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.
I think Penelope became his girlfriend not because she wants attention but because she actually likes him. In my opinion, Penelope probably had enough attention after all. She was a “pretty, smart, and popular.” The reason Penelope likes Arnold is that he is the only one who understood she was bulimic and lonely. She was “scared all the time, but nobody will let her be scared because she is pretty, smart and popular.” Additionally, Arnold was the one who still likes and appreciates her after knowing her darkest secret, just like he said, “I’m looking at a really hot anorexic.” Arnold could have treated her like a freak who throws up, goes to “fricking websites where they give advice on the best laxatives and stuff,” and is mentally unstable. But Arnold didn’t, instead, Arnold said, “don’t give up.” That’s a really powerful statement in my opinion because, at the time, Penelope could be thinking about “giving up,” meaning suicidal thoughts, or self-harming thoughts. What Arnold’s three simple words touched her and she poured all her dark secrets out, which made her feel a lot better.
I definitely agree with Stephanie, that moment could have gone a lot of different ways and Junior decided to say "don't give up". I thought it was really bold of him to say that to someone who had just been throwing up a lot and telling him to leave her alone. In a way, it doesn't just show how he cares for her, but it shows how he trusts her not to make fun of him. Like I said earlier that moment could've gone in many different directions, for example, Penelope might have walked out of the bathroom and completely ignored Junior. That one short time period really enforced their trust in each other and I think pretty much boosted their relationship. On the other hand, I would be wary of supporting a bulimic because throwing up all of your food before your body can get nutrients from it is extremely unhealthy and highly unrecommended. The last thing you would want to do is encourage their pain and self-hate, but telling them that they are wrong and should stop doesn't help either because it's not like you can just stop being bulimic. In short, Junior did the right thing by telling her not to give up. I'm interested to see where their relationship will go, also considering the fact (or rumor) that Penelope is just in it to prove something to her father.
I think Penelope becomes Arnold's girlfriend because she wants variety in her life. After the bathroom incident, she was crying and saying to Arnold that she doesn't want to be just the beautiful popular girl that she is, and she wants a little "smudge" in her life. I think she is using Arnold to be kind of wacky because she is now dating a poor, nerdy Indian boy so that definitely sets her apart from all the normal girls. I also somewhat disagree with myself because also Penelope could like Arnold because he is, at least from what she has seen so far, a nice guy and the popular white boys at Reardan, who she I expected to date, may not meet Penelope's expectations and standards.
I think Penelope became his girlfriend not because she wants attention but because she actually likes him. In my opinion, Penelope probably had enough attention after all. She was a “pretty, smart, and popular.” The reason Penelope likes Arnold is that he is the only one who understood she was bulimic and lonely. She was “scared all the time, but nobody will let her be scared because she is pretty, smart and popular.” Additionally, Arnold was the one who still likes and appreciates her after knowing her darkest secret, just like he said, “I’m looking at a really hot anorexic.” Arnold could have treated her like a freak who throws up, goes to “fricking websites where they give advice on the best laxatives and stuff,” and is mentally unstable. But Arnold didn’t, instead, Arnold said, “don’t give up.” That’s a really powerful statement in my opinion because, at the time, Penelope could be thinking about “giving up,” meaning suicidal thoughts, or self-harming thoughts. What Arnold’s three simple words touched her and she poured all her dark secrets out, which made her feel a lot better.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with Stephanie, that moment could have gone a lot of different ways and Junior decided to say "don't give up". I thought it was really bold of him to say that to someone who had just been throwing up a lot and telling him to leave her alone. In a way, it doesn't just show how he cares for her, but it shows how he trusts her not to make fun of him. Like I said earlier that moment could've gone in many different directions, for example, Penelope might have walked out of the bathroom and completely ignored Junior. That one short time period really enforced their trust in each other and I think pretty much boosted their relationship. On the other hand, I would be wary of supporting a bulimic because throwing up all of your food before your body can get nutrients from it is extremely unhealthy and highly unrecommended. The last thing you would want to do is encourage their pain and self-hate, but telling them that they are wrong and should stop doesn't help either because it's not like you can just stop being bulimic. In short, Junior did the right thing by telling her not to give up. I'm interested to see where their relationship will go, also considering the fact (or rumor) that Penelope is just in it to prove something to her father.
ReplyDeleteBailey
I think Penelope becomes Arnold's girlfriend because she wants variety in her life. After the bathroom incident, she was crying and saying to Arnold that she doesn't want to be just the beautiful popular girl that she is, and she wants a little "smudge" in her life. I think she is using Arnold to be kind of wacky because she is now dating a poor, nerdy Indian boy so that definitely sets her apart from all the normal girls. I also somewhat disagree with myself because also Penelope could like Arnold because he is, at least from what she has seen so far, a nice guy and the popular white boys at Reardan, who she I expected to date, may not meet Penelope's expectations and standards.
ReplyDelete