What does Rowdy say to Junior? Why does he say this? Do you think there is truth in this?(Peter Lichtenberger)

After Junior stumbles into Rowdy in the woods after Mary's wake Rowdy says to Junior, “'It's all your fault,' he said. 'What's my fault?' I asked. 'Your sister is dead because you left us. You killed her.'"(211). When Rowdy says this Junior stops laughing about Rowdy's crying and feels "Like (he) might never cry again,"(211). After what Rowdy said Junior believes him and thinks that since he left he rez his sister thought that she had to also, and so she died because he left. I agree with Juniors self reasoning because earlier in the book Junior says, "I guess I'd kind of shamed her. If I was brave enough to go to Reardan, then she'd be brave enough to MARRY A FLATHEAD INDIAN AND MOVE TO MONTANA."(89) This shows that Junior had actually caused Mary to move out and leave the rez by leaving the rez himself. Also, I think that there is an element at which Junior is putting too much blame on himself. I think that Junior is thinking that as soon as he caused Mary to leave he set her on an irreversible path to death in the way she died. But he is not taking into account all the choices that she made outside of his influence like the decisions to have the party and to marry the person that she did. He’s also not taking into account the huge chance factor that occurred when Mary left the rez. I think that Rowdy says what he says to try to shame Junior for leaving the rez and more importantly for leaving Rowdy all alone and friendless.

Questions to think about: What will the long term effect of this realization be on Junior? Why do you think Rowdy was in the bushes during the wake? If Rowdy had said what he said then what do you think that their conversation would have looked like?

-Peter L

What does Rowdy say to Junior? Why does he say this? Do you think there is truth in this?

After Junior's sister's funeral, he, overwhelmed with emotion, runs into the woods and crashes into Rowdy. Rowdy, who is also feeling sad, tells Junior "Your sister is dead because you left us. You killed her" (211). Rowdy says this because he is upset about all the loss the Rez has suffered, and doesn't know how to feel without Junior. Ever since Junior left the Rez Rowdy is lonely, and with the recent losses, mad about Arnold leaving too, and he wants to blame someone.
There is a little bit of truth in what Rowdy says because if Junior had never had the hope to leave the Rez and chase his dream, his sister would have never left to live out her's, and died as a result. However she if she hadn't left she would have stayed in her parent's basement forever, wasting away; perhaps even dying from similar causes, over using booze to live the crazy life she missed. But because she left she was able to experience freedom, hope, and, most importantly, live out her dream. She got to live the way no other Indian on the Rez did, so even if Junior leaving prompted her to leave, he did not cause her death, and Mary died living a life she loved.

Do you think Mary should have stayed on the Rez? How will his sister's death affect Junior and his future decisions? Why do you think Junior, his mom, and Rowdy (etc.) feel especially emotional over Mary's death? Do you think Mary's death was Junior's fault?

(I am assuming "What does rowdy say to Junior" was referring to this and not the nomadic comment).

1. In this time of grief, why do you think Junior laughs so much? What are the specific moments he laughs the hardest? (Elizabeth Knox)

In this time of grief, losing all of these people that are very important in his life, he laughs a lot in the chapters. He does this because he doesn’t want to cry over everything that’s happening. He knows that it is sad, and he is sad, but he just wants to get past it. Also, he laughs at one part because he is very happy and excited that his father is alive. “Oh, man, I was absolutely convinced that my father was dead too. It had been...And just when I thought I’d start screaming and run around like a crazy man, my father drove up. I started laughing. I was so relieved, so happy, that I laughed.” He starts to laugh because even after hearing that his sister had died, he is happy and grateful for what he has, and loves his family. He doesn’t want to sit at home like his family, who were hiding out at home and cooking. He had to go to school so he didn’t have to deal with anything that was happening at home, and felt like he wanted to be happy, but if he stayed at home he couldn’t be.

There are some specific moments in the book where he is laughing very hard and crazily. One moment was when they were at his grandmother’s wake. Ted had left, and it was such a funny moment, even though they are at a wake, that they all start to laugh hysterically. They want to think about happy moments, rather than dealing with what actually is happening. Another moment was, like I mentioned before, when his father is late to pick him up. Junior gets so worked up inside and mad and nervous, because he thinks that both his sister and his father are dead. But, then his father shows up to school, and he starts to laugh, because he is so happy that his father is really alive, and didn’t die in a car crash. He needs to laugh, because if he doesn’t he will probably cry.

Other questions to answer: What other reasons do you think he laughs instead of cries? How do you think other people react to it? Why is it at the saddest times that he laughs? Do you think there were other moments in the story that he should’ve laughed but didn’t?

Summarize the outcome of the game. Why does Junior cry at the end? What does he realize?

Summarize the outcome of the game. Why does Junior cry at the end? What does he realize? -Jeremiah Mathieu

When Junior was in the locker room preparing for the game, he was saying to himself how he had to beat the other team for his future and for his confidence.  The coach said to him that he would be guarding Rowdy and Junior ‘s mood toward the game completely changed after that comment.  He was saying that he could not guard Rowdy because he was a shooter and not a defender.  The coach said four simple words “You can do it” (189) and that comment gave him hope, the hope that Mr. P wanted him to get at that school.  During the warm ups, Junior was very scared and told Rowdy that he would be guarding him.  Rowdy laughed at the thought of that.  When the game started, Rowdy got the ball and went straight to the basket for a dunk hoping to completely humiliate Junior.  Junior knew that he could not let that happen because in the course of the game any little action could determine if you win or lose.  Junior jumped up higher than he ever had before and blocked Rowdy’s dunk by ripping the ball out of Rowdy’s hands.  He ran to the other side of the court to pretend like he was doing a dunk.  He faked Rowdy out and as Rowdy has gone past him...he could see that Rowdy was sad and he could do nothing to stop the ball.  Junior splashed a three pointer in the basket.  Junior knew then that the game was set for them to win.  They ended up winning by forty points.  

The reason that Junior started crying at the end of the game was because he realize what he had done to his former team and former teammates.  He took away their happiness of winning by beating them.  He also had a epiphany that Rowdy’s father would beat him up for losing the game and that some of them would go back to their lives with nothing to look forward to and winning that game really meant more to them then it did for Junior.  The realization that it was two different world for two different teams playing one game together.  All of that emotion took over Junior and took over a time where he should have been happy for being a big part of that game.  

Do you think that Junior will continue to have empathy for his old teammates now that he will have a different future than them?  

Explain the humor/irony of the title of the chapter, “Rowdy and I Have a Long and Serious Discussion About Basketball.”

The chapter started off trying to be a serious apology but instead, it turned out to be just kind of funny and not serious at all. The irony of the title was that Rowdy and Arnold really didn't have a long or serious conversation and it was barely about basketball. The whole theme of the book deals with seriousness and sadness and oppression (kind of) but in all light and sarcastic tone. When Arnold tries to send the serious email to Rowdy, he responds with a “Series of homophobic insults (197).” It just ends up turning into a joke. Arnold wanted to be serious but Rowdy just starts joking around. I think this shows that Rowdy kind of wants to be friends with Arnold in a subtle way, when he said “That was the first time Rowdy had talked to me since I left the rez (198).” I think this is one of the first steps of having their friendship getting back on track because if Arnold had sent that email to anybody else, they would have responded thoughtfully but Rowdy just took it as a joke. Although Rowdy is not a serious person, he would not go around and calling other people homophobic slurs.

Questions to consider:

Why did Arnold just go along with the email insults instead of actually try to be serious?

How do you think Arnold felt inside when Rowdy did not answer his questions seriously?

Free Response: What happens in Arnold's social studies class, and how does it affect him? What is his epiphany? (Asher, in addition to that other post)

I couldn't come up with enough to write for either of the 2 questions, so I answered #1 in a different post, and am doing a free response here to hopefully make up for the fact that neither post is long.

In Arnold's social studies class, the teacher mocks him for missing school so much, even though she knows what his family has been going through.  Arnold does not have enough energy to protest, but Gordy drops his book and leaves the classroom, causing others to do the same.

This affects Arnold positively in multiple ways.  First of all, it gives him hope, which he has been struggling to find throughout the book.  For instance, on page 45, he literally asks his parents, "'Who has the most hope?'"  What his class does also causes an epiphany.  On page 176, he states "And I kept trying to find the little pieces of joy in my life.  That's the only way I managed to make it through all of that death and change"  I think this is an extremely important part in Arnold finding himself, because he realizes how his life works, and how he can stay happy even throughout the bad times that he constantly experiences.

Questions to think about:

What are some other times in the book that Arnold has found little pieces of joy in his life?  What people caused those moments, and in what other ways have those people affected him?  Can this also apply sometimes to bad things, where small bad things pile up and depress Arnold?  Why do you think the author chose to include the comparison of Rowdy and Gordy on page 175?  What does it show about Junior and Rowdy's relationship?

Why does Junior say he would always love his tribe? What do you think this reveals about Junior?---Richelle Chang

Junior says that he would always love his tribe because his tribe stops hassling him when they realize that Junior is going through the challenge of his grandmother’s death. Junior is at her funeral when he notices that his tribe is treating him differently: “I guess they realized that I was in enough pain already. Or maybe they realized they’d been cruel jerks...I would always love them for giving me peace on the day of my grandmother’s funeral” (160). Junior betraying his tribe has gotten everybody furious (i.e basketball game) and after what he had done, it almost seems unforgivable. Even after Junior had betrayed his tribe, they were still really understanding when it came to a challenge. This reveals that Junior has come a long way from who he was before because he always interpreted situations in a negative way, like when he calls himself names such as loser, zombie, and nothing. Now, Junior interprets situations in a more positive way just like when he said after the funeral, “And all of us laughed as we walked and drove and rode our way back to our lonely, lonely houses" (167). Junior’s reaction to the way his tribe treated him could’ve been negative, but instead, he says that he loves his tribe. Junior could've been like "oh now in this challenge you give me peace? what about the rest of my life?" Instead, Junior reacts in a positive way in which he thanks his tribe for giving him a rest on this depressing day.

Questions to Consider:

Why was Junior’s grandma an influence on his positivity? What might Junior’s grandma’s death have to do with Junior viewing situations differently? What has made Junior happy again and why has it made him happy? Where is Junior in finding his identity and who is a major influence?

Why does Junior say he would always love his tribe? What do you think this reveals about Junior? (Asher)

Junior says he will always love his tribe because they treated him normally again the day his grandmother died.  Even though they were extremely mad at him, they still respected him because they realized how much pain he was in.

I think what this reveals about Junior is that he still feels loyalty to the tribe that brought him up, and he has not started to become white and ignore the Native Americans, like many white people do.  Despite them no longer caring for him, he still embraces them and their culture, and will always stay rooted to it.  This also shows that he is forgiving, as he has obviously forgiven his tribe, even if they don't regret what they are doing.  On pages 160 - 161, he describes how he feels about Rowdy.  "Even Rowdy just stood far away.  He would always be my best friend, no matter how much he hated me."  This is an extreme version of what has already been shown, because Rowdy has been worse to Junior than his tribe. In addition to giving Junior a possible concussion and possible brain damage, he gave Junior the finger and emailed Junior his posterior.

I cannot come up with enough to say about either of the two questions, so I will also post a free response.

Questions to think about:

Do you think Junior's tribe gave him peace that day partially because they also loved his grandmother, and therefore realized how awful a loss it was?

When Billionaire Ted offers the powwow dance outfit, why does Junior's mom say no?

Do you think there is a chance that it actually is Grandmother Spirit's, but Junior's mom does not want to be reminded that she is dead?

Do you think that this increases the chance that Rowdy will make up with Junior, or does he still hate Junior?

Who is the first game against? How is he treated by the crowd at the first game? How does the team (and coach) react/support him? How does this impact him? E-Book.

His first game is against his old school the rez high school which is very emotional for him because his “old” best friend is there Rowdy. Another significant thing about it is because earlier on in the book he says “ they would kill me If I went back to the rez”, and they do something that is somewhat related to that. When he walks into the stadium his name is chanted along with the word sucks, and it is pretty intimidating for him. The real incident happens when he enters the court for the first time at Reardan and is pelted with a quarter which makes him bleed on the forehead. It’s honestly hard to believe that the coach picked him only for shooting on the basketball team and that fact definitely works against him, with his height, weight and overall looks just makes it easier for the bigger players to hurt him.

This game is extremely important because it could change the way he is looked at, at Reardan. This is his old school and if he is beaten he is going to be in a lot of trouble with his friends at Reardan but if he wins he will be in a bad position with Rowdy. This definitely one of the hardest moments in the entire book so far with all the tension between Rowdy and him. But one of the best things that happens is him getting pelted with the quarter and not being able to play the first half. He avoids a lot of pressure from him teammates and Rowdy, in the second however he is knocked out by Rowdy almost as soon as he starts he is knocked out. Looking on the bright side he doesn’t suffer much from his teammates at Reardan.

What do you think was going through Rowdy’s head when he knocked out Arnold? What would Mr. P say? What do you think his grandmother and mom thought about him playing the second half. Why do you think Eugene was being so nice?

E-Book

Who is the first game against? How is he treated by the crowd at the first game? How does the team (and coach) react/support him? How does this impact him? ~ Isabella-Marie

The first basketball game that Reardon played against was against Wellpinit High School. When Arnold first walked into the Wellpinit court, he was welcomed by fans that live in the reservation, and they were shouting disrespectful things at Junior. This is since all the fans on the reservation were aggravated and upset that Junior had switched schools, which means that they felt betrayed and in their opinion, being crude was a good way at getting revenge directed to Junior. The coach notices that the crowd doesn’t seem to like Junior, so he reacts by making sure that Junior feels comfortable enough to play in the game. In other words, the coach gives him the right to back down and not play in the game. In the locker room, after the crowd turned their back on Junior, the coach gave everyone a pep talk: “If you care about something enough, it’s going to make you cry. But you have to use it. Use your tears. Use your pain. Use your fear. Get mad Arnold, get mad”(144). The coach realizes how much pain that the fans are causing Junior, and Junior took his advice and got mad. He used this to his advantage, and he was thankful for his coach in these moments. This was the start of a great relationship between Junior and his coach. However, a fan threw a coin at Junior’s forehead, which drew blood and eventually took him out of the game. If not for his actions of getting mad and playing hard, the coin would not of been thrown, and Junior could continue to play in the game. At first, the speech that the coach made impacted Junior in a positive way because he turned his emotions into a weapon that could be used to win for Rearden, but eventually he got injured. Depending on which way you think of it, this could be a positive lesson for Arnold on how to turn something bad (such as anger in this situation) into something good, or it could be a negative impact because of the result of getting injured.

Some other questions to think about are: If Mr. P was at this game, what do you think he would of done? If Mr. P found out about what happened at this game, do you think he would feel responsible for Arnold’s injury because he gave Arnold the idea to switch schools? Do you think it is possible for anyone in the reservation to every forgive Junior again?

Junior says that the night of the Winter Formal was one of the "best nights of his life." Why? Explain. Do you think it could be a great night, but also confusing for Junior at the same time? Why? Madison Bailey

Junior says that the night of the Winter Formal was one of the "best nights of his life." Why? Explain. Do you think it could be a great night, but also confusing for Junior at the same time? Why?

Junior says that the night of the Winter Formal was one of “the best night of [his] life” (122) because he was able to dance with Penelope the whole night and get caught up in the magic of the dance while not having to worry about being poor. After the Winter Formal, Penelope remembers that they had “forgotten to get [their] pictures taken by the professional dude” (122). Junior had been stressing over a way out of having their pictures taken because he wouldn’t be able to pay for them, and then in the end it turns out that the two of them had been having such a great time that they forgot about the pictures all together. The Winter Formal was the first time that Junior was free to just have a good time and hang out with his new friends from Reardan.

Junior says that it was “the best night of [his] life” (122) before he and Penelope go out with Roger and his friends, but his realization at the Denny’s in Spokane also adds to the positive take-away of the night. Junior decides to trust Roger on a whim, and instead of making fun of Junior’s financial state they actually help him out in the long run. When Junior says, “if you let people into your life a little bit, they can be pretty damn amazing” (129) he is still in shock of the fact that Roger and Penelope didn’t shun him as soon as they found out about his secret. This plays into the confusing part of the night for Junior, where he is genuinely happy things turned out the way they did but still confused about why they weren’t mean to him like he had expected. Penelope continues to disprove his stereotypes about the students who attend Reardan, and this time Roger helps her which makes it seem more real in Junior’s head. After all, Roger was the kid who made the really racist “joke” about Indians a few months back. If Roger is willing to drive Junior home and encourages his relationship with Penelope, when Junior himself sees Roger as a much better fit,  it will help convince Junior that not all whites fall into the “racist” category.

Free response: who has effected Arnold (in a good way)throughout the story? Stephanie Kai

I think that Mr.P, Roger, Gordy, and Penelope are four essentially characters who lead Arnold to where he wanted to be.
Mr.P, a character who didn’t appear in later chapters, discovered Arnold has not yet given up. He believes Arnold “is a good kid, he deserves the world.(41)” and successfully persuade him to go to Reardan, a school full of “white hopes(51).” In my opinion, this greatly affected Arnold’s feature because according to what Arnold, people in the Rez are either alcoholic or pessimists who spend their days doing nothing. Although having friends of the same race and area sounds secured, it would not influence Arnold in any good way. Going to Reardan, in my opinion, is a safer way to reach success. After transferring to Reardan, Arnold met Roger, a “giant (64)” guy who “called him names(63)” and provoked him with an extremely racist joke. Suddenly, Arnold “knew he needed to do something big(65)” and punched him in the face. Roger, Instead of “plotting his revenge(67)”, started to respect him. Arnold, who has always been a weak fighter, learned to stand up against racism and unpleasant comments. This also built up his confidence and independence that enabled him to survive as an “alien(66).” Later on, Arnold encountered Gordy, a genius who helped Arnold to contradict the teacher and later became a friend to him. Because of Gordy, Arnold learned how to study and earn good grades. He also enhanced Arnold’s hope by telling him “the world, even the smallest part is filled with things you don’t know.” Just like Arnold said “he made me realize that hard work- that the act of finishing, of completing, of accomplishing a task, is joyous.(98)”Finally, his stereotype of white people is demolished because of Penelope. Although she looks “pretty, smart, and popular.” but she is actually “scared all the time(108)” and she wants to leave the small town. Arnold learns that not all white people are hopeful, wealthy, and happy. They also have their own problems and worries just like the Indians. Besides skin color, they are not too different. Additionally, Arnold realized “if you let people into your life a bit, they can be pretty damn amazing(129)” because Penelope didn’t ditch him and Roger didn’t say anything but drove him home after knowing he lives in poverty.

Questions: what do you think will happen to Penelope and Arnold's relationship? Why didn't Penelope ditch him? Do you think people will look at Arnold differently after knowing he's poor?

On pages 107-109, Junior tells us more about Penelope, and he learns her secret. Explain this situation and why he says “…she’s scared all the time, but nobody will let her be scared…” (108).

Junior hears Penelope making herself throw up when he takes a bathroom break from his History class; he tries to see whats wrong, but the vomiter tells him to go away. Nevertheless Junior waits in front of the bathroom and discovers that the vomiter was Penelope. After Junior accuses Penelope of being anorexic, she explains that she is not because "anorexics are anorexics all the time...I'm only bulimic when I'm throwing up" (107). This shows that she wants to hide the part of her that will be considered different, and she wants to adhere to the "white" norm. Penelope then breaks down, telling him that "everybody thinks her life is perfect because she's pretty and smart and popular, [but] she's scared all the time, but nobody will let her be scared because she's pretty and smart and popular" (108).
You can see that, even the white people that Junior thought had it all, suffer from the stereotypes that he and society have assigned to them, specifically, Penelope. The other white people at Reardan subconsciously communicate that Penelope is not allowed to feel bad things, or acknowledge that bad things exist. They communicate this because they are all trying to be a part of these stereotypes too. Penelope must fit the label of a perfect life, otherwise she will be an outcast of the group. This is similar to how Junior, who stepped away from the stereotypical Indian lifestyle of giving up and abandoning his dream, was outcast from the Rez for doing so. The means that both Indians and whites suffer from stereotypes, even if it is in different ways.

Questions: How do you think Junior would have reacted if the vomiter wasn't Penelope? How might this realization that white people are negatively affected by their stereotypes affect Juniors views and relationships with other white people? What are some specific ways other characters in PTI might suffer from stereotypes?  

3. On pages 107-109, Junior tells us more about Penelope, and he learns her secret. Explain this situation and why he says “…she’s scared all the time, but nobody will let her be scared…” (108). - Elizabeth Knox

On pages 107-109, Junior explains how he figures out that Penelope is bulimic. The situation is a little awkward because Penelope isn’t really friends with Junior and doesn’t really talk to him, and now he is finding something out that nobody else really knows. Penelope and Junior talk for a little while and have a conversation, and Junior feels kind of happy that she is talking to him. She confides in him, because, like I said before, she really has no one that knows about this, and is very stressed. Junior is able to relate this to his own life with his father. “Penelope gorges on her pain and then throws it up and flushes it away. My dad drinks his pain away”(107). He can talk to her a little by thinking about his dad and what he says to him, so he can help her. He is sort of able to understand how she is feeling, and, doesn’t want anything bad to happen to her. Later on, Penelope goes against what people seem to usually think, and starts hanging out more with Junior, and it is showing that she doesn’t want to listen to what everyone thinks and doesn’t want to continue what’s happening at Rearden, and wants to be different.

Junior is continuing to talk to Penelope and she is explaining how everyone thinks that she has a perfect life because she is pretty and popular and smart, when her life really isn’t perfect. She is bulimic, stressed, and as Junior says “And Penelope’s father, Earl, is a racist”(109). Junior says “…she’s scared all the time, but nobody will let her be scared…”, because no one will let her be upset, because they all want to believe that her life and all of their lives are perfect, but that isn’t true. Also, no one will let her be scared because they all think that she is fine because she doesn’t show emotion that anything is wrong, because she is always pretty, smart, and popular, so they don’t let her because they don’t know. They don’t really know what she is going through. Penelope says that she wants to leave the small town they are in. This relates to what Junior was going through when he was going to school in Spokane, and he may see that even white people who seem great go through hard things too and don’t want to stay in Rearden like everyone thinks. Maybe in upcoming chapters, she may not feel so scared and may actually leave, or travel the places she says she wants to go to.

Other questions to answer: Why do you think that Penelope cries and actually talks to Junior? Why do you think that she starts talking to Junior more when in the beginning she didn’t seem to like him? How do you think that Penelope and Junior’s friendship will end up? Will Junior try to go to Rowdy for advice about the situation again?

Free Response: Discuss what happens throughout the story to Arnold's mental support system. -Peter L

Throughout the story Arnold’s mental support system collapses, then starts to put itself back together bit by bit. This all starts on pages 51-53, "Rowdy spun around and shoved me. 'Don't touch me, you retarded fag!' he yelled. My heart broke into fourteen pieces, one for each year that Rowdy and I had been best friends,"(52). This interaction is the collapse of his mental support system because Rowdy was really the only person that he could talk to openly about stuff. Rowdy also respected the huge part of him that he expresses in his cartoons and made Junior feel like was worth something because of that. Hear though in about 3 minutes Rowdy leaves Junior alone and without anyone he can rely on to help him or protect him. The beginning of the rebuilding of Juniors support system is the day after he punches Roger when Roger gives him some respect, " 'Hey,' roger said. 'hey,' I said. 'Who was that on the bike?' he asked. 'Oh that was my dad's best friend.' 'That was a cool bike,' he said. 'Vintage.' 'Yeah, he just got it.' 'You ride with him a lot?' 'Yes,' I said. I lied. 'Cool,' Roger said. 'Yeah, cool,' I said.' 'All right, then,' he said. 'I'll see you around.'"(72). This passage shows how Junior is starting to earn the respect of some of the white kids at Reardan and even making some semi friends to. It’s the beginning of the upward swing of his mental system at Reardan and the start of some of his self confidence coming back. The real rebuilding of Juniors self support system is both when he becomes friends with Gordy, and when he becomes Penelope's boy friend. These two major events in his life display the fact that he is starting to make a place for himself and as a result of it he is starting to think that he is worth something even if he thinks it's still very little.

Further Discussion Prompts: Are there any other points in the story that may be ups or downs for Arnold? Why do you think Penelope becomes his girlfriend, because she wants attention, because she likes him, why? Is the scene where Arnold sees Rowdy looking at the cartoon relevant to his mental support system. What is happening to Rowdy’s mental support system throughout the story.

    1. Describe how Penelope treats Junior – provide two specific examples. How does this relationship contribute to Junior’s understanding of himself/his identity? - Rohan Durfee

    Penelope treats Junior in a very different way that she used to. She used to ignore him and be rude to him but now she is almost doing the opposite. She is now treating him kindly but not as kind as she can. When penelope says "Are you for real?" (78), she is kind of being snarky and defiant to Arnold but she is still volunteering to do something with Arnold.

    When Arnold is showing Penelope his halloween costume, she says "Wow, you really look homeless" (78). Even though she doesn't know what kind of background Arnold came from, Arnold may be slightly hurt because she is saying that Arnold looks homeless but earlier in the book, Arnold says there is no real difference between his bad clothes and his good clothes and all his clothes make him look kind of homeless because he cannot afford nice new clothes.

    Arnold's interactions with Penelope are impacting him positively, even though Penelope can be slightly snarky at some times. Arnold has had a really crummy time at Reardan and his interactions with Penelope are giving him a new light of his new school. It is good now that Arnold is making some new friends at Reardan because when he came, he did not have any friends and everybody was bullying him.

On pages 82-84, Junior explains how alone he feels. Why does he feel this way? How does what happens in science class reinforce this feeling?-Jeremiah Mathieu

On pages 82-84, Junior explains how alone he feels. Why does he feel this way? How does what happens in science class reinforce this feeling?-Jeremiah Mathieu

The reason Junior feels alone is because he has no community to fall back on.  His community in the reservation no longer wants him because they think he is a trader by going to the school in Reardan.  He feels alone because even though he had a correct answer, but everyone at the new school including the teachers had a pre-biased view of him and the reservation where he comes from.  The teacher made him feel that the education that Junior received on the reservation is less than.  Junior did not feel like he had any support from anyone in the school including teachers.  He was shocked when Gordy backed him up and the teacher still refused to acknowledge him and what he had to say.  I also think this has to do the fact that he is Indian and the teacher also believes that Indians are “less than”.  

Junior is also alone during PE because no one wants to play with him.  

One question that I have is why did Penelope continue to not speak Junior  after they had a major connection?  I think this is due to the fact that hanging with Junior would be a social downfall for Penelope because he is seen as an outcast within the school to everyone.  Another question that I am wondering is from the chapters before is whether Junior’s identity changing Rowdy no longer is his friend and has become one of his enemy?   I think that Rowdy would still like to be friends with Junior, but he feels betrayed and mad that Junior would be going on a more successful path than him.   The way this has impacted Junior is that Junior is no longer able to share with secrets with anyone.  He ends up keeping everything inside which makes loneliness even more.  

Do you think Rowdy and Junior will ever become friends again?  Why?

Do you think Junior is going to open up to the new school more?  Why?

Why is Junior hesitant to tell Rowdy?  Why does he tell him?  How does Rowdy react?  Why does he react this way? (Asher)

Junior is hesitant to tell Rowdy that he is transferring to Reardan because he knows Rowdy hates Reardan. This is because Reardan destroyed their school in every competition the past year, and Rowdy thinks everyone at Reardan is racist and arrogant, as he examples on page 52 when he yells at Junior “‘You always thought you were better than me’”.  He also says that he doesn’t even drive through the town Reardan is in, when asked about going to school there. However, this is probably because many people there are racist, and Junior, earlier in book, said that Reardan is “filled with farmers and rednecks and racist cops that stop every Indian that drives through” (46).  

Junior does end up telling Rowdy only because Rowdy is his best friend, and without his best friend, he would be more alone than ever.  He already gets bullied and shoved around, and not only does Rowdy protect him physically, but Rowdy is his only friend, protecting him emotionally, and giving him one more person he hasn’t given up on, therefore bringing him hope.  Mr. P explains this ideology on page 42, when he says about Rowdy, “‘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...hope’”

Rowdy does not react well.  He gets extremely mad, and it is implied that he thinks Junior is a traitor for transferring to Reardan.  Junior tries touching him to plead with him, and he turns around and punches Junior in the face.  I think he reacts this way because of his stereotypes of people who go to Reardan, and the fact that a lot of people there are racist, so it feels like Junior is joining their side, the sides being Native American and White.  I think he also feels jealous, because he realizes that Junior has better opportunities there, but he is to afraid of and angry with Reardan to go there.

In Junior’s mind, what is a “real Indian”? How does this impact him?-Richelle Chang

In Junior’s mind, a “real Indian” is a person who has big dreams, but those dreams will never come true. Junior thinks this because his perspective of what a “real Indian” is is that they are all poor and since white people are rich, they have all the opportunity. On Junior’s first day at Reardan, his classmates start to arrive and he notices that “[Reardan] was the opposite of [him]. [He] didn’t deserve to be there. [He] knew it; all of those kids knew it. Indians don’t deserve shit” (56). Junior feels like he can’t achieve his goals and that he is worthless. He feels this way because at Reardan, everyone is white and everyone has money, so he compares himself to the people surrounding him. This is important because since he is comparing himself to someone who might seem better than him, it makes him have low self-esteem and makes him feel like there is no hope for him in life. He describes the Reardan kids as “magnificent...everything...beautiful and smart and epic. They were filled with hope” (50). Junior thinks that these kids are something that he can never be, and that “something” is what he wants to be. He thinks that he is the opposite of what the Reardan kids are: ugly, nothing, and looking for hope.

Follow up questions: How does going to Reardan impact Junior's thinking of what "a real Indian" is? What do the kids at Reardan think of Junior? Does Mr.P change Junior's thinking of Indians and their hope?

In Junior’s mind, what is a “real Indian”? How does this impact him?- Richelle Chang

What does Mr. P mean when he says “we were supposed to kill the Indian to save the child” (35) Eric Bookwalter

Mr. P is Juniors Math teacher, during the 5th chapter Mr. P says to Junior “we were supposed to kill the Indian to save the child” (35). What Mr. P means is that the school was trying to eliminate the Indian culture. They are trying to “save the child” and kill the savages. The white teachers saw the Indians as rough people who fought and were uncivilized and that's all they knew, because they only knew one story. The teachers let the bullies pick on them and hurt them as a way to lower their self esteem. They were trying to make the Indian’s give up on their Indian heritage to try and stop the cycle of their unhealthy lives.

The Indian heritage that the teachers are trying to change is a lack of confidence in the children. The teachers want the children to understand the economic opportunities outside the reservation. The reservation is so isolated that it lacks jobs for the Indians and therefore leads to a life of poverty, drinking, and violence. Before Mr. P came Junior explained that kids began drinking at 14 and just like fighting is a retreat for Rowdy he wants other people to suffer just like him, and there are many more Indians just like him. What the white teachers don't understand is that there are ,any good things about the Indian culture that should be celebrated.

Questions: If the teachers succeeded in ridding the Indian from the child would that be good or bad? Do you think other teacher feel the same as Mr. P why, or why not? If more jobs were available on the reservation would it change the Indians unhealthy lifestyle? Do you think any other Indians have hope like Junior?

Interpret/explain/explore the context and significance of the quote “We were supposed to kill the Indian to save the child” (35). ~ Isabella-Marie

When Mr. P gives advice to Junior, he addresses the stereotype of Indian people versus white people. The quote: “We were supposed to kill the Indian to save the child” (35) comes from a stereotype which highlights that in society Indian people are referred/viewed to as: tribe people with long braids and head crowns made up of feathers. This quote literally means that the Indian culture inside native children needs to be demolished in order to “save” (35) the child from a fate full of poverty and insecurity. It means “[giving] up on being Indian” (35) so that the child has a chance to become wealthy, famous, and someone worth of value. When this is spoken, Junior gets taken back and doesn’t understand the meaning of the quote; rather he thinks that Mr. P actually killed an Indian. Everyone in society can be similar to Junior in this moment such as being uninformed. It is so important to not be ignorant towards the different groups of people in this book and to understand that people of the same ethnicity can have different cultures and practices before a biased and ignorant statement is made about a certain group.

Some other questions to explore are: Why do you think Mr. P used this quote while talking to Junior? What are the consequences of being ignorant? Is a healthy amount of ignorance okay? What are some stereotypes of Indian people that is seen in our culture?

~ Isabella-Marie