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Buster
Rosemary’s boyfriend and later husband, Rex is born in West Virginia and stationed at a nearby air force base. He meets Rosemary in a restaurant and immediately starts a fight when he thinks someone is flirting with her. Rex later visits Lily and Jim at their house in Horse Mesa to see Rosemary’s art, which he praises effusively. Lily believes him to be a slick troublemaker who is full of hot air, but also admits that he is extremely charming. She also admires that after he falls off a horse when riding for the first time, he gets back on. Rex shows early signs of alcoholism when he gets drunk while playing poker with the family; Lily tries to stop him from driving home, but he angrily insults her. By means of apology Rex later takes Lily flying with him. They bond over their shared dismissal of rules and regulations, as well as the fact that they have both sold bootleg alcohol. Lily worries that Rex is too unstable for Rosemary, but cannot stop the two from getting married. In the epilogue of the book, Lily notes that Rex continues to bounce between odd jobs and hatch hair-brained schemes, and the two frequently argue viciously. Rex is the father of the book’s author, Jeannette Walls.
Rex Walls Quotes in Half Broke Horses
The Half Broke Horses quotes below are all either spoken by Rex Walls or refer to Rex Walls. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 9
Quotes
I shook my head and looked at the lilies. "I could cut you all the slack in the world, but I still think my daughter needs an anchor."
"The problem with being attached to an anchor," he said, "is it's damned hard to fly."
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As Rosemary climbed into the car, Rex patted her behind like he owned it, then got in beside her. They were both still laughing as Rex gunned the motor the way he always did.
Jim put his arm around me and we watched them take off up the street, heading out into open country like a couple of half-broke horses.
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Rex Walls Quotes in Half Broke Horses
The Half Broke Horses quotes below are all either spoken by Rex Walls or refer to Rex Walls. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 9
Quotes
I shook my head and looked at the lilies. "I could cut you all the slack in the world, but I still think my daughter needs an anchor."
"The problem with being attached to an anchor," he said, "is it's damned hard to fly."
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
As Rosemary climbed into the car, Rex patted her behind like he owned it, then got in beside her. They were both still laughing as Rex gunned the motor the way he always did.
Jim put his arm around me and we watched them take off up the street, heading out into open country like a couple of half-broke horses.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
