The Walls siblings show loyalty toward each other. As the Walls constantly moved around, the children really only has each other. Jeannette and Brian especially looked out for each other. One night in Phoenix, a man wanders into the Walls house and Jeannette and Brian have to chase him off. "Brian came running into the woods with a hatchet he kept by his bed, and the man bolted out the door. Dad was out that night, and when mom slept, she was dead to the world, so Brian and I ran after the man ourselves (pp. 103)." When the kids have to move to Welch, they all slept in the same bed to keep warm together (pp. 147). However, even while being around her family, Jeannette still had instances in which she felt lonely. While Jeannette is being bullied, she doesn't really tell anyone because she fears they will make it worse. Jeannette wrote, "I thought of discussing the fighting with dad, but I didn't want to sound like a whiner (pp.140)." On the same subject, she also said, "I did try to talk to Mom. I couldn't bring myself to tell her about the beatings, fearing that if I did, she'd try to butt in and she'd only make things worse (pp. 141)."
The Christmas event was a turning point in Jeannette's life. For a long time, she completely trusted her dad and believe in everything that he did. That Christmas however, her father took things too far. Jeannette, her mom, and her siblings had saved up a long time to make that Christmas the best one that they'd ever had, especially because they normally didn't have a Christmas at all. Her dad burnt down the tree from a lighter that Jeannette had gotten him. Normally, someone would have screamed at Rex or something along those lines, but that night, no one said anything. "Once the fire was out and the sodden, burned tree lay smoldering on the floor, we all just stood there. No one tried to wring Dad's neck or yell at him or even point out that he'd ruined the Christmas his family had spent weeks planning - the Christmas that was supposed to be the best we'd ever had. When dad went crazy, we all had our own ways of shutting down and closing off, and that was what we did that night (pp. 115)." After that night, Jeannette loses some faith in her dad. She begins realizing that her dad's behavior isn't normal. After the event, she asks her dad to stop drinking. Her dad seems regretful, and tries to stop for her, but of course, it doesn't last.
Once the Walls move to Welch, things get worse for them, if it's possible. At least in Phoenix and Battle Mountain, they had a house to live in and their dad had a job for part of the time. In Welch, the house that they lived in was little more than a shack that was falling apart and their dad refused to get a job. This forces Jeannette to grow up very quickly. She realizes that she must help provide for her siblings if her parents won't. She gets a job, is left in control of her family's finances, and begins saving up to get out of Welch as soon as possible.
No comments:
Post a Comment