Topic > Half Broke Horses by Jeannette Walls: Grandma's Perspective

Jeannette Walls wrote Half Broke Horses to tell the story of her grandmother's exciting but arduous life. In this novel, Walls writes from her grandmother's point of view and tells her story. This novel shows how Walls found her grandmother's self-fulfilling ideals to have an impact on her life. Walls is able to express the importance of having one's voice and acting for oneself through the choice of perspective and overall structure of the novel. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Through the use of perspective, Walls was able to make her point. Walls wrote the novel through the point of view of her grandmother, Lily Casey Smith. Overall, the character is a stubborn and independent girl who pursues her own ambitions and strictly follows her beliefs. Writing the book from his perspective gives an in-depth look into his thoughts and shows how strongly he believes in self-realization. For example, Lily was able to understand when a situation required action or belief. During a severe storm that flooded their home, her mother suggested prayer, to which Lily replied, "To hell with prayers!... Bail, damn, bail!" In this example, Lily knew she needed to act now, rather than waste time praying. She was not afraid of being scolded by her mother for disrespecting their beliefs, but rather recognized that it was important for them to act on the situation at hand. Another example was when Lily was about to confront her cheating husband, she said, “As soon as I saw Ted, I lost every bit of ladylike decorum that my mother had tried to instill in me. Instead of remaining a “ladylike” composure , Lily “became a wild woman” who “cursed and screamed” at her unfaithful husband. This strongly supports Walls' statement, showing that she does not hold back, even though women need to maintain a "ladylike" disposition during. this period. A final example of the perspective supporting his statement was when Lily was offered a teaching job when she was only fifteen. She had said to her father: “Dad, I have to start my own business someday , I have to find my purpose. Walls is able to strongly emphasize his statement here because when it is in Lily's perspective, the importance of work is strongly emphasized. Work is a simple representation of Lily fulfilling her own personal desires and seeks opportunities for herself. If it had been written from his father's point of view, it wouldn't have been so emphasized because it wasn't important to him. Therefore, the choice of perspective helped Walls make his point. The overall structure of the novel helped Walls get his point across. The book is divided into nine sections, plus a short epilogue. Each section begins and ends with a new action in the story and then highlights Lily as she makes important decisions. For example, the first section begins with a flood and ends with the family deciding to move on. The second section begins with the family settling into their new home and ends with Lily leaving alone at the age of fifteen to teach. As the novel progresses, it begins to focus more on Lily, where the statement is strongly supported here. For example, at the end of the third section, Lily decides to leave Chicago and return west because that was simply what she wanted. At the beginning of the fourth section, Lily finally falls into a rut with a new teaching job and expresses her satisfaction with the.