The adults in The Rules of Survival are all challenged to make serious choices about their role in keeping the Walsh kids safe. Are they going to rise to the responsibility, or are they going to run away? Nikki obviously chooses the latter. She's an awful mom when she is around, and in the end she just runs away and never comes back.
Murdoch, however, has a tougher decision—he's not even related to these kids, and yet he's the one who swoops in to save them because he recognizes that they're in trouble. In doing so, he manages to bring Ben and Aunt Bobbie around, and turns them all into a small army of people looking out for the kids' best interests.
Questions About Choices
- Why does Murdoch decide to stick around and take care of the kids? How about Ben and Aunt Bobbie? Use the text to support your answer.
- Do you think that Nikki will ever realize the error of her ways? Why or why not?
- It is right or wrong of Matthew to feel like he can't fully trust Aunt Bobbie? Why?
Chew on This
Although Ben has been a pretty deadbeat father figure for most of the kids' lives, when he decides to start taking care of them, he really commits and turns his life—and his priorities—around.
Even though Matthew has already made the decision to kill his mother, Murdoch manages to talk him out of it because he has made the same decision in his life—and he knows what it leads to.