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Identity is made not through nature, but rather through nurture as the environment one revolves in shapes the person, making them who they are. 

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Towards the end of the memoir, Jeannette's true identity is revealed, showing how her life has shaped her. Her physical identity is natural, as shown in the picture above, but her moral identity cannot be seen. Jeannette's moral identity was nurtured by the life she had experienced at a young age. While living in New York, however, Jeannette became ashamed of her past, and would hide her true identity. She did not want her pears to know where she came from, and while having a conversation about the homeless, she thought to herself, "I felt like telling Carol that my parents were out there, too, that she had no idea what it was like to be down on your luck, with nowhere to go and nothing to eat. But that would have meant explaining who I really was." (Pg. 256) Jeannette's homeless life made her grateful for everything and also made her aware of the homeless in general. Additionally, Jeannette homeless habits remained with her, as she declared in her NY Times Article, showing that the way she was raised, made her who she is now.

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Through hardships and unfortunate events, one is forced to mature and grow, without even knowing it. 

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Throughout the memoir, Jeannette goes through many obstacles and a series of neglection, forcing her and her siblings to mature at a very young age. The entirety of their childhood, they had to learn to feed themselves, manage money from their parents, and also adapt to every situation their parents found themselves in. Their maturity began to show when they realized their parents dealt with mental illnesses. Jeannette realized this when she was in the fifth grade as she was constantly getting bullied. She wanted to reach out to someone, but could not reach out to her father since he was an alcoholic, and Rose Mary believed that everyone had some good in them. She even told Jeannette that one must find a good quality of a person that makes up for the bad to which Jeannette responds, “How about Hitler?"  Rose Mary responded, “Hitler loved dogs.” (Pg. 144) Showing how Rose Mary was so far down in a delusional state and how the children finally realized the state their parents found themselves in.

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At the end of the day, it doesn't not matter who is there to help, but what matters is self sufficiency and self reliance to get through anything.

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Although Jeannette and her siblings all had each others' back, what mattered most was the independent effort to get past each day, knowing the life that was ahead of them. The image relates to this as it shows an individual person looking up to themselves and no other. During their youth, they only had their future to look forward to and and had to rely on themselves to pursue their dreams. An example of this is shown when Rose Mary states, "I'm a grown woman now. Why can't I do what I want to do?" (pg. 74) This quote shows that Rose Mary believes she has no responsibility but herself, but also that she has no interest in her children's lives and just wants to do as she wishes. This emphasizes the point that the children have no one to fall back to and are on their own, relying on themselves.

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It is essential to remain persistent to achieve the goals one aspires to obtain. 

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In the memoir, the siblings had nothing to look forward to in the first half of their lives', but that didn't keep them from fighting past the obstacles. Much like the image above, they looked forward to the future and kept pushing, motivating each other and not giving up. The result of their perseverance is demonstrated when Lori and Jeannette find a place in New York, and they realize that all of their battles had finally been worth it. The two girls seem grateful for where they found themselves economically, and Jeannette emphasizes the little details in their new apartment. She states, "We had a kitchen with a working refrigerator and a gas stove that had a pilot light, so you didn't need matched to get it going."  (Pg. 247) Jeannette took into consideration the little things that everyone takes for granted, and she finally realized how far she had gotten.

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Empty promises disappoint and hurt, but one learns and becomes wiser. 

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As children, Lori, Brian, and Jeannette all experience broken promises from their parents, which eventually lead them to having trust issues and not believe anything coming out of their parent's mouths. They had to reflect on life much like the person in the imagine, and they became wiser and memorized their parents' lies and empty promises. This is shown when Rex and Rose Mary return to Phoenix to gather belongings they had left behind, and leave the children in Welch. As soon as they left, Brian asked, "Do you think they''ll come back?" (Pg. 145) Showing that the children do not trust their parents in returning and that they know their parents are capable of abandoning them.

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Sharing the same unfortunate experiences helps people unite to fight the obstacles. 

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Jeannette and her siblings all helped each other when it came to life threatening situations, or even situations in which they found themselves starving or in a bad mood. They all shared the same miserable life, so they found ways to help each other cope. At a young age, they could not help themselves financially, but they helped each other by being there mentally and physically. An example of this is the time when Jeannette got molested in their house on North Third Street. As stated in the book, "Brian came running into the room by a hatchet he kept by his bed, and the man bolted out the door." (Pg. 103) This shows how the parents lacked to be there for the children, but they united together against whatever harmed them. They knew the life they had was already miserable, but they helped each other to prevent it from being worse.