Initial Impressions: The Glass Castle

Jeanette Walls’ The Glass Castle concerns the author’s reflection on her upbringing. Walls focuses on the use of imagery to transport the reader into the author’s childhood. She goes into great detail to really get the reader to picture what she’s writing about the people around her: “Her long hair was streaked with gray, tangled and matted, and her eyes had sunk deep into their sockets,”. It is easy to see how the family of Walls’ but the way they act: “She wore a bulky gray sweater with only a few light stains, and black leather men’s shoes.” As a girl the author remembers when she is young and shows great imagery: “The dress’s shirt stuck out like a tutu, and I liked to spin around in front of the mirror, thinking I looked like a ballerina.” The author focuses on imagery to transport the reader into the authors childhood.