"Literacy is a bridge from misery to hope. It is a tool for daily life in modern society...Literacy is a platform for demostration, and a vehicle for the promotion of cultural and national identity...Literacy is, finally, the road to human progress and the means through which every man, woman and child can realize his or her full potential." ---Kofi Annan

16 October, 2007

Glass Castle post 8

I'm so tired...

Apparently the Walls have entered a very difficult situation: Jeannette's father lost his job and her mother does not have a job at all. The Walls have no income and their food supply disappeared as the head of the household lost his job. The Walls kids were starving and Jeannette started to steal food at school and whenever she has a chance to. Her father was constantly away from home because of things such as "working on the investment" or "trying to make a living", etc. He still have the dream of the glass castle, and constantly looking for gold and wishing to become a millionaire. Jeannette's father even got into a fight with her mother because of the situation with income. He believe that Jeannette's mother should go and get a job not only because she has a teaching licence but also because that he is dealing with something more important than finding a job. They were fighting not only verbally and physically, and the kids decided to go outside because they cannot stand it any longer. And they saw their mother hanging on the edge of the window on the second floor, shaking in a insane manner. Their father was trying to hold on to her and grab her in but wasn't successful. At the end, Jeannette's mother was rescued and day went on.
One day, her father came home with a loaf of bread, a stick of margarine, and some other foods. The Walls finished everything but the margarine that night. The next day, Lori, Jeannette's sister, and Jeannette ate the stick of margarine with sugar because of hunger. Their mother found out and was mad at them for eating the margarine, but decided to teach because they need food for the household. After teaching for a short while, Jeannette's mother received the news of the death of her mother and the inheritance of things. Then the Walls realized that they have a house in Phoenix now, and decided to move there. It was a tremendous house with 12 rooms, and Jeannette's mother changed two of the rooms on the first floor into a studio and a gallery for her works of art. Jeannette's father got a job with steady income and bought the kids bicycles, which they have never dreamt of in the past, not even once.

No comments: