“The Glass Castle” is a memoir by Jeannette Walls which details her childhood growing up in a family with an intelligent, yet unfortunately alcoholic father stuck in a selfish, unstable fantasy, and a mother who refuses the responsibility of caring for her children, instead favouring her own artistic pursuits. The childhood neglect that Walls and her three siblings underwent due to the mental illness of their parents is outlined, however, despite all of the hardships Walls touches on including starvation and the lack of basic necessities, it is also a story of incredible affection and resilience. Through all of the dysfunction and poverty, Walls simply cannot shake the unconditional love that she feels for her parents- a sentiment which many of us can relate to. This story and the way that Walls presents it hits home with the fact that no person is all bad, and no person is all good. We have to accept the dichotomy of life and find love for others where we can.

“You should never hate anyone, even your worst enemies. Everyone has something good about them. You have to find the redeeming quality and love the person for that.”

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Feature: 55Laney69 at Flickr, some rights reserved, Creative Commons