pages 75-120

In what ways is Billy's upbringing worse than that of the Walls children?

Billy's parents do not care about Billy as much as the Walls care about their children. Billy's parents don't give him very much attention and supervision, which is very important for a young child. If his parents don't supervise what Billy does he could pick up bad habits, and do bad things without getting into trouble. If this happens then he will keep doing things that he shouldn't do and no one will ever stop him. Even though Jeannette doesn't get as much supervision from her parents as she should be getting, she must get more attention than Billy does because Billy doesn't know what is right or wrong as much as Jeanette does because his parents never tell him. For example Billy laughed at his father because he didn't know it was wrong, but Jeannette knew it was wrong to laugh at your father. Jeanette’s parents may not be the best parents and they do make many mistakes, but her parents are also special and care about her, unlike Billy’s parents. When her father gave Jeannette the stars it made him seem more special because he was showing that he cared about her, and wasn’t just a drunk like Billy’s dad.