Situational irony is an literary element Walls uses in her memoir. In most families, it is expected for the parents to take on the parental role and be the financial and emotional provider in the family. In the Walls family, Jeannette takes control of the budgeting in order to leave some money for food and basic needs. In addition to budgeting Jeanette and her sister take on as many part time jobs to contribute financially because her mother refuses to get a job. In financial desperation, the Walls sibling speak up and force her mother to get a job but even then, it is the Walls children that wake their mother up, feed her, provide a way of getting her to and from work and will create the lesson plans for her students, grade the classes work and tidy the classroom to prevent her from being fired.
The Walls children are also the ones that provide each other with emotional stability. While her mother is very inmature and her father takes on a jekyll and hyde personality, the Walls children have always stood up for each other and will fight for justice. Case in point, when Erma, the Walls grandmother throws herself on her grandson Brian and attempts to molest him, Lori stands up and puts an end to it, whereas Rex, their father is furious that she would talk back to his mother and Rose Mary just states that rape isn't that big a deal and that they are being drama queens.
Futhermore, it is the Walls children that decide that they need to remove themselves from a dysfunctional home setting, move to New York and learn to provide for themselves.
The Walls children are also the ones that provide each other with emotional stability. While her mother is very inmature and her father takes on a jekyll and hyde personality, the Walls children have always stood up for each other and will fight for justice. Case in point, when Erma, the Walls grandmother throws herself on her grandson Brian and attempts to molest him, Lori stands up and puts an end to it, whereas Rex, their father is furious that she would talk back to his mother and Rose Mary just states that rape isn't that big a deal and that they are being drama queens.
Futhermore, it is the Walls children that decide that they need to remove themselves from a dysfunctional home setting, move to New York and learn to provide for themselves.
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