The Glass Castle: Section 5

In this section, times in their new house were getting really harsh. Jeannette realizes that everyone in Welch fights. People at school, people on the streets, and their family. Rex Walls starts disappearing and again coming home drunk. They don't eat much and the kids at school notice how skinny the Walls kids are. They made fun of them so Jeannette stayed in the bathroom during lunch waiting for the other kids to throw away the food they didn't eat. When winter came in Welch, times got really hard. The house had no insulation and they didn't enough money for coal for their fireplace. The branches from the trees were too wet to burn from the snow so the house was just as cold inside as it was outside. They had to wear coats inside and put fire against the icicles coming out of the faucet to melt them. They had to go to their gandfather's house to bathe but Jeannette had a hard time going back once her uncle started sexually assaulting her. Her mother told her to not make a big deal about it and that it will only make her stronger. When the kids' Grandpa Erma died they went to the funeral, but got in trouble when they started making fun of her. Their father was so mad that he yelled at them in front of everyone and Rex said that he was ashamed of them. Lori was mad at him for saying that and remarked, "you're ashamed of us?" One day when Jeannette and Brian went scouting for firewood they found a diamond ring that belonged to the woman who lived there previously. They got really excited, hoping that they could sell it and make a bunch of money for food and hopefully they would be able to get a new pair of shoes. But when their mother decides to keep it for herself the kids get very disappointed. When Jeannette finds out her mother was keeping the ring she tells her mother to leave her father. Rose Mary was appalled but never told Rex what Jeannette said. A man came to their front door asking for Jeannette's parents. She told the man that they worked even thought they didn't. She got so furious about the man coming to the door, and she asked her mother to get a job so they could eat and have a chance at living. Her mother told her she would get a teaching job after she said that Jeannette was so focused that it was scary. Once Jeannette started high school, she started working on the school newspaper, The Maroon Wave. It became all she could think about and stayed late to work on it to stay in the heated school. Rose Mary feels she can't manage her life so she turns the money over to the kids. They start a budget until their dad starts taking money from them for beer and gambling. One night Rex takes Jeannette to a bar and he lets her go to an older man's apartment alone when she was only thirteen. The man tried to rape her and her dad knew that he was going to try. Jeannette was furious with her father and the only thing he said was that it was just like when he was teaching her to swim. Jeannette got a job at a jewelry store because she told the owner she was seventeen. Not long after that Lori and Jeannette came up with a plan of getting out of Welch and going to New York. Lori was just about to graduate and she and Jeannette started a savings to Go to New York. After they saved for almost a year there dad had stolen all of it. They had to make most of the money back and then Jeannette was off to New York after graduation. Once Jeannette Graduated, Jeannette flew to New York to meet Lori.

2) My reaction to this book only gets more surprised and disturbed. The childrens' parents' actions shock me to no end. When Jeannette was sexually assulted by her uncle, and her mom told her that it would only make her stronger, i couldn't even believe it. My favorite part of this section was when Lori and Jeannette decided to move to New York. They started saving money and working together to get out of the hell hole they were living in. I loved when Brian decided to help make money for their move even though he wasn't originally apart of the plan. I also loved when their life started looking up because they couldn't believe that they were living in an apartment that had ceilings that didnt leak, flushing toilets, and an endless supply of fresh running water. Another part I enjoyed reading was when Jeannette said goodbye to her dad even though he was trying to make her stay. She stayed strong and knew that life would be better if she left for good.