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?
I agree with you, Amelie, and I think that these chapters also relate to the poem by Sherman Alexie that we read in class today-- how whites are also affected by stereotypes, not just Indians. If the vomiter wasn't Penelope I think Junior would've still been really kind and understanding. The first thing that he says to her after she says "What are you looking at?" is "an anorexic" so even if it hadn't been Penelope he probably would've been able to tell that they were anorexic/bulimic and been caring and sympathetic towards them anyways. I think the fact that Junior automatically says "an anorexic" is interesting because I probably wouldn't have figured that they were throwing up a bunch of food on purpose, just that they were throwing up and felt sick or something. Although, Sherman Alexie puts a lot of emphasis on the throw up noises so had I been there in person maybe I would have inferred that they were throwing up on purpose. Also, if it had been someone other than Penelope in the bathroom then Junior's relationship with Penelope wouldn't have skyrocketed like it did, and his popularity level would still be lower than most. I do think that something is going to happen that turns his happy little world at Reardan upside down though because I feel like too many things are going his way. As Mr. Rossiter would say, "A book where there isn't any conflict is just boring. If someone gets good grades all the time and nothing happens then what's the point?"
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(you're welcome, Amelie)