In Jeanette Walls' inspirational memoir, The Glass Castle, her father, Rex Walls, gives his most beneficial advice to her when he hunts for the "Demon." After viciously ranting about how he antagonized that Old Demon he stated to Jeanette, "They love to frighten people All you have to do, Mountain Goat is show old Demon that you're not afraid." (Walls 37). Rex Walls provided his children with beneficial and harmful advice. While learning about Rex Walls and witnessing his actions, the simplicity of marking him as a terrible advisor and horrific father seemed very high. His advice varied from always believe in yourself to don't be afraid to pet a cheetah. Despite his poor choices and his crippling advice some actually turned out beneficial to Jeanette and the reader. .
This significant piece of advice about the Demon taught Jeanette and the reader if any animal or person tries to harm you or fill you with shamefulness just show them that you're not afraid and they will usually back off. It teaches that confidence shows a lot about a person's personality and their self-esteem. If a person just stands there moping with their head down they will be a more obvious target to torment over a confident person with their head high. People search for unconfident minorities as their targets to hector so they can easily upgrade their self-esteem. These minorities have to start feeling like majorities and show people they are confident and aren't afraid and people won't mess with them. .
This statement by Rex Walls became a theme to Jeanette throughout their adventure. It applied to her in a numerous amount of situations, some being dangerous. Such as when Jeanette saw a boy getting attacked by a dog and she states, "I picked up a stick and raced toward them. 'Go on, Now!' I shouted at the dog. When I raised the stick, it whimpered and slunk off." (Walls 142). This statement shows how Jeanette confidently approached the vicious, dangerous dog and threatened it without showing any fear.
