Jeannette Walls’ childhood was an extremely unconventional one. She went through things most children at her age could not even imagine going through, and she did it most times with a smile on her face. She survived being engulfed by a scorching hot fire at age three, petting a wild cat at the zoo, and dealt with her parent’s controversial and acutely irresponsible attributes. Explanatory Analysis #1: “The doctors said I was lucky to be alive. They took patches of skin from my upper thigh and put them over the most badly burned parts of my stomach, ribs, and chest. They said it was called a skin graft” (p10). Jeannette is at the hospital after one of the most terrifying moments of her life- her dress catching on fire while cooking hot dogs. She feels quite rattled, yet compassionate and grateful that the doctors could save her life. At only three years old, Jeannette has shaken hands with death; these kinds of grave experiences are not common, but the author seems to encounter them often. …show more content…
The cheetah looked at Dad's hand but didn’t move. Dad calmly put his hand between the iron bars of the cage and rested it on the cheetah’s neck. The cheetah moved the side of his face against Dad’s hand, as if asking to be petted. Dad gave the cheetah the kind of hardy, vigorous petting you’d give a big dog” (p 108). The Walls’ went to the zoo, and Rex decided to climb over the barrier in the cheetah’s cage to pet it. Jeannette is full of anticipation and wonder, although all the bystanders are shocked and reasonably mortified. This is arguably one of the disastrous things her father chooses to do, again putting himself and his children in danger- especially when he thrusts Jeannette’s hand into the cage along with his for the cheetah to