The Glass Castle

"The Glass Castle", by Jeannette Walls, is a memoir of Jeannette's childhood. She lived with her brother, Brian, her sister, Lori, and their parents. From the beginnning of the book to page 18, Jeannette meets fire. She happened to burn herself while boiling hot dogs at the age of 3. Children are normally in school by age 4, and I read about a girl of 3 who is let to boil hot dogs by herself. First thought is obviously that the girl has some pretty bad parents. However these parents, I soon realized are extremely naturalistics, in respect to their methods of living. They don't really trust hostpitals but understand the situation of the injury and have Jeanette sent to one. Most people gain a fear at a very young age. They experience an event in their life that traumatizes them forever. After reading the first few pages of this book, that is what I expected. Jeanette, however, is not even bothered by this event. Instead she becomes fascinated with it. This effect is interesting in that she begins to not fear fire but acknowledge it in a hateful sort of way. She would stare at the fire and then stomp it out and curse it. Strange activities for a child that hasn't even started school yet. In these first pages, Jeanette strikes me as a child who is continually thinking for herself.