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
I agree with you that Junior believes he sent his sister on an inevitable path to death, which is not true at all. There is no doubt that what he did influenced her, but she still made the decision of leaving the rez., and many more decisions that Junior had no part in. Also, what Junior did was probably a good thing. He is learning much more and has made it much farther than he ever would have at Wellpinit. What his sister did was also reasonable. She wasn't doing anything with her life on the rez.; just sitting around and doing nothing. When she left, she was really happy with where she was staying and who she was with, as the letter she sends on pages 99-100 clearly narrates. She also gained some hope, as she decided to work on a book that she was passionate about writing. She just made a mistake and got unlucky, and she was killed by chance. To answer your question, I think this will not have a long-term affect on Junior because he will realize that his sister chose to do what she did, and it was not his fault. He will also realize that transferring to Reardan had a great affect on his life, and it was a good idea to leave the rez. He has also already experienced so much death and suffering that this realization will eventually not be huge in comparison to all of the other deaths and reasons.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you on the point you made about Junior placing too much of the blame on himself without thinking about all of the choices Mary made on her own which had nothing to do with Junior and his decision to go to Reardan. I think Rowdy was hiding in the bushes during Mary's funeral (wake) instead of being there to mourn with Junior and his family because he assumed that Junior was still angry with him and would've thought of Rowdy showing up for Junior's sister's funeral as inappropriate. However, I would say that Rowdy's assumption is incorrect, that Junior would've found it easier to mourn his sister with Rowdy at his side instead of simultaneously mourning his broken friendship with Rowdy at the same time. After Junior finds Rowdy's hiding spot, sees him crying, and Rowdy accuses him of causing Mary's death, I thought that Rowdy also saw Mary as a kind of role model and he looked up to her the same way Junior did. Also, Rowdy was over at Junior's house more often than he was at his own because of his abusive parents and whatnot, so Mary was probably a sisterly figure to him too. In a way, Mary's death finally brings the two of them together again because they both have reasons to be sad and they both miss her. Then, when Rowdy makes the nomadic theory he has forgiven Junior for leaving the rez because all along he knew it was inevitable which means that his remark about Junior being the cause of Mary's death was just something that came out of his mouth in his angry, crying state when Junior found him in the bushes. He didn't really mean it, and he tells Junior that via the nomadic theory that he has.
ReplyDeleteBailey
If Rowdy would of said something than he would of proabably been kind to Junior because everyone there knows that that is a tough time to be going through at the moment, so if he wanted to get angry at Junior he would probably do it later when everything was over with. I don't think that Junior really sent his sister to her death, because it was her choice in the first place to go with her boyfried/husband, and I think that her husband had a lot to do with it. Junior might of persuaded her to go, but I think that her husband wanted to go so she instinctivley wanted to know. Before him, she never really mentioned moving, she just wanted to re-live one of her romance novels that she wrote herself. I think that Junior is putting too much pressure on his shoulders because he thinks that that related back to him, and he is right, but it wasn't HIS actions which means that he didn't cause the death. At this point of his life, Junior is feeling blue because of everybody's death all around, but I think that with this and coping by drawing, reading, and writing, he will be back on his path to finding his true identity.
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