Part Time Indian B Block Blog 2017

At the end of the novel, Junior realizes a lot about himself and his life.  He realizes that he has so many happy memories with Rowdy and the rest of his friends. Junior says "When we were little, like ten years old, Rowdy and I climbed that sucker." In this quote he starts to remember the good times with Rowdy and how much fun they had together. He also figures out that he finds joy in lots of things, and isn't always depressed. And even though his family is broke and Indians are almost always drunk, when they aren't, they are the best people to be with in the world. Junior learns that Rowdy still cares for him, and even though they got in a fight, they will forever be friends. He still has things he look forward to in life.

On Pages 216 and 217 Junior is crying because he is upset that Mary made tried to leave and search for her dreams. He then realized that he had made that attempt too. Mary left and Junior was upset but throughout the book he later realized he did the exact same thing as her. He explains “She went searching for her dreams, and she didn’t find them, but she made the attempt. And I was making the attempt, too. (Alexie 216). After he realized all this he started to cry, but the weeping was not only for himself and his sister, but he cried because in the next year more Spokane's would die as well, and from drinking, just like Mary. Junior explains “It all made me cry for my sister. It made me cry for myself. But I was crying because I knew five or ten or fifteen more Spokane’s would die during the next year, and that most of them would die because of booze. Junior cries because he realized he and his sister made the same attenpt of leaving the Rez and trying to find their dreams.

Using the chapter title, “Rowdy and I Have a Long and Serious Discussion About Basketball” (Alexie 197), is ironic because, first of all, it was 4 sentences, and second, it wasn’t a conversation! Rowdy’s emails were insults to Junior that were saying that, I am better than you and I always will be. In Juniors emails he goes from feeling sorry for Rowdy, to getting sassy with him. For example, Juniors last words were, “I’m the faggot who beat you.” (Alexie 197). Calling this discussion serious is ironic because, well, the “conversation”  used language like f***t and a**. Junior wanted to make up with Rowdy, but Rowdy was too embarassed that he lost the game,  and was still mad at Junior for abandoning him. Calling this conversation long is also ironic because Rowdy only said one complete sentence! Junior ended the chapter with saying ”I think it was also a bit friendly, and it was the first time that Rowdy had talked to me since I left the Rez”. (Alexie 198). Based on this quot...

The cartoon on page 182 shows Arnold's ongoing struggle with identity. He is shown playing basketball in two different gyms. In the Wellpinit gym he is portrayed as a devil and a 'white lover' (182) meanwhile in the Rearden gym he is shown as a saint and is being cheered on. In both images he is thinking 'Who am I?' (182). Back on the reservation many people have turned their backs on him. At the first game they played the fans chanting 'Ar-nold sucks!' while at Rearden, as much as he was praised and cheered on he 'would always be an outsider'. Junior isn't sure where he belongs. Furthermore, what separates him from his peers at Rearden is him being Indian and back at the reservation he was no longer accepted because of the move he made to Rearden. Junior doesn't know where he belongs or who he is and in Wellpinit nobody accepts him while in Rearden he feels like an outsider.

Junior’s varsity squad ends up winning the rematch against Wellpinit High, but Junior soon realizes that his team may have just deprived those Indians of what little opportunity they had. After celebrating his 40 point win against the Wellpinit Redskins, the protagonist recognizes that “[He] knew that two or three of those Indians might not have eaten breakfast that morning...seven or eight of those Indians lived with drunken mothers and fathers…[he] knew that none of them was going to college. Not one of them” (Alexie 195). Junior also knows that “Rowdy’s father was probably going to beat the crap out of him for losing this game” (Alexie 196). Junior realizes that for some of these Indians basketball wasn’t only a sport, but perhaps their ticket to success in life. Or for Rowdy, a way to stay out of trouble. When Reardan beat Wellpinit High, those Indians lost whatever hope they had for a future and what was probably their only chance to be recognized. Junior cries, ashamed of him...

     The first game is against Wellpinit, his old school, now his rival. Consequently, the crowd treats him poorly, intimidating him by chanting, "Arnold Sucks!" (Alexie 143) and throwing things at him. Seeing the look on Arnold's face, Coach tells him he doesn't have to play this game. But, Arnold knew he had to play. He needed to prove something to his fellow tribal members, especially Rowdy. When he looked at Rowdy, it looked like he was just about to kill Junior. "He didn't want to turn his back on me. He wanted to kill me, face-to face." (Alexie 144) Thinking and looking at Rowdy, he starts to laugh, the only sound in the entire gym. But then coach joins him, as well as his teammates. They laugh all the way to the locker room, which makes him feel better. But then he starts to cry, overwhelmed with what just happened. But coach tries to support him. "If you care about something enough, its going to make you cry. But you have to get used to it. ...