TOW #4- "The Glass Castle" (IRB)

In the first half of The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls, Walls recalls her memories of traveling through United States as a kid and how this journey shaped her childhood.  She grew up with no secure home, and unreliable parents. Because of this Jeanette grew up traveling to a new town almost every work in search of an actual secure place to say. Her travels to different towns make up the content of the book. The memoir begins with a story about her life when she was 3 years old. In this story she was left alone making hot dogs by herself. This might appeal to the audience, and make them think about the idea of a young girl feeding herself. During this story, her dress catches on fire and she is in the hospital with severe burns. To most people after such a horrific incident, they would fear fire. But to Walls she became interested with the concept of fire. She writes “ I loved the scratching sound of the match against the sandpaper brown strip when I struck it” (15). She uses imagery to engage the reader, and make them feel like they were there with her in the moment.

Through her use of imagery she achieves her purpose of portraying her unusual life as a child at home. By sharing her real life experiences Wall’s immediately appeals to ethos, and proves her credibility. As a child Walls did not have a parental figure help her grow up. She had a mom and dad, but they did not give her much guidance. Her mother did not want the responsibility and her father was destructive under the influence of alcohol. She appeals to pathos except she never pities herself. She describes in detail the rough life she had, sharing how she was always on the move at such a young age. Not once does she ever say she feels bad for herself. Jeannette Walls purpose in writing this book is to show her readers a look into her abnormal upbringing. So far Walls is doing a great job of achieving her purpose through her strong use of imagery and pathos.