Andrew Clark
Ms. Rahmy
English Period B
September 5, 2013

In the books The Glass Castle and The Chocolate War Jerry’s father and Rex and Rose Mary Walls all have parenting styles that differ from one another. Jerry’s dad doesn’t really come in contact with Jerry a lot while Rex and Rose Mary come in contact with their children but don’t really parent them in the same way Jerry’s dad does. These three people each have different parenting styles but are in some ways similar due to in some way they neglect their child/children. Rex Walls is a man who is usually gone in the evening due to going out to local bars. Rex is similar to Rose Mary in that he isn’t strict on his children and basically lets them go on their own and do what they want. Rex also tries to teach his children different things. “He showed us how to aim and fire his pistol, how to shoot Mom’s bow and arrows, and how to throw a knife by the blade so it landed in the middle of a target with a satisfying thwock.”(20) Rex also taught his children math and other useful things like how to tap Morse code and not to eat polar bear liver because the excess vitamin A could kill you. Rex, like Rose Mary, taught his children how to survive in the desert. He taught them about food, water, and other life-saving skills. He taught his children about useful skills ranging from how to shoot a pistol to mathematics. Rex Walls is a good man but many times he abandons his wife and his children to go out to a local bar and get drunk. Rose Mary Walls is the wife of Rex Walls and is the mother to Jeannette, Lori, Brian, and Maureen. She taught the children about surviving in the desert just like Rex and she also taught her children to read non-picture books by the age of five. “She showed us which plants were edible and which were toxic. She was also able to find water when no one else could, and she knew how little of it you really needed. She taught us that you could wash yourself up pretty clean with just a cup of water. She said it was good for you to drink unpurified water, even ditch water, as long as animals were drinking from it.”(21) Rose Mary also taught her children many other things like to drink water from the wild to build up antibodies and toothpaste was for weak people so she taught the kids to use baking soda and hydrogen peroxide instead. Rose Mary is an artist that sometimes can be selfish. She cares more for herself than her children because when Brain found a gold ring he brought it to Rose Mary and instead of selling it for food, she took it to boost her self-esteem. Rose