Harmon Gow says “Guess he’s been in Stark field too many winters” (7) which lets the reader know Ethan has not moved or migrated to any other place, he has lived in Starkfield most of his life. Even before the story goes into depth of his life we know that within an accident it has changed him physically from the quote “He’s looked that way ever since he had his smash-up; and that's twenty-four years ago come next February”(4). Ethan remains in Starkfield with Zeena, his wife, who is ill most of the time. Since his wife is sick, she hires her cousin named Mattie. Overtime Ethan will however become attracted to her and would go to extreme lengths to spend time with her.
Rachel grew up, went through her dating stage, and then finally met a wonderful man that she could not picture herself without; a caring, positive, supportive husband that goes by the name of Tim. But there were also negative aspects to all of this, Rachel would burst out in anger on a regular basis and yell at Tim for almost anything and then suddenly manipulated him. Out of frustration, Rachel began taking nightly walks in and out of her neighborhood to “get away from it all”. Every time she had a heated argument with her husband she would race
As Alice had to grow up basically looking after her self and her younger siblings she learned that even if you do not have support you still need to follow your dreams and live you life. This is a large aspect to how Alice discovered herself. Alice's parents get extremely angry at her and blame her completely for the accident. This circumstance is a critical one on Alice's journey to self-discovery. Alice learns how protective and careful she has to be while looking after her brothers and sisters.
The glass castle by Jeannette Walls is a story of a dysfunctional family which does not conform to the norm of society. And through this their children suffer due to their unconventional methods “Mom and Dad liked to make a big point about never surrendering to fear or to prejudice or to the narrow-minded conformist sticks-in-the-mud who tried to tell everyone else what was proper" Jeannetee's parents always thought the "normal" was an unacceptable way to live. They stressed this idea and it applies to their lives throughout the entire book. The adult used this idea as an excuse for whenever they did not have a home or food to eat. But it is through this that we can the maturity and desire the children show to rise above from their problems.
In the beginning of the book, when Dave talks about when the family was once good, he calls his mom, “Mom”. He later on calls her “Mother” when she becomes abusive. He does this because he became distant from her when the abusive started. He didn’t feel safe referring to her as mom anymore because she wasn’t the nurturing mother that she once was. Before the abuse, Mother would’ve done anything for her family.
Kids of any age will try to convince their parents that they are sick so they don’t have to go to school for the day and hate school. “Little Rock Nine”, on the other hand, actually valued their education. They literally put their lives on the line to go to Central High School and learn. Sure some people sometimes travel three or more hours to get to school but to have to deal with a riot everyday and be criticized for how they look is just cruel. Kids these days have no idea how hard life was back then, even the African American student haven’t a clue to how harsh life was, not just in Central High School but their lives in general were always being tortured.
Jimmy didn’t want to be there no longer and kept on running away until his Aunt Charlotte signed him over to a detention center because no one wanted to take him and care for him. He registered and went to high school and eventually dropped out because he didn’t feel accepted in the type of environment. He got into a relationship with a young girl name Teresa. That was his first love and it was a very dysfunctional relationship. He had left to San Diego to start a new life and meet Marcos, His best friend, and Lonnie.
“First we have roll call,” Johnny said. (3) The repetition of the phrase ‘roll call’ used in this dialog is given such significance because it is used by the new teacher as a method of control the students. She manipulates the students here by controlling them. Even Johnny finally concedes to the manipulation by attacking his own father. “I ALWAYS WONDERED WHY HE DIDN’T LISTEN, AND ALL THE TIME HE WASN’T THERE” (7).
After reading the book I have realized just because you don’t have that new LG slide phone or that bright fluorescent I-pod you have always dreamed about. Doesn’t mean it’s the end of the world. What I do have is a loving family and friends. Perdita had none of those things. She was adopted when she was only young, her foster parents always fight and on top of that the whole school classifies her as a freak!
My sister still unintentionally annoys me every day. I also like to fiddle with strings or straps and make animal noises. Although my Autism can sometimes make me feel very terrible, I'm nothing like some other kids with Autism. After I was first diagnosed with Autism, doctors thought I would never talk or be able to learn. They also thought that my parents would eventually have to consider having me institutionalized.