While being subject to the taunts of the other Welch children, the Walls siblings develop a unity which allows them to stand up against two generations of unstable parents, a difficult feat even for wealthy characters like Daisy in The Great Gatsby. On her first day of school at Welch Elementary, Jeannette is ridiculed by students and teachers alike for not having her school records from Phoenix. Her English teacher, Miss Caparossi, mocks Jeannette's response to her question about whether or not it was fair to join a school without bringing providing previous records, clearly an attempt to single out Jeannette: "Is that what they say in a big city like Phoenix?" (138). Encouraged by the cruelty of their teacher, the rest of the class "laughed
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Jeannette, in an attempt to avoid a lecture from her mother, simply replies "It was good," while "Brian shrugged off Mom and Dad's questions, and Lori didn't want to talk about her day at all" (140). Though Jeannette, Lori, and Brian had always been close, they were older now and more acutely aware of the familial quirks which separated them from the society around them. Even in the impoverished town of Welch, the Walls were among the poorest of the poor, forced to live in their grandmother's basement and wear coats without buttons. Furthermore, the basement of their grandmother, Erma, was anything but the warm and hospitable home for which the Walls children had hoped. As rejects both in their home and outside of it, Jeannette, Lori, and Brian came to rely on and defend each other more than ever before. Erma, like Rex and Rose Mary, is significantly lacking as a parent. Her house is dirty, she drinks heavily and smokes constantly, and the closest the children get to maternal care from her is the bread and lard sandwich she gives them for …show more content…
Later on, when Rex defends his mother's actions with Brian, Jeannette begins to think Erma likely treated her father in a similar manner, remarking "it would explain a lot" about Rex's behavior. Had it not been for Lori and Jeannette's willingness to interfere and protect Brian, he may have suffered just like his father, developing the same fears and insecurities. The close bond he shares with his sisters saves him from an even worse situation, one which might have caused him to develop the same erratic, dangerous tendencies as Rex later in life. The sibling bond continues to strengthen in Welch when Lori, Brian, Jeannette, and Maureen confront their own mother about her secret stash of sugary sweets. After catching Rose Mary in the act of eating family-sized Hershey bar, the children are not complacent: "Brian snatched up the chocolate bar and divided it into four pieces. While Mom watched, we wolfed them down"
Jeannette, in an attempt to avoid a lecture from her mother, simply replies "It was good," while "Brian shrugged off Mom and Dad's questions, and Lori didn't want to talk about her day at all" (140). Though Jeannette, Lori, and Brian had always been close, they were older now and more acutely aware of the familial quirks which separated them from the society around them. Even in the impoverished town of Welch, the Walls were among the poorest of the poor, forced to live in their grandmother's basement and wear coats without buttons. Furthermore, the basement of their grandmother, Erma, was anything but the warm and hospitable home for which the Walls children had hoped. As rejects both in their home and outside of it, Jeannette, Lori, and Brian came to rely on and defend each other more than ever before. Erma, like Rex and Rose Mary, is significantly lacking as a parent. Her house is dirty, she drinks heavily and smokes constantly, and the closest the children get to maternal care from her is the bread and lard sandwich she gives them for …show more content…
Later on, when Rex defends his mother's actions with Brian, Jeannette begins to think Erma likely treated her father in a similar manner, remarking "it would explain a lot" about Rex's behavior. Had it not been for Lori and Jeannette's willingness to interfere and protect Brian, he may have suffered just like his father, developing the same fears and insecurities. The close bond he shares with his sisters saves him from an even worse situation, one which might have caused him to develop the same erratic, dangerous tendencies as Rex later in life. The sibling bond continues to strengthen in Welch when Lori, Brian, Jeannette, and Maureen confront their own mother about her secret stash of sugary sweets. After catching Rose Mary in the act of eating family-sized Hershey bar, the children are not complacent: "Brian snatched up the chocolate bar and divided it into four pieces. While Mom watched, we wolfed them down"