In the book The Glass Castle, there are many subjects that can be looked at with a psychological view. The book deals with people whom the reader definitely comes to know well by reading the book and learning of all of the family's experiences good or bad; it feels like you actually get to know them personally, and because of that, the reader can better analyze them in a psychological way. One thing that was very noticeable in the book was the parenting style of the Wallses. There are three different parenting styles and there's no definite correct one because every family has different values, beliefs, and ideas. The source from where the parents can also have an effect on the parenting style used.
[...] The Glass Castle was a fun book to read. I had to remind myself that this book was based off of true events because some of the stories that Jeannette told were just so crazy to me, it sounded like somebody made it up. The best example I can remember of this was when they were in church, and the father was complaining with the priest about what he was reading and questioning the validity of the Catholic faith. I couldn't believe somebody would do something like this, but that was the kind of person Rex Walls was. [...]
[...] Their financial situation was tight so he was willing to do whatever to make his family happy, and he looked at the situation as a way of his family knowing their father was a trusting and loyal man to them. Because he demonstrated aspects of both the preconventional level and conventional level, it probably meant he was somewhere in between the two. He was probably more on the preconventional level side because towards the second half of the book it seemed he cared more about himself and his alcohol than his family. [...]
[...] Another aspect of psychology that can be applied to The Glass Castle is Kohlberg's Stages of Moral Reasoning. Moral reasoning is basically the way one thinks about right and wrong. To fully understand one's moral reasoning people must first take perspective taking into account. Perspective taking is the ability to understand somebody's psychological perspective, motives, and also the needs of others according to Cook and Cook (2008). In other words, before people can judge why people may do acts that some people consider evil and wrong, people must first put themselves into that person's shoes. [...]
[...] Most psychological categories tend to have categories that consist of a group that doesn't fall neatly into the mold of the given category, and that's the case here (Ianelli). In the case of The Glass Castle, it seems that Mr. and Mrs. Walls definitely fall into the authoritative category. They have very strict standards for children, but they always provided a reason for everything, no matter how bizarre they actions are. An example of this that instantly popped into my head after I mentioned bizarre actions was when Rex Walls threw Quixote the cat out the window of the car. [...]
[...] In The Glass Castle, these concepts of moral reasoning can be clearly recognized within the Wallses. Rex Walls illustrates both stage two and three in the preconventional level and conventional level, respectively. There are some things he does just because he thinks it is right to him, and sometimes he goes beyond the laws of society for the sake of his family. An example of him demonstrating the second stage of moral reasoning is when Jeannette was in the hospital after burning herself cooking hot dogs (Walls pg. [...]
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