Initial Impressions: The Glass Castle

Jeanette Walls’ The Glass Castle concerns the author’s recollections on her upbringing. Walls’ concentrates on the use of imagery to direct the reader into the authors past. The author draws out the setting of the opening scene clearly: “A blustery March wind whipped the steam coming out of the manholes.” While the author’s dress is burning from the cooking accident one can easily picture the flames on her from the diction: “I watched the yellow-white flames make a ragged brown line up the pink fabric of my skirt and climb my stomach.” Another image one obtains from the author is her burns from the fire: “Wadded and covered with smears of blood and yellow stuff and little pieces of burned skin.” This choice of imagery makes the reader eager to continue.