In the memoir, The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, the theme of survival and the theme of family loyalty are both shown clearly.  When the family moves to a new town with nothing, the children do whatever it takes to survive including eating food from garbage cans.  In this country, too many children are homeless or going to bed hungry.  Schools have had to get involved to help their students have food for the weekend.  While Walls keeps the tone light for the most part, it is obscene for children to be homeless and hungry amidst the wealth of this country.  When the father keeps moving the family  and the children may only take one object, the loyalty to the father prevails over the wish to complain.  The parents are not the usual parents with ordinary skills in parenting; they abandon their responsibilities as providers and force the children to grow up too soon.  Again, I find Walls to be honest, fiercely loyal to her family, and I find this theme of loyalty resonates with many readers of the book.  It seems no matter how odd the parents may be, real parents are better than the alternative.