TOW #16 - IRB - The Glass Castle

Nature vs. nurture, a controversial theory in psychology, contemplates whether the way one is raised determines who someone is or if their genes determine their characteristics.  Although Jeanette Walls’ memoir The Glass Castle does not explicitly mention this theory, Walls’ life reflects ideas from nurture, rather than nature.  Her life consists of sporadic adventures with her family and they never had a permanent home, instead their home was wherever they went.  Although as a child Walls enjoyed her unusual upbringing, approaching adulthood opened her eyes to the dissatisfaction she felt in her life.  By the time she was 18, she moved away, went to college, and became a reporter.  Stabilizing her life, Walls married and moved into his home in New York.  But talking with her parents as an adult changed Walls, she’s not comfortable with who she is now.  By contrasting stability and instability in her memoir, Walls connects to the theory that the way one is raised determines who they are.  As a result, Walls relies on the ever changing lifestyle she grew up with.

After graduating college and becoming a reporter, Walls moved into a home and married a man names Eric.  However, after speaking with her mother and the death of her father, Walls moves into a new apartment and changes her life.  Before changing her life, Walls felt that “life with Eric was calm and predictable.  I liked it that way” (272).  Walls thought that turning her life into one completely opposite of her childhood was what she desired.  Instead she found herself, “wanting to be somewhere other than where I was” (280).  The life she thought she wanted turned out to be not satisfactory: if she “was at work, I’d wish I were at home.  If I was in the apartment, I couldn’t wait to get out of it” (280).  This discomfort she found in her current life led to her leaving her husband Eric and finding a new apartment.  Additionally, she “took up ice-skating” and “felt best when I was on the move, going someplace rather than being there” (280).  The stark contrast between her stable and normal life into one that is unpredictable and always moving reflects the way she was raised.  Always on the move, her family never stayed in the same place for too long.  Taking up these tendencies play into the theory that nurture affects who you are.  More importantly, Walls is led to realize that sometimes change isn’t always beneficial.  Instead, going back to what makes you happy and healthy in life is essential.  Just because your life strays from the normal of others’ does not mean it’s wrong and needs to change.