The Glass Castle - Blog 2

10/1/2013

Discuss the idea of 'morals'. Is it okay to do something as long as you don't get caught? With reference to how the Walls 'collected' money from the bank, or using another example from this section, explain why you agree or disagree with their methods. Do you think the children differ from their parents in terms of morals? Use a quotation from this section to prove why or why not.

23 Comments

Nikki M

10/1/2013 03:06:17 am

I disagree with the Walls' parents morals because i don't believe that you should do something wrong even if you won't get caught. I think you need to earn your living not steal it. I believe the children growing up often question whether or not their parents are doing the right thing, and occasionally we see them disagree with their parents, showing that they might differ in their morals.

srecko hrvacevic

10/1/2013 03:14:26 am

If you don't get caught and it doesn't really effect someone so much than i believe it should be. Living with morals is all different because it depends where you come from and how you were raised

Lauren C

10/1/2013 03:14:55 am

"Mom told us we would have to go shoplifting. "Isn't that a sin?" I asked Mom. "Not Exactly," Mom said. "God doesn't mind you bending the rules a little if you have a good reason. It's sort of like justifiable homicide. This is justifiable pilfering." Mom's plan was for her and Maureen to go into the dressing room of a store with an armful of new clothes for Maureen to try on. When they came out, Mom would tell the clerk she didn't like any of the dresses. At that point Lori, Brian and I would create a ruckus to distract the clerk while Mom hid a dress under a raincoat she would be carrying on her arm." (Walls, 111)

Even though Jeanette knew that it was wrong she still went through and carried on with helping her mother shoplift. Its almost as if even though she knew it was wrong and that the answer her mother gave her was wrong it was okay that she did it because her mom said so. This quotation displays the same poor morals that are being distilled in her by her parents.

Jason

10/1/2013 03:18:55 am

No, it is not okay to do something as long as you don't get caught. Bad things, that is. There is no reason to fear being caught if one does something good. Even so, life is not black and white, and everything has exceptions. There are actions that one is not supposed to make, but that aren't necessarily bad either. The Walls parents' decision to overdraw their account at the bank. "Dad said all he was doing was outsmarting the fat-cat bank owners who shylocked the common man by charging usurious interest rates" (Walls 111). "I think (Mom) was enjoying the thrill of taking from the rich" (Walls 112). This action is against the law, and isn't very honourable, but at the same time, banks are famous for screwing over their customers whenever it's convenient for them, so the righteous hand belongs to Mom and Dad for giving them a taste of their own medicine, regardless of the illegality of their actions.

Chelsey

10/1/2013 03:19:59 am

"lifes too short to worry about what other people think" (Walls. 157)
The walls family sort of live their life by this motto. Life is too short, being that they might as well make the best of it, and the fact that they dont care about what other people think has to do with why some of their decisions are so drastic. I personally dont agree with the morals they choose to live by, and I think their children are starting to realize that, that is not the way they want to live the rest of their lives either. It isnt right to do something just because you dont think you will get caught. I believe in karma so i also believe that people who do live their life this way and cheating the way of life that every other person has to follow then will get their karma in the long run. But otherwise, it is not fair for one person to get by just because they dont have to follow the rules, if we all did that they we wouldnt be where we are today.

Jason

10/1/2013 03:22:18 am

CORRECTION FOR MY PREVIOUS COMMENT

The Walls parents' decision to overdraw their account at the bank (is one of those exceptions).

Jack

10/1/2013 03:26:48 am

I believe that morals are great when your life is great and you have your basic needs in abundance. But I don't condemn a starving person for stealing a crust of bread so that he can eat.
Jeannette and her siblings have a very different set of morals then their parents, they see life in black and white with little to no grey areas. Where as mom and dad see life mostly as one big grey area. An example of this is that when they got a "new" car, they didn't insurance and they pulled the licence plates off another car.

Aidan Kirby

10/1/2013 03:27:06 am

depending on cercomstances, you can break the rules. if your starving and you steel one choclate bar i dont think that wil destroy anyones life. its when reptedly steal is when you start to see the effects of theft on store owners.
in the walls family case its wrong to do what they did but you got to ask yourself what would you do for your family in there case. i think most people would do the same thing that the walls did. in my own opion i feel what they did wasnt that wrong but that being said i dont think its the best way of getting money on along term bases at any means. taking advantege of the faulty system is clever but its against the law i would think most people would get caught one time.

Zach Recchia

10/1/2013 03:29:00 am

In terms of morals it is ok to do some things as long as one doesn't get caught, it just depends on the extent of the thing that oen does.
When Jeanette's parents decide to steal from the bank they are trying to take more than they need and instead of spending the money on food for their children they use it for personal gain. If it were the other way and they were using the money to help their children then the stealing would be acceptable.

"...you have to leave dad". When Jeanette tells her mom to leave her dad it infers that she has had enough of her current way of life and that she no longer supports her dad's morals or beleifs. When the children were younger they seemed to follow their parents morals and as they got older they developed their own awarness and start to disagree with their actions.

Alex Butler

10/1/2013 03:34:56 am

"If we get caught, we'll pay a little overdraft fee." I feel this quote shows a lot about how Jeanette's Mom thinks. But I do not agree that if you will only get a little slap on the wrist for doing something than it is ok. I believe that Jeanette and her siblings differ from their parents because they want to fit in, they want to protect one another and do the right thing. So I believe that Jeanette and her parents differ from one another in their morals.

Shonnah MacKinnnon

10/2/2013 04:14:33 am

"People overdraw there accounts all the time, she said. "If we get caught, we'll just pay a little overdraft fee." (Walls 112) The way her mom just pushes off what there doing is a great example for teaching children about morals. Instead of telling them that stealing is wrong, she pretty much encourages it. Setting a terrible example for her children. I know that this is wrong, even if you don't get caught it is still on you to do the right thing. Robbery is wrong, no if's and's or but's about it.

Sara Masri

10/2/2013 04:28:36 am

"Respect for ourselves guides our morals, respect for others guides our manners"- Laurence Stern.
Morals are one's standards of their beliefs and how they can decipher their good doings and wrong doings. In my belief, I feel that if doing something that involves one to take part of being someone's back is a wrong moral. "Mom told us we would have to go shoplifting" (111). This shows us readers that it was not the choice of the children but the mother, though we all know stealing and theft is a wrong doing. Jennette is now taking in her mothers suggestion and fights back with her own morals knowing that this is not the right thing to do, "Isn't that a sin?"(111), and their mother ranting about being a faithful Catholic seems quite awkward. The parents and children differ much in their morals. It seems that throughout the novel, the children are more mature and show greater valued morals as if the roles have been reversed.

chris

10/2/2013 04:34:51 am

i dont agree with the morials of the walls they have no standers to live by. The goles they do have are not realistick. "just eat aroud the magets". the walls should not be eating let alone feading there kids the rotten meat! they need to set boundreys

Shawn

10/7/2013 02:42:08 am

I disagree with Rex and Roses morals because they have been twisted by their desperation for money. If they had lots of money they wouldn't think that people should steal because they would be the ones being stolen from, your morals shouldn't be dictated by the amount of money you have but what you think is right.

Louka

10/7/2013 02:56:29 am

"lifes too short to worry about what other people think" (Walls. 157):I believe that the Walls parents don't have a very strong sense of morality. I don't believe that their priorities are as strong and stable as they should be. Looking at the Wall's children, they seem to have a bit of a better sense of morals and what is right and wrong. The Walls children are very inteligent, which comes off as a surprise due to the lack of proffesional early education they have received during their childhood. I believe that the Walls children will grow up learning from their parents' mistakes, but it could easily go the other way.

Kyle R

10/7/2013 02:57:05 am

I do not agree with Rex and Roses because they have been blinded by something that should not control their lives. The morals they chose should not be deciphered by how much money they have. That is not right.

Luke Davidson

10/7/2013 03:13:28 am

i don't agree with the decisions that Rex and Rose are making ,because of their situation they have let there morals and standards get twisted and that shouldn't happen

Nazifa Hassanzadah

10/7/2013 03:18:08 am

I don’t agree with the walls parents morals because i don't think that you should do something wrong at all because you don’t get caught. Running from the law “mom assured me it was all perfectly legal” people overdraw their accounts all the time,” if we get caught, we’ll just pay a little overdraft fee”. This shows jeanette’s mother knows that it’s illegal but wasn’t want to come as a bad parent.

Kayla Hurlburt

10/7/2013 03:20:58 am

The morals in the book are mostly based off Rose Mary's idea of what is right and wrong, which shows how much Jennette is effected by her moms morals. But that doesn't make her morals right. Jennette now that she is getting older is finding her independence and making up her own morals which almost oppose to her moms. Regarding the money morals her mom and dad seems to be kinda selfish regarding money, they always seem to put there bad habits like drinking and eating chocolate before food. Jennette now that she is getting older starts to question both her mom and dad. For example when they found the ring and found out that it was worth alot of money, Jennette questionsed her keeping it.
"She was keeping it, she explained, to replace the wedding ring her mother had given her, the one Dad had pawned shortly after they got married. 'But mom,' I said, 'that ring could get us a lot of food.' 'That's true,' Mom said, 'but it could also improve my self-esteem. And at times like these, self-esteem is even more vital than food." (Walls 189) This proves that her moms morals are kinda selfish, she would rather have great self esteem than feed her children. So yes I do believe Jennettes morals are different than her moms especially because Jennette does question her moms morals.

Maddie

10/7/2013 03:30:54 am

It is not okay to do something bad as long as you don't get caught because it reflects on you as a person. The Wall's method, although being a smart way of getting money was not a moral thing to do. I think the kids differentiate from their parents in terms of morals because the kids feel as if stealing from the bank and question their parents on it.

Sam S

10/7/2013 03:32:44 am

"God doesn't mind you bending the rules a little if you have a good reason. It's sort of like justifiable homicide. This is justifiable pilfering" (Walls 111) The walls family begin to teach their children that it okay to steal as long as there is a good reason or a justifiable cause and while this may be true at certain times, at Jeannette's age it is not good to teach them about this because then when she grows up she begins to believe that anything may be okay to steal, if she needs something then its okay to steal it. A bad moral to teach children at a young age, they should teach them to work hard for things they want or need and if they cant have it, they should work hard to get it instead of teaching them the easy way out.

Adam Fernandes

10/7/2013 12:22:04 pm

Morals never have a black and white definitive answer, so it's difficult to answer the given question. However I believe it's at least looked down upon to do something you know is wrong just because you won't get caught. I also believe there are exceptions though, such as if the action committed truly does no harm in any way, but that's often hard to determine. Most of the actions the Walls parents get away with I would consider morally wrong, however. Such as how they tricked the bank. In that particular case I'd assume the charges eventually caught up to them, but if not the money's being taken from someone so I disagree with doing so. It does seem their children's moral values differ from their parents' sometimes. It usually shows in minors ways since they're young, however."'We can't keep dumping garbage out there,' [Jeanette] said. 'What are people going to think?' Life's too short to worry about what other people think,' Mom said," (Walls 157). This is a minor difference of opinion between the two, but it shows how Jeanette's more concerned and caring for the people living around her. On the other hand, it shows that her mother doesn't care so much, and believes that everyone around her should adapt to the way she lives in their neighbourhood.

corey d

10/10/2013 04:06:06 am

I strongly disagree with the morals of the walls parents, morals have nothing to do with the law, they're all about how you feel when you do something bad or hurt someone, stealing his hurting whoever your stealing from and the walls children are being taught that its fine to hurt people. The parents are teaching there children to not feel bad or guilty about hurting people and stealing which are very bad morals.

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