How Are Rowdy's Parents Alike

Junior’s parents are both alcoholics, though they are always encouraging of their son, as he compares them to Rowdy's parents “my mother and father are drunks, too, but they aren't mean like that. Not at all. They sometimes ignore me. Sometimes they yell at me. But they never, ever, never, ever hit me. I've never even been spanked.” Considering his parent’s neglectful behavior, Junior not only loves them but also feels loved by them. At the end of the book, he states that he is part of "the tribe of beloved sons.”
His support system as an infant included his parent’s grandmother and sister which may have provided additional comfort and care. Assuming they were there with him through his infant years, they became objects of attachment. When