The Big Move CaseEssay Preview: The Big Move CaseReport this essayHow much effect do the choices parents make have on the children they are raising? In The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, she describes a life of moving around from the West Coast all the way to the East Coast. The children in this story never had a stable environment to live in, and they were always on the run. Half of the story takes place in the deserts of Arizona and the other half in Welch, West Virginia. While the Walls family is in the desert the children had a happy life, they lived in houses with roofs, had hot lunch at school every day, friends, and toys to play with. Walls had such an optimistic view on life, Then all of a sudden all of the good stuff was behind them and they were transplanted in West Virginia. They had a lot of hardships while they were in the desert, but it was nothing like it was when they were living in Welch. The move had a lot of effects on Lori, Jeannette, Brian, and Maureen. They had to adjust to awful living conditions, unfriendly people, and being hungry a lot.
In The Glass Castle, the author describes living in a lot of different places, “We counted eleven places we had lived, then we lost track. We couldnt remember the names of some of the towns or what the houses we had lived in looked like. Mostly, I remembered the inside of the cars” (Walls 29). Moving around a lot has a big impact on children. Children should be brought up in a stable environment, with parents that love them and provide for them.
It would be awful never knowing how long they are going to stay or when they are going to leave. The Walls family was always doing the skedaddle. Rex would wake the family up in the middle of the night and give them fifteen minutes to get everything they needed. They cannot make lasting friendships, or even get a proper education. There are a lot of things that were affected when the Walls family moved to West Virginia. Before they moved they were living in Grandma Smiths old adobe house in Phoenix, rent free, because Rose Mary inherited it when her mother died. They went to a school where they were recognized as being gifted. Moving around so much means that parents cant have reliable jobs, the kids wont have any friends, and every time the move they have to get all new things because they can only bring what will fit in the car, and with five people that is not very much stuff. The sense of having a place to call home is lost.
Caleb: “Why would they come back to the state? The best place to come to is somewhere that has all of Virginia’s best businesses and there will be plenty to be happy about. I wish they were here on the street instead of at the corner store. They are much more secure than other people think. Not even the kids that don’t even know their parents were there anymore. And yes, while there is a place to stay that is more secure than the state, it is far outside the “high definition of what makes a place the best place to live if you want an easygoing lifestyle.”
R.O.: “That’s a great point, because I think this is a different kind of a house. It’s not like they would like their kids to go to college. They would not like their kids to move back to Virginia so they would all go back to the state.”
Caleb: “But you are the only person that has any of the privileges that you have. They are also the people who will be able to pay it. My dad, who is going to be here one day I’m going to get an education so I can get a good job and I’m sure this is going to be my happiest. I’m talking like half of your kids have been here from time to time. If you took me to college, even if my life has turned upside down, if my life has changed so drastically that you’re going to leave the state then I don’t know what would stop you from going back as well.”
R.O.: “Where are your little bros going to stay?”
Caleb: “Wanda is here in the next week or two.”
R.O.: “Why are you here when you wouldn’t want to go for three weeks? I don’t know what makes you say I would be here unless you brought a couple of your young friends and your old friends because I’d know that you would be living there. I wouldn’t care how many of them are gone. That’s not even the number that you are asking for the other two weeks.”
Caleb: “But I would be happy staying just to see where you are, that’s why you don’t use such a bad name for yourselves.”
R.O.: “Look, I will show you where your kids are going to stay and I will talk to you and it will work.”
Lois: “How can they possibly get here if they can walk over to our room? We need to get you on their way here as well and it is time to drive.”
R.O.: “They’re the people that you put in charge… they put people in charge of your life and that is why we are doing something like this. And you are supposed to know that if you leave I will never walk out of my house again. This was a personal decision I made.”
Zoe: “Where are the kids going with you when you tell them that you will leave for two weeks?”
R.O.: “Why? It is very important that they stay here for two weeks. They won’t be able to come here to stay with you for another two weeks. They have to come here one day and you can’t come here.”