Tooth and Claw, by T.C Boyle, is a short story about the main character, Junior, a man who only

Jeannette is very insecure about her past life of poverty, and although she has now dug herself out of the rut of destitution, her parents’ continued homelessness is always a reminder of

Jeannette always admired her parents despite the way that they chose to live. Even though both parents were both intelligently capable, they chose to live homeless. They both chose their own welfare over their children. With parents like hers, Jeannette took what good she could from her

Her dad carried her away from the hospital without payment, and then her mom permitted her to cook again, moreover she said, “ Getting right back into the saddle” ( Glass Castle 47). Jeanette was not angry at such young age and soon the family had to pack their belongings into bags and “do the skedaddle” as her parents always said. The parents were fleeing from bill collectors. Although Jeanette's father was an alcoholic, he could get work almost anywhere, often in small towns. The family was moving because of these things, she never complained when they did not have enough food. Jeanette always forgave her parents, she understood what they were going through.

Jeannette’s self-reliant behavior is frequently shown through her refusal of help from others. On one trip to retrieve her father from a bar, Jeannette’s father is so drunk that he can no longer walk. Another man offers to drive them home, and

When Jeannette was a child, and they were not running out of food, Jeannette was happy. As long as she had a

As Jeannette was a child if someone wanted to do something and no one could help and someone would have do it on bye own. Jeannette shows. “I cooked myself some hot dogs. I was hungry, mom was at work painting and no one else was there to fix them for me” (15) Jeannette who is only three at the time conveys what her typical lifestyle is and shows how she doesn’t have a choice on doing and getting help from others.Jeannette never cared learning self sufficiency at a young age was different and never thought anything about it. Next, Jeannette’s mom was a big believer in self reliance even in any kind of living creatures. At a young age she was taught to never rely on anyone and always try to be independent. Jeannette explains. “Mom told us we were actually doing the animals a favor by not allowing them to become dependent on us. That way, if we ever had to leave, they’d be able to get by on their own. Mom liked to encourage self sufficiency in all living creatures” (64) Even at a young age she knew her family was strong on self reliance and always encouraged it even in any living creature her mom still believes it's okay for self sufficiency. Finally, as a child she couldn’t afford many items so she would have to think out of the box and try to do it herself. Jeannette never cared about what other people were thinking of her until kids started making fun of how her teeth looked. Jeannette explained. “I resolved to save up until I could afford braces myself…. I was getting a dollar an hour to babysit. I usually worked five or six hours a week, which meant that I saved every penny I earned, it would take about four years to raise the money. I decided to make my own braces” (201). Jeanette grew up being taught not to care about what other people thinks and just be

Her Mother seemed to be more put together than her father at times, even getting a job at one point helping the family out. Though her mother was a hedonist and did not contain the motherly love and sacrifice for her kids, this job helped Jeanette’s future. She helped grade papers which increased her knowledge of the outside world and “...the world was making a little more sense” as she read the papers and projects of her mother’s students (Walls 205). Her parents had such an opposition to the outside world that she hadn’t gotten every aspect of

One of her weaknesses was pets, such as her cat Quixote. Jeannette also loved her pets, but her parents did not appear to connected with them. One time when the Walls family was trying to skedaddle, Jeannette brought along her cat Quixote. However, the cat grew uncomfortable in the car and started to panic. Her mom stated that she did not wanted Jeannette to be sentimental about the cat, so they threw the cat out of the car into the wilderness. “Quixote landed with a screeching meow and a thud, Dad accelerated up the road, and I burst into tears”. (pg. 18). Additionally, another one of Jeannette’s weaknesses is her feelings towards dad. She always had a soft spot for her father, as they had a special bond with each other. However, her patience for her dad quickly grew then as he would constantly spend money on alcohol, and return home drunk. One time, when her mom left for two months, Jeannette was given $200 and had to budget it for two months. However, her father would ask for a small amount of money at first for alcohol. Jeannette knew that she should not cave in and give him the money, however, she seemed to always submit to her father. Jeannette’s weakness repetitively showed up throughout her adventure. At times she would admit her weaknesses, and realized she needed to grow from them. Jeannette’s weakness showed that while she may be a strong character, she does have

However, with her alcoholic dad who rarely kept a job and her mother who suffered mood swings, they had to find food from her school garbage or eat expired food they had previously when they had the slightest bit of money. In addition, when bills and mortgage piled up, they would pack their bags and look for a new home to live in, if they could even call it a stable home, since they would be on the move so often. Jeanette needed a dad who wouldn’t disappear for days at a time, and a mom that was emotionally stable, but because she didn’t have that, she grew up in an environment where she would get teased or harassed for it. Jeanette suffered so much, that even at one point, she tried convincing her mother to leave her father because of the trouble he had caused the family already. A child should be able to depend on their parents for food and to be there for them when they need it, and when that part of a child’s security is taken away, it leaves them lost and on their own, free and confused about what to do next.

The Walls had to deal with severe poverty and constantly had to worry about where their next meal was coming from. On one occasion, they ran out of money and had no food to eat for lunch, and Jeannette said “When Dad dropped Brian and me off at school, he noticed that we weren't carrying lunch bags. ‘Where are your lunches?’ Dad asked us. We looked at each other and shrugged.

In her essay “Living Like Weasels”, Annie Dillard explores the idea of following a single calling in life, and attaching one’s self it this calling as the weasel on Ernest Thompson Seton’s eagle had. Dillard presents her argument using the analogy of a weasel and how the; “weasel lives as he’s meant to, yielding at every moment to the perfect freedom of single necessity” (Dillard). In constructing her argument, however, she often contradicts herself undermining the effectiveness of her argument and leaving the reader confused. Dillard primarily uses ethos and pathos to support her argument and concerning both, the reader discovers; inconsistencies in her character, and conflicts between her perceptions of the weasel’s emotions and its actions. Concerning her ethos, Dillard presents herself as a part of suburbia and then is suddenly, inexplicably overcome by the desire to live wild. Dillard also uses very detailed language throughout the essay in describing her surroundings and thoughts, however; this further undermines her argument and ethos as she is trying to convince the reader that she could simply become as simple and single minded as the weasel she has focused her argument around. With her use of pathos, Dillard begins her essay with descriptions of the weasel’s brutality, yet; she concludes by stating the weasel lives as is necessary. By simplifying her experience and presenting a reasonable explanation for why she wanted to

In the short story “Living Like Weasels” authored by Annie Dillard, the role of a small, furry, brown-colored rodent’s life develops an extreme significance as the story progresses. According to Dillard, the life that a weasel lives is care free and passionate. Weasels are very tenacious creatures and what they have their eye set on something they want, they go and get it. Also, when Dillard says “The weasel lives in necessity and we live in choice” in “Living Like Weasels,” the words can be deeply felt by the reader; we are able to not only feel Dillard’s passion for this underlying opinion of hers, but readers can also develop their own view on what she is saying and find evidence to prove their thoughts (121). The way that everyday

The story of the "Tooth and Claw" by T.C. Boyle was definitely not something I would choose to read if I were picking something myself. The story is told by Jimmy, and contains what I perceive to be three main characters Jimmy (the protagonist), Daria (the love interest), and a serval cat. In summary, Jimmy moves to California in the hopes of rediscovering himself. He is a young man who is dealing with the death of a father he did not like, trying to create a new life. He indicates his intentions when he said, "The whole reason I’d moved out to the Coast to live, first with my Aunt Kim and her husband, Waverley, and then in my own one-bedroom apartment with kitchenette and a three-by-six-foot balcony with a partially obscured view of the Pacific, half a mile off, was so that I could inject a little excitement into my life and mingle with all the college students in the bars that lined State Street cheek to jowl, but here I was hanging out in an old-man’s bar that smelled of death and vomit and felt as closed in as a submarine, when just outside the door were all the exotic, sunstruck glories of California." (206) This statement really summarizes Jimmy. He is seeking excitement and wanting to find happiness with someone his own age, and recreate his existence. Whether it is because he is unable to break out of old habits or because of his fear of doing something new, Jimmy is failing miserably at his task. Instead of seeking out what he desires he is in affect

Imagine your father didn’t have any money and couldn’t afford anything what would you do? Her father made so little money and pets were out of the question. Imagine you were upset when you can’t get something because your mom said so sometimes people that don’t have a lot of money can’t even get anything. “Even after week had gone by, Doris didn’t name the dog . She knew her parents wouldn’t let her keep it, that her father made so little money any pets were out the question, and that the pup would definitely got to the pound when the weather cleared.”

Junior is affected by the failure of his mother to parent well. Instead she worries about appearance, cleanliness, and her cat which brings separation between her and Junior. Because he is angry and hurt by this, he abuses his mother’s cat who receives all the affection he would like to have from Geraldine.