Although Junior goes to Reardan, he still loves his tribe and will not forget where he comes from. Reardan is so important to Junior because going to Reardan means he has the possibility of success, making it more likely that he will not end up like his dad, drunk and poor. Junior knows somewhere inside of him there is hope; Reardan is Junior’s hope. Except, if Junior was to stay on the reservation, he would have a very hard time finding hope, unlike at Reardan. Not many understand why anyone would want to leave the reservation (their home). If Junior did not go to Reardan, than he would have to stay on the reservation, and turn hopeless like everyone else has. Junior himself pictures transferring as an opportunity for him. Ever since he started going to Reardan (an all white school besides Junior) the whole tribe has been upset with him. Especially because many Indians stick together, Junior acts as an outsider to them, almost going against the norm. In the following quote, Junior expresses how he feels about going between two different worlds, “I was half Indian in one place and half white in the other” (118). This shows how Junior does not feel like he belongs or fits in anywhere. Junior is not switching schools in a way to be offending and crushing his tribe, but to have a better education there at Reardan. The others on the reservation seem to be jealous of Junior. Junior is one of the first to have the guts to switch to a school farther away from the reservation. Junior feels some pressure and responsibility to make sure that he is forgiven by his friends and family, which is shown by sharing how he loves his tribe. In the quote below, Gordy explains to Junior how, “‘Life is a constant struggle between being an individual and being a member of the community’” (32). As an individual, Junior is taking advantage of the opportunity presented to him, while as a member of both his tribe and the Reardan community, Junior is trying to fit in and not be such an outsider.
Do you think Junior will ever forget his tribe and become “more white”?
Do you think that Junior is betraying his tribe?
Do you think there is a lot more hope for Junior to find or has he already found it?
After reading tonight's homework, it seems Junior is at a point where he has lost all hope, that he is “joyless” from the loss of his grandmother and the loss of Eugene. It is hard to say whether Junior has more “hope” to discover since he is at such a low-spirited part of the novel, and because it depends on what you define as “hope”. At the beginning of the book, Mr. P ties hope to Reardan; now, Junior has started to drop out of school and is seriously considering leaving Reardan for good. If he did end up transferring back to the rez school, he would have given up like his sister. However, when his friends (Roger, Penelope, basketball teammates) stick up for him when a teacher mocks him for his grief, I think that sparks a little light in Junior, making him feel like there is still something to fight back against the grief for; his friends and family. This goes not only for his Reardan friends but his rez family too, including Rowdy.
ReplyDeleteHow does Rowdy fit into Junior’s search for hope?
I do not think Junior is betraying his tribe. I do understand why they should feel upset with him, however, because rez Indians have such a strong sense of family and always stick together. On the other hand, they should be supportive of him like a family. Junior isn't intending to take away his Indian identity. In fact, I think Junior is breaking the poverty circle, which could be good for the rest of the Indians. On page 160, Arnold says, "I mean, I still lived on the rez, right?... So I was still a part of the rez." This shows how Arnold doesn't want to betray his big rez family. I think the people of the rez only feel "betrayed" by Arnold because they are jealous that Arnold has the opportunity for a brighter future. This is part of Arnold finding his identity because he is struggling with juggling Reardan and the Rez, and finding his identity is all about the balance. To the other Indians, though, Arnold isn't following the paved pathway for rez Indians, and they are angry and jealous.
ReplyDeleteJr. is at a tought time and Rowdy and Lr. will probably never be friends again because Rowdy wasn't even there to support him or even try and help in any way. Jr. still has many supporters as we saw on pg. 175 where everyone stood up for Jr. I hope that Arnold will eventually crawl out of this little ditch he is in and rebound to a good mood. I think Arnold will never forget his tribe because it is a part of him and like Arnold said he could just have a new one. The rez might pay attention to him now that he has had so much grief or maybe he will just be ignored. I like how Winton said the quote on page 32 “‘Life is a constant struggle between being an individual and being a member of the community’” said by Gordy. I think this is one of the times where Arnold has found balance and maybe that balance will stay now that he has found it.
ReplyDeleteDo you think this is the balance the Arnold wants?
I not believe that Junior is betraying his tribe. He simply has gone to a place were there are more opportunities, more possibilities and most important of all, more hope. I think his tribe/rez are a little bit jealous of Junior. Junior has a chance to be something important. Others close to him, such as his mother and father have never had a chance to become something real special like Junior has a chance to become. I think there is more hope, and oppurtunity still lie ahead of Junior. However I understand why his tribe are angry at Arnold because there is an unwritten rule the American Indian civilizations have to follow; ALWAYS stay close to your home tribe.
ReplyDeleteJunior is not betraying his tribe. Although some of his tribe believes that because he switched schools to Reardan he betrayed them. But, since he still lives in the reservation and he still takes part in all of the reservations celebrates he hasn't betrayed the reservation. Some of the people on the reservation are jealous that he has enough hope and courage to switch schools to Reardan because they all have given up on making their life better. Junior is an inspiration to his tribe, but they want to make him feel like he has betrayed them so that he feels badly for what he has done because they are jealous that he has the chance of a better life, out of poverty. I think that Junior will not become "more white" and leave the reservation completely behind because of Rowdy. Rowdy is the one reason Junior was hesitant to switch schools in the first place. If Rowdy wasn't in Juniors life it would be completely different because he would have nothing to fight for on the reservation so he would leave it behind. If Rowdy hadn't been Juniors friend he would have left the reservation a long time ago. Junior has realized that being Indian isn't so bad because he noticed at his Grandmothers funeral that everyone sticks together no matter what the issue/moment is and he compares that to a white child's life where they get everything they want, but they barely see their parents and they are barely cared for. Junior is not betraying the reservation and he won't completely leave the reservation because he has realized the befits of being an Indian.
ReplyDeleteLeading up to this point in the novel, Junior had seemed like he was on a steady path to happiness, but now, with all the drama of the basketball game and since his grandmother has died, it’s brought his hope down. “I could have easily killed myself, killed my mother and father, killed the birds, killed the trees, and killed the oxygen in the air” (173). He is feeling so hopeless, that he might even take his own life and others’. Sherman Alexie has done what a good novel writer should always do, build the character’s joy up, and crush him back down. I predict that more bad things will happen, so that the negative events equal the joyous events he’s had. Junior definitely has more hope to find, but first, he needs to get out of his slump and find the courage to keep moving. He needs to be ready to put up a fight against the coming fights, and keep his strength up.
ReplyDeleteLeading up to this point in the novel, Junior had seemed like he was on a steady path to happiness, but now, with all the drama of the basketball game and since his grandmother has died, it’s brought his hope down. “I could have easily killed myself, killed my mother and father, killed the birds, killed the trees, and killed the oxygen in the air” (173). He is feeling so hopeless, that he might even take his own life and others’. Sherman Alexie has done what a good novel writer should always do, build the character’s joy up, and crush him back down. I predict that more bad things will happen, so that the negative events equal the joyous events he’s had. Junior definitely has more hope to find, but first, he needs to get out of his slump and find the courage to keep moving. He needs to be ready to put up a fight against the coming fights, and keep his strength up.
ReplyDelete