I had wanted to read this book at a younger age, but my mom told me to wait. The book was way to mature for me in middle school. When I got into highschool however, what I read changed my life for the better and the lessons it taught me will stay with me for the rest of my life. The book is about Walls and the dark childhood and family life and how she managed to overcome the bad hand she was dealt. The role model she was throughout this book has attracted me to other role models similar to her. My favorite rapper and inspiration for everything was very poor growing up and had a rough childhood. Like Walls, he overcame and is now bigger than he ever imagined. Both of them showed me that anything is possible and if you believe and work for the things you want, you can achieve them. Walls’ struggles made me realize how blessed I am to have both my parents, a loving family, a roof over my head, and food on the table. I have realized those lessons throughout other moments in my life, but the picture that Walls paints in the novel allowed me to view a real life example. Ever since I read the book, those ideas have stuck with me. Even through the rough times, I have tried to remember the things I have learned from this book. Through the writings of Jeannette Walls in The Glass Castle, I learned to never take anything for granted in my life and to appreciate the things I have because …show more content…
Hinton. This classic novel helped me in life by shaping my personality and the way other people view me. Although Nabokov may say to not relate and connect yourself with the main character, but in The Outsiders, I related to Ponyboy. Ponyboy is a member of a gang that he was practically born into but he is smart and different then all of the others. He doesn’t act like a gang member and actually has a heart. I don’t relate to him in the sense that I was born into a bad neighborhood and gang, but I relate to him in the way that we are both different from the pack. My whole life I have been different from everyone else. Not wanting to stick to the same trends as everyone else. But my relation to Ponyboy showed me that even if it is considered “hipster”, I would rather be myself than pretend to be someone I’m not. This book gave me a truer sense of myself and developed me into the person I am today. I learned to be myself no matter what other people think and without this book and the role model of Ponyboy, I would just be another generic face in the crowd. I stayed