Penelope trusts junior enough to open up to him because he reached out to her and made his shoulder available to lean on. She knows that he will keep her secrets because he doesn't really have any friends at Reardan to tell. Penelope at first, doesn't want to believe that what she does is wrong.{"I'm not anorexic," she says, "I'm bulimic." she says with her nose and chin in the air.}(106/107)
I think she doesn't want to believe that she is actually hurting herself and so she justifies it by saying that she only does it sometimes.
Vomiting is Penelope's method of trying to get the pain to go away. Arnold can relate to this because his dad is also an addict and he knows what it is like for her. Luckily, Arnold's method is drawing which is less painful and much more effective.
{" Don't give up"} (108) Arnold says this to Penelope to try and help. He thinks it's really corny advise, however, it is the same advise that gave him hope to leave the Rez and allowed him to lead a new life. These pages in the reading show you that not all white people are perfect. Even someone like Penelope has lost some hope and is hurting inside, When I say someone like Penelope I mean someone who is pretty, smart, popular and white.
Everybody assumes that just because she is so 'perfect' she can't possibly have problems or issues or be unhappy. “…she’s scared all the time, but nobody will let her be scared…” (108). What they don't understand is that beauty, popularity and intelligence don't ALWAYS mean happiness.
Even though she is great in all these ways and has quite an ego, she is lonely.Arnold is her friend so that she doesn't have to be lonely. Her and junior have this one thing in common, loneliness.
Do you think it is possible to be popular and lonely? Why do you think Penelope is not racist like her father? Could Earl be the reason for Penelope's loneliness and the reason that she is scared all the time?
I think it is possible to be popular and lonely. Penelope is popular but feels lonely because people do not know who she really is. Penelope is not racist like Earl because in a way she is a minority (bulimic).Earl is a main reason for Penelope's loneliness because she is scared even at home to talk to someone about her problem. Arnold to her is someone to talk to and who will listen to her dreams and problems. Do you think Arnold can help her to stop being bulimic?
ReplyDeleteLike James, I also think it is possible to be popular and lonely at the same time. Though if you are popular there will be tons of people around you all the time, when you get away from all that you can still be lonely. You might act happy and joyful, but on the inside you can be lonely and scared at the same time. Penelope is one of the most popular girls in the whole school, but when she opens up to Arnold she says she is bulimic and inside she is really scared. Her way of swallowing is her pain is by throwing up, just like Arnold's dad who takes away the pain by drinking. Penelope had no one to talk to before, but now with Arnold that can change. Why do you think Penelope opened up to Arnold, and not someone else like Roger?
ReplyDeleteTo respond to Armeen, I think Penelope opened up to Arnold instead of one of the older, more popular kids is because he's new. He hardly knows anything about the place or Penelope, and therefore can't judge her. If she was to open up to someone like Roger or one of the popular kids, then they would judge her and give her a bad reputation. It's like the video we watched in class the other day. It's the danger of a single story.
ReplyDeleteIn response to James' question, I do think Junior can help Penelope with her bulimia. Although she seems almost "proud" of her condition, Junior clearly has much influence over her, as indicated by her tearful confession just after he said the words "Don't give up." (108) In addition, he has "a tiny piece of Penelope's heart" (110), which indicates some sort of mutual affection.
ReplyDeleteWhether or not Junior and Penelope's friendship is strong enough for Junior to amend her deep psychological issues (regarding her loneliness) is a matter of debate. Do you think it is strong enough? Why or why not?