The Glass Castle, Roaring Tigers, Anxious Choppers
748 Words3 Pages
Being supportive of their child’s goals, teaching them morals and values, and taking on the responsibility of a parent are the necessary qualities which are shown throughout the works, The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, “My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke, and “Roaring Tigers, Anxious Choppers” by Nancy Gibbs. These three works emphasize the importance of good and moral parents in the lives of their children. Every good parent should support their child’s goals. In The Glass Castle, one of Jeannette’s goals was to finish her last year of college at Barnard, but couldn’t raise the last $1000 to cover her fees. Her dad supported her when he opened a paper bag with $950 and a coat of mink that could sell for $50 (Walls 264). While he could have saved the money for himself, he was more concerned about his favorite daughter’s education. Jeanette’s dad supports his daughter because he believes it will…show more content… The little boy in the poem “My Papa’s waltz”, “hung on like death/such waltzing was not easy” because his dad was not taking good care of him (Roethke). His dad was an alcoholic and when he got home, he was often drunk. He would play with the boy, but would end up hurting him. Alcoholics find it hard to control their life, therefore, are not good examples of a good parent. Because his dad was irresponsible, the little boy has a different childhood than those children with responsible parents. Another example of a bad parent is when Jeannette’s mom would throw a tantrum once a week and refuse to go to work. The kids had to get her up and out of the house (Walls 196). Since Jeannette’s mom did not take on full responsibility of a mom, the kids were forced to grow up faster. The children had to get jobs and earn money and good parents should not yet ask that of younger children. It is a rare case that irresponsible parents raise very responsible