The Glass Castle Pt. 5

Summary.

In the beginning, Jeannette learns about humidity, her father explains why it did not feel as hot in the desert as it does in Welch. Brian and Jeannette head down to the public pool where a boy named Ernie Goad teases them out by calling them dirty and that they were a “health epidemic”. The next day Jeannette was walking down the street and she ran into Dinitia- an African American friend from school. Dinitia had just gotten out of the pool from the morning hours. She invited Jeannette to come swim with the other “colored folks”. Jeannette joined her and her friends and family at the pool the next morning. Although they both had the time of their lives, they never went back together nor even spoke about that swim. When she got home a man rang the bell and asked to talk to her parents. She stated that they were not home so he began asking questions about them. when her mother came home Jeannette informed her all about what happened. Her mother got so worked up over Jeannette’s concern that she got a job at the local school. Even with that income money was still really tight. Towards the end of this section Jeannette started to work on the school newspaper, she enjoyed this job because she felt like she was the one receiving the information first.

Personal Reaction.

My personal reaction to part five of my memoir would be I feel very concerned about Jeannette and her siblings. They are all growing accustomed to their drunken father and their moody mother. Some neighbors even called in and said that their home was not a good place for the children to live. When a man came to the door, I realized that these children truly were not being treated with care and politeness. I had many reactions in this section, like when Jeannette decided to make her own braces and her father found out. Instead of my expectation of him being angry that she would want to change something with herself, he was very proud of her quick idea and invention. Another example of a reaction I had was when the man came to the door, Jeannette remained very calm and adult like, and the man totally believed her. My reaction was that if she can remain so calm while coving up that they were broke and her father was a drunk she must actually not mind the situation she is in. This surprised me because I would be terrified to see my father as an angry drunk, but then again, she must have grown accustomed to it.