Imagine having to always speak for your mother because her English broken or being so poor that you have to dig in the garbage for a meal. In The Glass Castle by author Jeannette Walls, “Mother Tongue” by Amy Tan, “Going Gangsta Choosin Cholita” by Neil Bernstein, and “Vanity Fair” by Nancy Jo Sales all show how childhood experiences can shape an individual into someone who they would be for the rest of their lives. Jeannette Walls and Amy Tan overcome the negative things that happened in their lives, while the kids in “Choosin Cholita” and “Vanity Fair” seem to be more focused on all of the wrong things. Jeannette Walls and Amy Tan show how negative childhood experiences shaped them into a better individual, but we see through April Miller and Alexis Neirs how negative childhood experiences can shape a person for the worst we see this through their personalities and career paths.
Jeanette Walls the author of The Glass Castle overcame the negative childhood experiences such the poverty and being around an alcoholic father. In The Glass Castle Jeanette Walls and her three siblings Lori, Maureen, and Brian had a tough upbringing. They never let it get the best of them even when times became real tough. Those tough situations they had growing up made all of them stronger indidvials. “When mom got the extra big royalty check came in, Mom brought canned ham. We ate off of it for days cutting thick pieces of to make sandwiches with. Since we had no refrigetor we left the ham sitting on the kitchen self (Walls 172).” Jeanette, Maureen, Brian, and Lori went from getting their food out of the garbage, eating cat food, and even eating nothing at all. This quote shows you that the kids were grateful for the little ham they had that mom was able to buy. The Walls siblings never really let their parents actions get to them until Rex broke the piggy bank and took all of their money to get drunk. “Someone had slashed him apart with a knife and stolen all the money. I knew it was dad, but at the same time, I couldn’t believe he’d stoop this low (Walls 228).” Jeannette Walls and her siblings were examples of how your childhood experiences can shape you into the person you grow up to be. Seeing their parents struggle made them all want to do better for them families.
In Amy Tan’s article “Mother Tongue” Amy lets us know that everyone speaks a different language. Mother Tongue is a story about how Amy’s life and her mother’s “broken” English. Amy’s childhood experience also shows that having a negative childhood can help you become a better person and help them on their career path. Tan talks about what it was like growing up in a household with a parent who didn’t speak accurate English. “Lately I have been giving more thought to the kind of English my mother speaks, like others I have described it to people as “broken English” , but I wince when I say that it has always bothered me(Tan).”