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#5.On pages 107-109, Junior tells us more about Penelope, and he learns her secret. Explain this situation and why he says “…she’s scared all the time, but nobody will let her be scared…” (108). (Tim G.)

Junior finds himself comforting Penelope when he finds out her secret, the fact that she makes herself throw up to avoid weight gain. Junior notices similarities between his father and Penelope. They both use unconventional means of getting rid of their pain. Arnold’s dad drinks his pain away, and Penelope forcefully throws-up to make sure she doesn’t become fat. Junior says “She’s scared all the time, but nobody will let he be scared …”(Alexie 108) because “everybody thinks her life is perfect because she’s pretty and smart and popular…”(Alexie 108). In other words, Penelope can’t let anybody know she’s scared because everyone idolizes her and if she were to be seen scared or weak, she would lose her popularity. We see this idolization later when others copy her behavior at the Winter Formal, “And every dude in the joint immediately wished he’d worn his[Junior] father’s lame polyester suit[Because Penelope complimented it]”(Alexie 122). In this moment, we the reader, learn that Penelope is afraid of being seen as scared as it would ruin her popularity. This scares her too, so it is just a vicious cycle of her scaring herself.

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