Polished Lit Exploration
The Future
An individual who faces adversity in their life can stumble over problems and be motivated to get back up and accomplish their dream. Jeannette Walls clearly states this in the novel, The Glass Castle, when Jeanette faces many hardships and adversities in her life and wishes for a fresh start so she moves to New York to start over. An individual who grew up in a childhood full of hardships will be more motivated to become a successful person in their future. In an individual’s life, adversities can affect the way you look at your future of your current situation. In the novel, The Glass Castle, Jeanette and her family faced a problem when the bill collectors would come after them because Rex, Jeanette’s father, would fail to pay because of financial problems. Instead of getting money and pay for their bills, Rex decided to do what they called the “skedaddle” and run from them. This showed Jeanette what kind of a person Rex was because he avoided all the situations in his life rather than coming to his senses and paying them. Jeanette hated doing the skedaddle because right when she was settled into their new place, they would have to leave after a short period of time. Jeanette wasn’t like her dad, she was the total opposite. Jeanette faced her problems unlike Rex who ran from them. The skedaddle was one of the adversities Jeanette faced in her childhood and changed her viewpoint of approaching problems like this.
Hope is the starting point of bringing change into an individual’s life who has dreams and aspirations of becoming something else. In the novel, Jeanette and her little brother Brian wish to move out of the Walls family house to New York. After facing all the problems they have had, the both wish to bring change to their life. Jeanette and Brian both start depositing money into their piggy bank that Jeanette bought from the store. The money they collect would go towards their expenses on their journey to New York. Rex is the main problem they face because when he had run out of money, he smashed the piggy bank on the ground and took all the money inside. Jeanette and Brian’s hope to move out of their house has taken a step back because of their father Rex. The adversities that they are facing are extreme because whenever Jeanette and Brian have a hope or a dream, it gets crushed by somebody. Falling down and getting back up is something that Jeanette and Brian do in order for their hopes and dreams to come true. Eventually, Rex pays them back and their hopes are back on track.
Everybody has a dream in their life whether it be to move somewhere, be something, or to do something. In the novel, Jeanette has finally taken a bus from the Walls family house to New York. She goes to school for a bit and ends up finding a job as a journalist. Eventually, all members of her family end up also moving to New York or somewhere close by. As time goes by, Rex passes away, Brian gets a job as a cop, and Jeanette finds a husband and lives with him on the countryside but still goes to her office once a week. Jeanette and the Walls family have been through a lot of hardships and adversities in their past but overcame them and now live without them. Jeanette has came from being a little girl who lived in poverty for most of her life to becoming self-sufficient and working hard to get to where she is today. The hops and dreams have come true for her due to her hard work and dedication to become something from nothing.
The Walls family has been through some rough patches and somehow been able to overcome them. The problems they faced had a big impact on how successful Jeanette is today because she realized how hard it was to live in poverty and she needed to hustle and grind in order to live a normal life. Dreams, hopes, and aspirations all do come true if an individual is dedicated enough and is willing to put in hard work to achieve it.
