5: The Glass Castle 231-288

"I didn't know what to do. Part of me wanted to do whatever I could to take care of Mom and Dad, and part of me just wanted to wash my hands of them. The cold came early that year, and every time I left the psychologist's apartment, I found myself looking into the faces of the homeless people I passed on the street, wondering each time if one of them would turn out to be Mom or Dad. I usually gave homeless people whatever spare change I had, but I couldn't help feeling like I was trying to ease my conscience about Mom and Dad wandering the streets while I had a steady job and a warm room to come home to...I knew I should have stood up for Mom and Dad. I'd been pretty scrappy as a kid, and our family had always faught for one another, but back the we'd had no choice. The truth was, I was tired of taking on people who ridiculed us for the way we lived. I just didn't have it in me to argue Mom and Dad's case to the world," (Walls 256).

I think that the author is trying to say that although she really loves her Mom and Dad, they have made life so hard for her, and, even though she thinks it's wrong, she lets them live as homeless, even though they say they want to. She is fed up trying to make sense of their lifestyle, and trying to help others understand their lifestyle. "I [Jeannette] just didn't have it in me to argue Mom and Dad's case to the world," (256). Her whole life has been a constant struggle to survive and now that Jeanette is doing well, she does not want her parents to ruin the life she has made for herself. She has been an outcast for her entire life and now just wants to blend in to the crowd and live a normal, nice, lifestyle. She wants to make life better for her because it has been so hard with her parents who refuse to make it easier and go against the norm. She thinks that people will judge her for her parents unusual behavior.
I also think that Jeanette, is also trying to make sense of her parents lifestyle. She doesn't quite understand why they live the way the do, because they are capable of so much more. Jeanette stuck with her family all through her childhood and is realizing how much uneccessary pain and suffering they have enflicted upon their family when their life could have been so much more than it was. "Our family had always faught for one another, but back the we'd had no choice," (256). Now that Jeannette has drifted away from the rest of her family, she does not feel an obligation to fight for her parents because they have brought it upon themselves. She doesn't want their way of life to affect how others think of her, or affect the opportunities she could have. Her whole life has been molded by the work she has put in to it, she has worked hard to get where she is. Her parents did not work hard to get where they are, but they are happy with their place in life.