Comparing Characters

1. Jeannette

1.1. Lori is who Jeannette spends her childhood growing up with. Lori is the older sister, and with two permissive parents, Lori is left to do much of the parenting. This forms a strong bond between Jeannette and Lori.

2. Rex

2.1. Rex struggles with alcoholism for his whole life and it negatively effects the family in many ways. Particularly it effects his relationship with Jeannette because she trusts him to give them a good life and he can't deliver that to her.

3. Rex

3.1. Rex is abusive due to his alcoholism. He frequently abuses his wife, Rose Mary, and seems to never feel guilty for this. He also steals the money she makes from the few jobs she has and spends it on alcohol. It is clear to see his priorities in life are not in line.

4. Brian

4.1. Brian adores Jeannette. Their bond starts to flourish in Welch and when Jeannette and Lori decide to move to New York, he comes with to begin a new life as well. The bond that Brian and Jeannette formed during childhood is unbreakable.

5. Maureen

5.1. Maureen grows up with little to know attention from her mother. This created great hostility in their relationship. When Maureen goes to live with her parents in New York, her mother threatens to kick her out. She stabs her in an angry fit and buys a one way ticket to California. It is easy to see that there is nothing pleasant about Maureen's attitude towards Rose.

6. Jeannette

6.1. Jeannette love her father but knows that he is incapable of taking care of her due to his addiction with alcohol. She always believes in him even when the family is in the worst of situations because of him.

7. Lori

7.1. Lori has always felt betrayed by her parents and she feels that she has had to take on way to much responsibility. She has had to help raise her siblings when that should have been her parents job. She sometimes becomes annoyed with Jeannette but knows that it is her job to take care of her.

8. Rose Mary

8.1. Rose Mary is the wife to Rex. She knows of his problem but chooses to ignore it for the most part. She wants to get a divorce from him, but she knows that the family would be much worse off if she did that. It is a hard place for her to be in but it is easy to see that the love in their relationship is gone.

9. Jeannette

9.1. Jeannette and Brian seem to be the closest. Jeannette looks up to Brian because he helps her with her problems with bullies. He looks up to Jeannette and Lori, but with the age gap, Brian and Jeannette from a strong bond

10. Rose Mary

10.1. Rose Mary had Maureen as their last daughter and paid even less attention to her than the rest of the children. She seemed to have felt "done parenting" by the time Maureen came along, so she gave up. She often says that life would be easier if she did not have FOUR children to take care of.