"Letter of Concern"

Recipient:

Rex Walls

93 Little Hobart Street

Welch, WV 34567

Sender:

Fred Shender

Child Services

145 Avenue Road

Walsh, WV 34567

Dear Mr. Walls,

It has come to my attention that your children are in need of our help. ON several occasions I have been notified of the childrens’ inadequate parenting and neglect. Unless certain expectations are met I will be sending another letter of notification that your children will be inducted into our care. I will further explain your violations in the following content of this letter.

The event in which I was first introduced to your parenting skills was when we had been told of Rex Walls’ alcoholism. On several occasions, bartenders have mentioned instances when either your daughter or your son have had the honour of retrieving you from the bottle. We even heard about the time when you had your daughter stay to help you win at games of billiards by engaging in subtly unpleasant acts which would better improve your odds. We find your alcoholism a bad influence and irresponsible attitude toward your children, and using them for purposes of gambling isn’t thought well of either.

Besides your apparent addiction to alcohol, there have been reports of your childrens’ malnourishment as well. Certain school teachers have brought to our attention that your children are abnormally thin, and often don’t have food to eat. There was even a grocery store clerk who had mentioned someone in your description that had stolen two grocery bags full of food. We will be coming by your current residence to evalutate your current way of living.

Our final problem with the reports we’ve been given is that your children and wife have spent an awful lot of time in medical care, which we suspect might be caused for domestic reasons. It’s not just the amount of time you’re family has spent in the hospital, it’s that every time there’s a hospital record of you, there is no check out date. Whether it was for your wife’s child bearing, or your young daughter’s severe burns, we know something’s afoot, and we will be checking up on your family.

These are the summary of the things we suspect in your family, and we will be by shortly to get to the bottom of this.

Sincerely,

Fred Shender

Rex Walls Vs. Chris Garner : Battle of the Deadbeats

As most of you don't know, this blog is for a school assignment, which means most of which I have to post on here will not be worth reading. The subjects I am told to compare today are none other than the father's of apparently "real life stories" . Rex Walls is the father of the author Jeanette Walls in her novel The Glass Castle, and Chris Garner is the father in the film The Pursuit of Happiness. Now I'm sure most of you have seen the movie rather than read the other novel, because a majority of the population attends to blockbuster events rather than sitting at home reading books. The characteristics of these two characters have come across as "suburban heroes " if you will, but i am here to shed light on a new aspect. They're deadbeats. Throughout the novel The Glass Castle there are many example of the fathers' failures, careless acts, and abuse against the family. He comes home drunk a frequent amount, he takes away any permanent residence they have ever had, he deprives his children of personal possesions, and he leaves his wife thirsty for the love that they once had. The same pretty much goes for Chris Garner as well. He deprives his son of sleep, of his mother, as well as a place of rest. Both these fathers are not capable of housing a family and make up excuses to hide their shame. Time and time again in The Glass Castle Jeanette is the only one who does not see through the lies of her father, and is usually the only one believing him. she is still under the illusion that he is going to invent one of the things he keeps talking about building. Yet he usually comes home intoxicated that night. She probably still thinks that he is going to build the glass castle one day. Except the last time that happened the hole for the foundation became a garbage dump over time. In The Pursuit of Happiness, Chris Garner has the same trouble admitting defeat. He invested all his money into an entrepaneurial business that has went downhill since it started, and his inability to sell his product, and the way he took that was a contributing factor in making his wife leave him. Face it : both these men have failed as husbands, dads, and friends, and their mistakes should not be taken lightly.