"You can turn painful situations around through laughter. If you can find humor in anything, even poverty, you can survive it." - Bill Cosby
This quote can be applied to The Glass Castle in many ways. Poverty is a key issue that the Walls family is being faced with. They have no money, and travel from town to town often. The children have known nothing else but struggling to get by. However, they are never down or depressed. The children get by with what they have, and they are resourceful. These are some of the most resourceful and happy young children. Throughout the entire book there are many situations in which this quote can be applied. However, one instance that stands out is when the family was living in Phoenix. During the summer months they slept with their windows and doors wide open to get air flow due to the lack or air conditioning and the extreme heat. One night a man walked into the house, and upstairs into Janette's room. The man attempted to get into bed with Janette. She screamed and Brian, her brother, came running. Janette and Brian chased the man from the house. During the time in which they were looking for the man, they made it into a game. The game kept the mood light, as they were looking to for all the drunken burglars.
This is just one example of how a bad situation can be turned into a pleasant one, as long as you keep the mood light and full of humor. These children did things like this everyday. They tried, no matter the poverty or hardships they faced, to keep laughter and happiness in their spirits.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
The Glass Castle
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2 comments:
I agree with what you said. I have read The Glass Castle before and one of the most prominent themes throughout the entire book is poverty. And the Walls are the perfect example of never being down on themselves; they never thought down on their situation. They did the best they could and made the best of the little they had. Although at times, like when the man tried to get into the house, I think that they should have been a little bit more serious and made more of a big deal out of it. Jeanette could have been hurt, but it just seemed like her parents didn't care. At times, seriousness is a good thing, and at times, finding humor in a situation is a good thing.
I agree with you. This is a great quote to represent the Walls family. No matter what type of situation they were put in, they always kept their spirits up and looked on the brightside of everything. They made things fun for themselves because if they did not, they could have the most miserable lives. Sometimes, I think in some situations, the parents needed to take things a little more seriously and deal with them responsibly, but making things humorous at times can be good as well.
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