“‘It’s all right,’ I told her. ‘My dad does stuff like this all the time.’” (Walls 109)
Jeanette's family has some serious social, and moral problems that are very apparent throughout pages 106-135. The first and most alarming situation to me was when her father brought her into the cheetah’s cage at the zoo. Rex claims that animals are fine as long as one asserts their dominance over it. By staring the cheetah in the eye, it allowed Rex to pet it. The fact that is overlooked however is that this is not the wild cheetah that Rex makes it seem like it is. This cheetah is domesticated, it is fed and probably pet everyday by the zookeepers. So in reality what Rex is doing is not too amazing, that does not mean it is not dangerous, it is just easier to pet a domesticated animal rather than a wild animal.
Also the fact that Rex would bring his child into the cheetah enclosure is, one, illegal, and two, outright dangerous. Even though the animal is domesticated it is still very powerful and has the capability to cause some serious damage. If the cheetah had decided to attack them there would have been nothing Rex could have done to stop it. Staring the animal in the eye would not calm it down if it was attacking. If anything that would make the animal more aggravated. So not only is Rex putting himself and his daughter in a dangerous situation, but he is putting himself and his daughter in a dangerous situation that he has absolutely no control over. It was pure luck that the cheetah did not attack. It seems as though Rex lives off of pure luck considering the amount of dangerous and illegal activities he and the rest of the family partakes in.
Jeanette's family has some serious social, and moral problems that are very apparent throughout pages 106-135. The first and most alarming situation to me was when her father brought her into the cheetah’s cage at the zoo. Rex claims that animals are fine as long as one asserts their dominance over it. By staring the cheetah in the eye, it allowed Rex to pet it. The fact that is overlooked however is that this is not the wild cheetah that Rex makes it seem like it is. This cheetah is domesticated, it is fed and probably pet everyday by the zookeepers. So in reality what Rex is doing is not too amazing, that does not mean it is not dangerous, it is just easier to pet a domesticated animal rather than a wild animal.
Also the fact that Rex would bring his child into the cheetah enclosure is, one, illegal, and two, outright dangerous. Even though the animal is domesticated it is still very powerful and has the capability to cause some serious damage. If the cheetah had decided to attack them there would have been nothing Rex could have done to stop it. Staring the animal in the eye would not calm it down if it was attacking. If anything that would make the animal more aggravated. So not only is Rex putting himself and his daughter in a dangerous situation, but he is putting himself and his daughter in a dangerous situation that he has absolutely no control over. It was pure luck that the cheetah did not attack. It seems as though Rex lives off of pure luck considering the amount of dangerous and illegal activities he and the rest of the family partakes in.