Out of everything we talked about regarding The Glass Castle, what intrigued me most was the relationship between the children of the Walls family and the parents. Many of us do not like Rex and Rose Walls because of how they neglect and leave the kids to fend for themselves. They are more interested in fulfilling their desires than they are in nurturing their children. After all, isn't it their responsibility as parents to provide for and take care of their children? Many people have no trouble pointing the finger at such parents for not taking care of their kids, but completely disregard the other stage of the relationship which occurs later on in life. The elderly are just as vulnerable as little kids are. Who takes care of them? Paid nurses.
It is becoming increasingly popular for middle aged adults to dump their parents into nursing homes. There are more than 3 times as many elderly in nursing homes today as there were in 1922 (Institute on Aging). The same mother and father who raised the 7-pound baby into an adult are now being abandoned by that very child. They say that they don't have the time or patience to take care of their parents. They say it's too hard to balance their lives with that of their parents. Many don't even care to visit their parents in the prisons called nursing homes.
Yes, it was wrong for Rex to put his alcohol ahead of his children. Yes, it was wrong for Rose to use the family's much-needed money on chocolate for herself. But just as parents are expected to take care of their children when they are young, the children should be expected to take care of their parents when they are old.
It is becoming increasingly popular for middle aged adults to dump their parents into nursing homes. There are more than 3 times as many elderly in nursing homes today as there were in 1922 (Institute on Aging). The same mother and father who raised the 7-pound baby into an adult are now being abandoned by that very child. They say that they don't have the time or patience to take care of their parents. They say it's too hard to balance their lives with that of their parents. Many don't even care to visit their parents in the prisons called nursing homes.
Yes, it was wrong for Rex to put his alcohol ahead of his children. Yes, it was wrong for Rose to use the family's much-needed money on chocolate for herself. But just as parents are expected to take care of their children when they are young, the children should be expected to take care of their parents when they are old.
Do you think that when Jeannette saw her parents living homeless in the streets of New York City, she should have forced them to live in a safer, more secure place like in her house or in a nursing home, even though Rex and Rose liked living homeless? I think so, because she should take care of her parents like you said.
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