When it comes to raising a child, or children, there are many aspects that impact how the child or children turn out. The biggest aspect that impacts the child is the father. A father’s role in a family is one with power and responsibility. If the father takes the power and responsibility and uses it correctly, the child turns out well. If the father takes the power and responsibility and uses it incorrectly, the child doesn’t turn out so great. There are two certain fathers that represent this well.
Guido Orifice is a character from the Italian film La Vita e Bella or in English, Life is beautiful. Life is Beautiful takes place in two time periods. The first time period is approximately 6-8 years before the Holocaust and the second time period is during the Holocaust. Guido Orifice is a Jew who goes to Italy and falls in love with Dora. Dora is an Italian woman who is not a Jew. He eventually woos her over and they get married. They have a kid named Giosue (Joshua) who turns seven in the film. The poor kid is taken, on his birthday of all days, with his father and uncle from their home and is put on a train which is taken to a concentration camp. Guido keeps Giosue alive till the end of the Holocaust. Spoiler alert; Guido is then killed trying to help Giosue escape*. Rex Walls is the author, Jeannette Walls, father. Jeannette Walls tells about her life in a memoir titled The Glass Castle. Rex is an interesting character. His shenanigans cause all sorts of trouble for his family. They are constantly moving over the states, mainly in the southwestern region but eventually, they moved to the northeastern region. These two characters have many things in common and many things in opposition.
Besides the fact that Rex and Guido experienced fatherhood about 15 years apart, they have others things not in common. Guido was overflowing with motivation whereas Rex had very little or no motivation. Guido moved to Italy to open a bookstore. Being a Jew made it hard for him to open a bookstore especially in the World War II time period. At the beginning of the movie, we learn that Guido was denied being able to get the shop he wanted. Once the movie brings Giosue into the picture, the audience finds out that Guido got a shop that he used for his bookstore. Despite the discrimination, Guido honed in on his motivation and ran a successful bookstore with Giosue as a helper*. Then there is Rex Walls. Rex can’t keep a job and his family is constantly in debt throughout the book due to his drinking problem. His lack of motivation to keep a job and support his family broke his family into pieces. They were still together; the kids were pretty much raising themselves*. The father figure that they should’ve had was squandering the family savings on alcohol and useless things. When it comes to being a good father, motivation is key.
One thing that all fathers should try to avoid is hurting their family. Guido didn’t hurt his family once Life is Beautiful. He lived a happy life with his wife and son until the Nazis came and took them to the concentration camp. Up until then, the life lived by the Orifice family was one of love and happiness. Rex hurt his family in two ways: emotionally and physically*. Rex did love his family, but his actions suggest that he thought of himself as more important than the rest. Rex was a bit of an alcoholic. He went out drinking up until around Jeannette’s 10th birthday when she asked him to quit drinking for her. He stopped for a while but he eventually went back. Even before he gave up drinking he was destroying the family’s lives. Rex would go out for days at a time and when he came back, he was drunker than a stereotypical Irishman. Rex’s drinking problem hurts his family in ways unimaginable. He wasted a very good portion of the family’s money on alcohol. The kids were often hungry because they didn’t have money to pay for food. After Jeannette’s birthday, Rex wandered off and wasn’t heard from for a while*. When he came back a couple of days later, he was super drunk and was looking for his wife. It almost ended in a knife fight. Fortunately, it didn’t. No father should ever put his family through what Rex did.
Although Rex and Guido have a lot of differences, they also have some similarities. For one, both fathers would attempt to do anything for their kids and family. As stated, Guido’s story was around the time of the Holocaust. The day of Giosue’s birthday was the day they were taken. Guido made it seem like the train ride to the camp, working in the factory, and the lack of food was a game. He told Giosue that once they got 1000 points they won and they would be able to go home. Guido made up various scenarios to make Giosue happy in a time of desperation. He did all this for his son. Rex also attempted the almost impossible for his kids. In this situation, it was mainly Jeannette that he did this for. Before Jeannette’s tenth birthday, she asks her father, Rex, to give up drinking for her in hopes that it will make their family better. Rex attempts to give up drinking just for his daughter; he soon starts again*. Even though Rex failed and started drinking again, he at least attempted to stop for Jeannette. And as the old saying goes, it’s the thought that counts.
An interesting quality that is always fun and interesting to see in people is cleverness. Being around a clever person almost always makes life better. Both Rex and Guido possess this quality or characteristic. Guido is probably one of the most clever characters in any form of literature, fiction or non-fiction. Using perfectly timed luck, genius, and wit, Guido wooed Dora. On the spot thinking was perfect whenever he needed it. As previously stated, Guido made the Holocaust seem like a game to Giosue to ensure that Giosue wouldn’t be scared. There is a scene in the concentration camp where one of the head officials comes into the room and tells the rules. As one can imagine, the Nazis spoke German; Guido and the others spoke Italian. A translator was needed to translate the rules in German to Italian. Guido used his quick wit and on the spot thinking to back up the idea that the Holocaust was a game. While the Nazi official was saying the real rules of the camp, Guido was saying the rules of the “game”. The camera then turns toward the people in the room and you see Giosue. His smile suggests that he is happier than a tornado in a trailer park. This situation shows how Guido would do anything for his son and his cleverness. Rex used his cleverness in kind of the same way as Guido. Rex’s situation wasn’t as extreme as Guido’s though. One night, while the Walls were living in the desert, a slithering creature came into Jeannette’s room and Jeannette spotted it. She went out to get her dad to get the monster out of her room. When Rex started searching for the monster, it was nowhere in sight. Rex concluded that it was a demon. That started Rex and Jeannette’s tradition of demon hunting. In all reality, the slithering creature was probably some sort of snake or lizard but to calm Jeannette, he told her that it was a demon and they started hunting demons in the desert to keep Jeannette sane. Another scene in which Rex is clever is when the family is living in Arizona after Rose Mary’s mother dies and they inherit a house. Rex has a somewhat steady job, even though he loses it, and uses the money to buy the kids their first bike. He plants the bikes in the front yard and yells at the kids asking them why they left their toys in the yard. Confused, the kids think that some other kids must have left toys in the front yard*. When they go check it out, they see new bikes that their father bought them. Just like Guido, in this situation, Rex not only attempts to do something for his kids but uses cleverness to do it.
When it comes to being a good father, Guido is very close whereas Rex is pretty far away. Guido had plenty of motivation to be a good father and showed it by not hurting his family emotionally or physically. The only motivation Rex had was the beer waiting for him at the bar at the end of the day. This motivation Rex had hurt his family in many ways. It has to be made known that just because Rex did these things, it doesn’t make him a bad father. Rex and Guido share a quality that makes them both good fathers; they would both attempt to do anything for their family*. Also, both fathers are clever. With these things in mind, one can conclude that both fathers are good fathers but sometimes the superhero most kids call dad does have flaws… But that’s what makes them who they are.
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