is Rex Walls manipulative or more selfish?

Do I have to pick one? He is sort of both. If I'm limited to one, I might say he is more on the manipulative side and his wife is more on the selfish side, Rex constantly entertains his kids with stories that border on nonsense. Many of his stories and explanations for moving on, or whatever he is trying to convince his kids of, are born out of his own selfish needs or his inability to cope with life.

"We had no pillows, but Dad said that was part of his plan. He was teaching us to have good posture. The Indians didn't use pillows, either, he explained, and look how straight they stood." pg 18

‘When Dad wasn’t telling us about all the amazing things he had already done, he was telling us about the wondrous things he was going to do. Like build the Glass Castle."p. 28