#8 At the end of the novel what does Junior realize about his own identity, his life and Rowdy? (Lucas S)

At the end of the book The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, the protagonist Arnold realizes something about Identity. He realizes that the world was not just Indian and white, but also what makes you up. For example, if you lived the north east you would be part of north east "tribe". Also on page 217 it lists many "tribes" Arnold is part of “I realized that sure, I was a Spokane Indian. I belonged to that tribe. But I also belonged to the tribe of American immigrants. And to the tribe of Basketball players. And to the tribe of bookworms.” this list continues. He discovers that the world is not just divided in race, but it’s also divided in personalities, opinions, and likes. In conclusion, Arnold realizes that the world and your identity doesn’t just consist of race, but also your personality.

#8 Why does Rowdy tell Arnold, “You killed her” (211)? Is there truth to this statement? (Katherine U.)

Rowdy tells Arnold “you killed her” because he believes that Arnold led to his sister Mary’s death by leaving the rez and going to Reardan. Because Arnold dared to leave, Mary felt like she needed to do something daring and brave to, so she eloped and went to live in Montana. When she had a party at her house, it caught on fire and she was “too freaking drunk to feel any pain when she burned to death” (Alexie 205). Arnold believes there is truth to this statement. He says she only “left the rez because I had left the rez first” (Alexie 211). There is some truth in this statement because Arnold did leave the rez first, and Mary almost certainly left the rez because he did. Mary had been living in the basement for seven years, and Arnold says she left because “I’d kind of shamed her” (Alexie 89). When Rowdy yells at him, Arnold is blown away and realizes “it was all my fault” (Alexie 211), in a moment of stunned realization. Rowdy tells Arnold that he killed his sister because it was his actions that started a chain of events that led to Mary’s death.

#7 What is Arnold’s grieving ceremony? What connection do you see between this and the cartoon on 166? (McNamara, Ollie)

Arnold’s grieving ceremony is writing down all of the things that give him joy in life, in an attempt to get over his grief.  So far in the book, we see Arnold lose his best friend Rowdy, his sister Mary, and recently his grandmother. All the grief in Arnold's life is piling up on him, affecting the way he acts and thinks.  When Arnold realizes how bad his grief has become, he decides that the only way to get over it is to think about something that makes him happy. In the scene before Arnold starts writing his list, his teacher makes a snarky comment about how many days of school he has missed.  His classmates all understand the grief he has gone through, so in his defense they dropped their books, and walked out of class. As Arnold starts reflecting on what makes him happy, he thinks, “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 that death and change. I made a list of the people who had given me the most joy in my life” (Ellen Forney, 176).  On page 176, Arnold explicitly states that to get over his grief, he has to think of things that make him happy. Another example of using joy to move past grief was on page 166-167. During this scene, when they’re at Arnold’s grandmother's funeral, everyone starts laughing because a white man, who collects Indian art, tries to return a dress to Arnold's grandmother. The irony of this is that it’s not his grandmother's dress, and in fact, it’s not even a Spokane dress.  The cartoon on page 166 shows that in order to get over grief, people need to both cry and find something that makes them feel good. Arnold understands that he needs to stop grieving and start living so that he can compete in the basketball season and focus on his relationship with Penelope. Arnold achieves this by writing down the things that make him feel happy. This helps him begin to move past the death of his grandmother, his sister Mary moving away, and the loss of his best friend Rowdy.

Question #4

#7 Explain the humor/irony of the title of the chapter, “Rowdy and I Have a Long and Serious Discussion About Basketball.” ( Toby H )

The humor/irony of the title of the chapter is that there is serious sarcasm in the way Junior informs the reader about the “serious” conversation.   After the big win against Junior’s his former team, he emailed Rowdy after the game and told him that he was sorry that his team beat him and that their season went downhill after that loss. The title, “ Rowdy and I Have a Long and Serious Discussion About Basketball.”  (197) is humorous\ironic because his discussion with Rowdy was very short and unserious . Their discussion included homophobic jokes which emphasized the fact that the conversation is not serious. If this was a serious discussion Junior would rather talk to him in person and not an electronic conversation.

#7 Summarize the outcome of the game. Why does Junior cry at the end? What does he realize?(Bennett R.)

In this rematch of the number one and number two team in the league, Reardan wins by 40 points. Reardan beats Wellpinit because Junior blocks Rowdy’s dunk and hits a three-pointer at the very beginning to demoralize Rowdy.  After that Junior holds Rowdy to four points the entire game while scoring three himself. After the game, Junior has a realization. He thinks about how “maybe my white teammates had problems, serious problems, but none of their problems were life-threatening”(195). Junior is figuring out how privileged the Reardan kids really are and how lucky he is to go to that school.  Some of the kids at Wellpinit wouldn’t have breakfast the next day or had fathers who were in jail. He also says that none of the Wellpinit kids will go to college but all the Reardan seniors would go to colleges. This is an example of how all the Reardan kids have hope and opportunity, while no one on the reservation does. A second thing Junior thinks about is this. "I realized that my team, the Indian Redskins, was Goliath" (195). He realizes here that his team might be terrifying to Wellpinit because of there power and wealth in comparison. It all boils down to race. Because the people on the Rez are Indians they are given less respect and opportunity in the world and has shaped the kids to be what their parents are. Junior also feels ashamed because he thinks that Rowdy’s dad will beat him for losing. Junior is ashamed and cries because all of the kids on Wellpinit now feel bad because they lost in addition to having life-threatening problems.

#6. What was Junior’s grandmother’s greatest gift? What has happened to Indians’ sense of tolerance? Why has that occurred? (Natalie Gersen)

Junior’s Grandmother’s greatest gift in life was her tolerance. In the past Indians were known for their tolerance and ability to have an open mind towards the LGBTQ+ community. Differences among sexual orientation were often celebrated within Indian tribes in past, but currently homophobic ideals are enforced on the rez. Indians have lost their ability of tolerance due to the fact that “ever since white people showed up and brought along their Christianity and their fears of  eccentricity” (Alexie, 155). The lack of tolerance on the Rez has become apparent in Junior’s life when Rowdy beats Junior up because he was ‘acting gay’. The majority of the rez, including it’s youth has clearly lost all of its tolerance, so the fact that Junior’s Grandmother has gone against societal norms shows how she does not necessarily influenced by the rez. Junior’s Grandmother was able to retain old Indian ideals that help perpetuate tolerance in a community where difference is shamed, which is one of the reasons she was so accepting of Junior’s wishes to go to Reardan, even thought he is going against societal norms.

1. 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?

In Junior's first basketball game on the varsity team at Reardan High, the team plays against Wellpinit High, the school that Junior left.  When Junior transferred to Reardan, he talked about how Indians from the reservation would feel betrayal and would not respect him or his family.

The game starts off when Junior and the team walk through the doors and hear people from the reservation chanting, "Arnold sucks!" over and over again.  This makes Junior feel weak and dizzy and so he started to cry.  His coach encouraged him to get mad and to embrace the feeling he was experiencing.  His coach said "If you care about something enough, it's going to make you cry." (Alexie, 144).  So, Junior follows his coach's advice and gets mad.  This makes him feel confident about the game.  When it was time for Junior to run onto the court, someone from the audience (an Indian) threw a quarter at Junior's forehead.  He was mad because he started to bleed and couldn't play for the first half, but he wouldn't give up because he really wanted to play no matter what.  He was willing to get a scar on his forehead or risk having something go wrong so that he could play in the game in time for the second half.  Eugene gives in and gives him stitches right then and there and Junior is on his way to get back on the court.  He feels ready to play and kind of scared of Rowdy, his ex best friend from Wellpinit.  Junior goes onto the court, gets the ball, and is ready to score when Rowdy elbowed Junior in his already damaged head.  Junior is knocked unconscious.  Next thing Junior knows, he is in an ambulance.

The team supports Junior by standing up for him.  When Rowdy hurts Junior, the two teams shove and push each other, and the coach is sitting by Junior's side in the hospital bed.  This impacts Junior because Junior has head injuries but also, he has learned that his friends have his back and are going to stand up for him and be by his side.  He has also learned that there is a lot more tension between him and Rowdy than he ever thought.

#4. What was Junior’s grandmother’s greatest gift? What has happened to Indians sense of tolerance? Why has that occurred? ( Hadley)

Junior’s grandmother's greatest gift is that she is tolerant and accepts people anyway. Junior explains that she would talk to anybody no matter their ethnicity and that she isn’t judgemental and hateful, which many people are. When Junior is talking about his grandma he says, “Of course, ever since white people showed up and brought along there Christianity and their fears eccentricity, Indian have gradually lost all of there tolerance” (Alexie 155). Juniors grandma isn’t like these Indian people, that don’t have any tolerance for anyone and that are judgmental and hateful to others. The Indians have lost all of their tolerance but Junior’s grandma is special to show that she treats every person with kindness. All of the Indians have lost their tolerance because of white people overpowering them with being scared of the Indians behavior. Junior grandma teaches Junior to have tolerance for people at Rearden. Junior’s grandma would even talk to invisible people to maintain her tolerance.

Question 2

#5. Explain/explore Junior’s interaction with Rowdy’s dad. What are the implications? And what does Junior resolve/decide? (Sivia B.)

On Thanksgiving, Junior goes to Rowdy’s house to give him a cartoon he drew, but when opening the door he is faced with Rowdy’s drunk father and realizes why his friend is a delinquent boy. When Rowdy’s father talks to Junior he laughs at how “gay” the two boys are, which angers Junior immensely.  As Junior gives the father his cartoon Junior thinks, “Yeah that was the guy who is raising Rowdy. Jesus, no wonder my best friend was always so angry” (Alexie 103). Junior and Rowdy have been friends from a very young age, and throughout their entire friendship Rowdy has always been very bitter and enraged. Now that Junior has finally met Rowdy’s father, he is now realizing the torture that Rowdy endures from this man everyday that makes him so angry. After this conversation, Junior decides that the way Rowdy acts is mostly because of his drunken, physically and mentally abusive father. Because of this interaction, Junior leaves the house upset and very disappointed. Throughout the story, Junior has discussed the circumstances between Rowdy and his father, and in this chapter the truth really shows.

Question 3

On pages 107-109 junior learns that Penelope has a eating disorder. In this situation Junior sees Penelope as less of the perfect popular girl and more of a real person. When Junior says “...she’s scared all the time, but nobody will let her be scared…” (108). He is saying that she feels like she can’t be less than perfect or mess anything up, this means that she won’t be able to share her eating disorder. All the people that go to their school think of her as someone that can’t mess up so when she throws up in the bathroom, she doesn’t know how to face anyone. She feels like if anyone finds out about her eating disorder that they will judge her. After Junior says that Penelope shouldn’t give up, Penelope thinks about, “how everybody thinks her life is perfect because she is pretty and smart and popular”(107). This quote shows that on the outside Penelope has a perfect life and has no problems. But on the inside Penelope has to deal with the same problems as everyone else, an even worse ones like having to throw up. Overall, Penelope and Junior start to learn more about each, and each others problems.

The Irony of Thanksgiving

Lily (C)

11/7/18

Reading #5

1. Explore the irony of the discussion about Thanksgiving.

Junior is not sure why his family and the other people on the reservation still celebrate Thanksgiving. As he said “Indians and Pilgrims were best friends during that first Thanksgiving, but a few years later, the Pilgrims were shooting Indians.”(Alexie 101) . It was a holiday that was short lived for the Native Americans and it ending in disaster. All of Juniors family seems to know this but as Juniors dad said “we should give thanks they didn't kill all of us”(Alexie 102) because it is almost outrages for them to be thankful when foreigners came and started killing them. Also the reason they are living on a reservation is because way back when, Pilgrims came and decided the land was theirs and then later putting Native Americans into small spaces of land so they could take everything else. For Junior, he is think that the Indians would have been better off without the others “discovering” America. Thanksgiving is ironic for them because what do they have to be thankful for, a feast that turned out to be the end of the lives the Native Americans had lead for hundreds of years?

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