Jeannette's Childhood Analysis

Throughout Jeannette’s childhood, she recalls traveling very often to an extent that caused her to lose track, “How many places have we lived?” I asked Lori. “That depends on what you mean by lived,” she said” (29). The children suffered an unstable childhood, with unstable parents. Their father, Rex, was a loving and brilliant man, when sober. Rex’s alcohol addiction was toxic to the family. Their mother, Rose Mary, was free spirited but saw her children as obstacles between her and her dream of becoming an artist. Let alone their dysfunctionality, Rex and Rose Mary chose to be homeless. Despite their flaws, Rex and Rose Mary never let their children forget they are loved, even when they do not show it: “No child is born a delinquent,” Mom said. They only become that way, she went on, if nobody loved them when they were …show more content…
She knew how to get by on next to nothing. She showed us which plants were edible and which were toxic” (21). Living in these poor conditions gave the children an opportunity to practice the discipline of self-sufficiency: by being resilient and surviving with close to nothing. Nonetheless, the children loved the desert. Jeannette considered it to be the one true home they’ve ever had (154), which is why she grew frustrated when they had to go to Welch, Virginia; her father’s childhood home. The tone of the story drastically changes once they arrived because of the atmosphere inflicted by the town and people. The children’s battle against poverty became more difficult due to their parent’s increased neglect. Rex became more absent from drinking more often, and Rose-Mary had withdrawn into her art career fantasy; prioritizing her needs above her children. Rex usually needed money for beer and cigarettes and got it from Jeannette and despite the fact the money would provide two days’ worth of food, Jeannette could not say no to her father. Rex