Responce Paper for GC (First Draft)

In the story of Glass Castle written by Jeanette Wall, she makes a confession by telling about her childhood and clarifying her identity and roots. Despite her current successful career, her life has always been isolated. Her miserable childhood experiences imply to the reader her isolation from her family. In addition, her pretending to be someone different after coming to New York represents her loneliness in society. She was emancipated from that kind of disconnectedness by revealing her nature.

One of the childhood experiences that represent her isolation from family is the conversation about the helicopter ride. During the protagonist’s recuperation at a hospital, her family did a raffle and a lot with her name won a helicopter ride. Her mother tells her about that when she comes and visits her in a hospital. Then her mother said “Oh, we already did that,” and “It was fun.” This means her family left her alone and enjoyed the experience without her although she won the lottery. This quote can be interpreted as the unnaturalness of her family. This means that she is isolated even though she has four members of a family. Her mother must be unusual for saying that “It was fun.” for her.

It is also worth noting that she is secluded from the hospital by her abusive and dysfunctional home. After being badly burnt, she is placed in the hospital and she became quite fond of the place, because it is “clean and shiny”, and “Everyone spoke in polite, calm voices”. She says “I wasn’t used to quiet and order, and I liked it.” To say, she feels at home and comfortable in her life in the quiet hospital. However, her insulting parents come to her and get her home under duress, which is her grueling reality. The way her family forcibly pulls her away from her safe space signifies the return of her isolation.

Her miserable childhood and isolation follow her around for the rest of her adult life. Although she decided to live a new life after leaving her home and start living in New York, she is lonesome in view of the fact that she pretends to be someone is not. According to her word saying as “THE APARTMENT ONE”, she tries to be another person without an impoverished past. Even though she lives in celebrity life and is in a community of superstars, she is totally disconnected from society. Moreover, it can be said as she is also isolated from herself by impersonating someone, not her.

In conclusion, Jenett Wall has been living in solitude all her life, and by writing this book and revealing her true past, she finally freed herself from isolation and took herself back into her own hands. In his childhood, she was plagued by toxic parents and experienced desolation at home, and after running away from there, she was disconnected from society as he lived as a false self. ”The Grass Castle” is not only her memoir but also a relief from her seasonless isolation.