father was famous for checking out "Rex Wall's style" - not paying the bill. As a child, it seemed like Jeannete was grown up. She knew there was no Santa Claus-those other kids were dumb to be fooled by their parents. It did not faze her to wait unil a couple days after Christmas to use other people's wrapping paper to wrap their gifts or to use their thrown away Christmas tree. There were times when they slept on cardboard, played with rocks and fought over the only food in the house - a stick of butter. They travelled all over and lived off what they could - it seemed natural to her. Her father was always looking for the big deal so he could build the Glass Castle. What is interesting is that Jeannette gets the "glass castle" but it is not the greatest thing in her life. She has everything money can buy, but at a cost that she had not anticipated when fulfilling her dreams.

A. Would you rather be poor and happy or rich but unfulfilled?

B. How would you overcome not having any money, terrible living conditions and parents who were mentally unstable?

17 comments:

Josie D 7/8 said...

1. I would rather be dirt poor and be happy. Because being rich is not worth it if you cannot be happy while you're rich or share it with the people you love.

Freddy B. 7-8 said...

I agree with Josie. Happiness is everything; money is only a nice addition.

AnaleeL7-8 said...

1)I would rather be poor and happy because no matter how much money i have I cannot by happiness.

Ashley B. 1-2 said...

I agree with Josie as well.. being rich is not the same if you can't share it and if your not happy.

Lisa T. 1-2 said...

1. I would rather be poor and happy... The positive to being rich is that it's supposed to make life more convenient and comfortable. There's no point to it if it doesn't!

Tyler W 1-2 said...

I would rather be happy. Happiness is always needed.

Unknown said...

1. I would much rather be poor and happy then rich but unfulfilled. Sometimes money is not the key to happiness.

2. It would be hard to overcome but I would have to be strong like Jeannette was and still have hope that things could could better.

Sevgim A.1-2 said...

1. I rather be poor and happy. Even though having money is good I wouldn't want to have money and be miserable.

Adam B. 7-8 said...

1. I would rather be poor and happy becuase its no guarantee that you will be happy with a lot of money.

Kourteney K. 1-2 said...

1. I would much rather be poor and happy, because happiness would get me much further than money. Money may get me what I want, but it wouldn't be enough to make me feel okay; however, if I'm poor and happy, I obviously am content to not need much and I would have enough to make me feel okay.

2. To overcome these problems, I would look forward to the future, maybe try and convince myself there was more to come and that everything would turn out okay in the end.

Laura P 7-8 said...

1.) I agree with everyone else, I would much rather be poor and happy rather than rich and miserable.

Spencer P. 1-2 said...

1. I would always choose poor and happy over rich and unfulfilled.
2. I would embrace my life and make the most out of it.

Monica J. 1-2 said...

1. I owuld rather be poor and happy definetly.
2. It would take a lot of self enduarnce but theres always a way and i would always find the brighter side of things and never give up.

Morgan O 7-8 said...

I would rather be poor and happy because there is no point to having money and material things if you cannot fulfill your dreams.

Sarah H 1-2 said...

I would definately rather be poor and happy than rich and unfulfilled. As long as I'm with the people I love living a happy life than I am satified, I don't need all the money.

Natesa W. 7-8 said...

A. I would rather be poor and happy, because money is not really important to me. It would be nice to be rich, but I would still rather be happy.
B. I would try to focus on the things that I could control, like my actions.

Hannah J. 7-8 said...

1. i'd rather be poor and happy because my happiness is worth more than all the money in the world.
2. i'd try to stay as busy as possible and try my hardest to do whatever i can for them.