Jeannette Walls describes her father as a teacher, mentor, and friend. Through all of his various faults and cracks she continues to extol her father throughout most of her younger years. Jeannette’s father had this unusual ability to make Jeannette feel special and unique. As she recounts the Christmas in which each Walls child received a star from their father, Jeannette consistently displays her father as a the loving father and intelligent teacher. Despite the fact that Jeannette begins by stating “when Christmas came that year, we had no money at all,” she continuously describes the memory with adoration, wonder, and contentment (39). Rex’s ability to make Jeannette feel special shows through in this passage. Rex does this by comparing their family to the “Rich city folks” and directing her to believe: “We’d have to be out of our minds to want to trade places with any of them.” He continues to inspire the children and make them feel special by saying, “Years from now, when all the junk they got is broken and long forgotten [...] you’ll still have your stars,” (41).…show more content… After the two siblings caught the abandoned shed on fire, Jeannette’s father again contributes to making her feel special by pointing out the “invisible shimmery [...] mirage” outlining the flame they had created (61). He described this place as “the boundary of turbulence and order,” (61). Again his ability to make his daughter feel special shines through as he points out she is one of the only ones who “got a little too close” to the fire that even physic “haven’t figured [...] out,”
