For my cultural event report, I decided to go and hear Jeannette Walls, award-winning author of The Glass Castle, speak at Emens Auditorium on September 21. The entire room was crowded with eager listeners, excited to hear what Walls had to say. She spent a little bit of time summarizing some of the events in her book, adding a few anecdotes and follow-ups to the stories in the book (discussing how she tried to find one of the teachers she described in the book, for example). However, most of her time was spent talking about the lessons she learned throughout all of her experiences.
One of her most important lessons she learned was that everybody must face and conquer his or her own fears and demons in order to achieve his or her dreams. She recounted a story, which was in The Glass Castle, about a time when she was younger and thought she heard a noise under her bed. She called out to her farther, who came into her bedroom. Instead of dismissing her fear, as most fathers would, Jeannette’s father acknowledged her fear, saying that they needed to catch the “demon” that was under her bed. He took her outside, gave her a pocketknife, and proceeded to yell at the “demon,” calling it a coward. This began to make her less and less afraid of whatever it was that had scared her. Obviously, Jeannette and her father never found the “demon” that night, but she was able to take that experience and apply it to many other occurrences throughout her life.
I personally found this to be incredibly inspiring. Anybody who knows Walls’ story knows that her parents were neglectful to her and her siblings while they were growing up. They were not neglectful in that they beat the children. However, they were neglectful in the sense that they did not provide many basic needs for their children, like food and shelter. Despite all of this, Jeannette was able to overcome these “demons” and became an award-winning author. Thinking about it, it is almost ironic that her father was the one who taught her to face her “demons,” as he ended up being one of her biggest “demons.” This really inspired me and now, whenever I feel that I cannot overcome something, I will think back to Jeannette Walls’ life and remember that I can do anything if I set my mind to it.
Relating this back to our readings in class, Walls’ perseverance could be compared to that of Odysseus. All throughout “The Odyssey,” he was constantly taken away from home and no matter how he tried, it took him an incredibly long time to get back home to Ithaca. However, Odysseus never gave up. When he was trapped in the Cyclops’ cave and many of his men were eaten, when his men were turned into swine by Circe, when all of his men were killed in a shipwreck, and finally when he was trapped on Calypso’s island for seven years, Odysseus never gave up hope and continued to work towards returning home to his wife and son. Eventually, of course, all of his perseverance paid off and Odysseus was able to return home and become reunited with his family.
I do firmly believe that, if I set my mind to it, I can accomplish anything. This belief was reaffirmed by Jeannette Walls’ speech. In my opinion, Walls was an excellent speaker who talked about a very timeless topic, as can be seen with the case of Odysseus, a character from thousands of years ago. There are many, many “demons” that all of us deal with each and every day. It is important to take Walls’ advice and persevere so that we can overcome them.
For my cultural event report, I decided to go and hear Jeannette Walls, award-winning author of The Glass Castle, speak at Emens Auditorium on September 21. The entire room was crowded with eager listeners, excited to hear what Walls had to say. She spent a little bit of time summarizing some of the events in her book, adding a few anecdotes and follow-ups to the stories in the book (discussing how she tried to find one of the teachers she described in the book, for example). However, most of her time was spent talking about the lessons she learned throughout all of her experiences.
One of her most important lessons she learned was that everybody must face and conquer his or her own fears and demons in order to achieve his or her dreams. She recounted a story, which was in The Glass Castle, about a time when she was younger and thought she heard a noise under her bed. She called out to her farther, who came into her bedroom. Instead of dismissing her fear, as most fathers would, Jeannette’s father acknowledged her fear, saying that they needed to catch the “demon” that was under her bed. He took her outside, gave her a pocketknife, and proceeded to yell at the “demon,” calling it a coward. This began to make her less and less afraid of whatever it was that had scared her. Obviously, Jeannette and her father never found the “demon” that night, but she was able to take that experience and apply it to many other occurrences throughout her life.
I personally found this to be incredibly inspiring. Anybody who knows Walls’ story knows that her parents were neglectful to her and her siblings while they were growing up. They were not neglectful in that they beat the children. However, they were neglectful in the sense that they did not provide many basic needs for their children, like food and shelter. Despite all of this, Jeannette was able to overcome these “demons” and became an award-winning author. Thinking about it, it is almost ironic that her father was the one who taught her to face her “demons,” as he ended up being one of her biggest “demons.” This really inspired me and now, whenever I feel that I cannot overcome something, I will think back to Jeannette Walls’ life and remember that I can do anything if I set my mind to it.
Relating this back to our readings in class, Walls’ perseverance could be compared to that of Odysseus. All throughout “The Odyssey,” he was constantly taken away from home and no matter how he tried, it took him an incredibly long time to get back home to Ithaca. However, Odysseus never gave up. When he was trapped in the Cyclops’ cave and many of his men were eaten, when his men were turned into swine by Circe, when all of his men were killed in a shipwreck, and finally when he was trapped on Calypso’s island for seven years, Odysseus never gave up hope and continued to work towards returning home to his wife and son. Eventually, of course, all of his perseverance paid off and Odysseus was able to return home and become reunited with his family.
I do firmly believe that, if I set my mind to it, I can accomplish anything. This belief was reaffirmed by Jeannette Walls’ speech. In my opinion, Walls was an excellent speaker who talked about a very timeless topic, as can be seen with the case of Odysseus, a character from thousands of years ago. There are many, many “demons” that all of us deal with each and every day. It is important to take Walls’ advice and persevere so that we can overcome them.