Monday, November 4, 2013
Why is Junior hesitant to tell Rowdy? Why does he tell him? How does Rowdy react? Why does he react this way?
Why is Junior hesitant to tell Rowdy? Why does he tell him? How does Rowdy react? Why does he react this way?
Junior is hesitant to tell Rowdy because he is afraid of how Rowdy will react. He doesn't want to lose their friendship because he is transferring schools. Since Rowdy is also a tough and strong kid, Junior is afraid that Rowdy, his best friend, might try to fight him and Junior would lose. As many reasons as there are for not telling Rowdy, Junior only needs to think of one reason to convince him he has to tell Rowdy; Rowdy is his best friend. "I wanted to tell him that he was my best friend and I loved him like crazy, but boys didn't say such things to other boys, and nobody said such things to Rowdy (pg. 48-49)." Junior states this to show how much he cares about Rowdy. If Junior didn't tell Rowdy he was transferring schools, Rowdy would get even more mad and become more confused because he wouldn't know what had happened to his friend. Rowdy reacts very harshly to Junior. he punches him and doesn't want to be friends anymore. As Junior describes his pain on page 52, "It was pain, pure pain." Junior is hurt by what Rowdy does but he doesn't show much reaction as he lies on the ground after Rowdy punched him and walked away. Rowdy does have a reason to react this way though. Junior is Rowdy's only friend. "Your friend Rowdy, he's given up...You're the only good thing in his life. He doesn't want to give that up. It's the only thing he hasn't given up (pg. 42)." Mr. P was telling Junior that he is Rowdy's only hope left, the only thing that is still important to him. Rowdy reacted this way because Junior, his last strand of hope, is now gone.
Junior thinks he has "the king's respect", do you? Why? Do you think Junior has solved all of the problems he has encountered so far? Do you think Junior will try to change or lie in an attempt to fit in?
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I do not think that Junior will try to change himself or lie to fit in. He is obviously very attached to his heritage, as indicated on page 35, when he is enraged at Mr. P's previous attempts to "kill Indian culture." In addition, on page 64, Roger makes an extremely racist remark, but instead of laughing with him (to fit in), Junior punches him in the face, thus showing his integrity towards his identity. However, Junior has only spent one week at Reardan. As he is more and more exposed to the racism of these students, we may find that he cracks under the pressure of segregation, and acts as someone he is not. But this is, of course, based on later reading, so it can be said with confidence that so far, Junior will not try to change in an attempt to be accepted.
ReplyDeleteTo answer question number one, yes I do think he has the kings respect. For the first week or so he would get bullied and be called racist names such as "chief" or "redskin" (63).But by the end of the reading Roger starts being nice to him and acts like his friend now.Just like Junior's Grandma says that boys are like the wild dogs and the alpha wolf will push you around to see how tough you are. Junior showed him how tough he is by punching Roger in the face after Roger made the most racist joke Junior has ever heard. Roger was so surprised by the fact that a boy so small dared to punch him that he started to show respect for Junior. Not only that but Junior impressed Roger by going to school by a pick up ride by his dad's best friend on his motorcycle. The fact that he got driven to school on a motorcycle with no helmet made Roger feel that Junior was a pretty cool guy.All those things made Junior seem so much cooler in Roger's or as Junior thinks of him as "The King"'s eyes.
ReplyDeleteAlso do you think that Roger will always be nice and respect him or is he planning revenge like Junior thinks?
DeleteArnold thinks that Hope is white and in their case it probably is. White people seem to have all the opportunities in life to be great and Arnold feels like Indians don't have that. The more you get, the more likely you are to get, then you have hope that you will get more, Indians have not gotten a lot.
ReplyDeleteGetting what you want takes effort and hope. Indians have to work twice as hard to get what they want and eventually they loose all hope. It's sad, but the truth..