Throughout The Glass Castle, the most evident themes are resilience and forgiveness. From Jeannette’s first memory of being burned to her recent life in New York City, the Wall’s children were constant subjects of hurt and disappointment in situations involving their parents, although they continued to forgive them accepting that it was the only option they had. The writer documents many instances where her father made commitments to the family, yet did not keep them for long, getting distracted by his drinking habits. Because of the instability and affliction Jeannette and her siblings endured, the memoir is a true reflection of the Walls children’s resilience during their childhood and early adulthood.
For example, when Jeannette, Brian, and Lori save their hard earned money for months in hopes of sending Lori to New York City to begin a new life, they arrive home to discover that their piggy bank had been crushed and the hundreds of dollars had been stolen. The children rallied together to confront their father, and he replied with a grin, ‘”Well, don’t that beat all,’” (Walls 229). This incident created a sense of determination in the Walls brood to work even harder than they had before to prove that they could make it, without their parents, outside of Welch, West Virginia. By forgiving their father for his wrongdoing, they had displayed the qualities that many lack; the ability to fall, and return even stronger than before. From the beginning, Rex and Rose Mary Walls are forgiven for uprooting, malnourishing, and mistreating their children, because they know, above all else, that by forgiving their parents they could move forward and learn from past mistakes.
The Walls children's insurmountable ability to forgive their parents faults time and again only add to their characters and that ultimately forms the respectable adults they all become. Harboring hate and bitterness never hurts those who caused it, and luckily for Jeannette and her siblings, they never let those feelings fester. Their forgiveness is admirable, their parents brought all of these innocent children into a world of instability and struggle, and somehow, they forgive. This does not come easily to some, this remarkable ability to forgive, but it is what sets people apart from one another. Those who choose to let go of whatever wrong doing another forced upon them live with a clear mind that they would not have had if they hadn't forgiven. However, even though these young "adults" forgive, they can never truly forget the trials they all went through at the hands of their parents, which is the true tragedy of this memoir.
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