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#4 Why does Rowdy tell Arnold, "You killed her" (Alexie 211) Is there truth to this statement? (Alex.S)

  When Rowdy says that Arnold killed his sister, Rowdy didn't mean that Arnold physically killed her. Rowdy implies that the actions that Arnold has made, had a strong impact on the choices that his sister made which ended up with her death. For example, when Arnold made the decision to leave the reservation and go to Reardan. Arnold made this bold decision to get a better life/future. Mary thought that she should leave the reservation as well because she too, wants a better life/future. Arnold explains: "But she only got married so quickly and left the rez because I had left the rez first. She was only living in Montana in a cheap trailer house because I had gone to school in Reardan. She had burned to death because I had decided that I wanted to spend my life with white people" (Alexie, 211). Rowdy thinks that these actions were the cause of Mary's death however, Arnold wasn't the one that actually killed Mary. She died because of a fire in her trailer  and couldn't do anything because she was too drunk. Arnold had something to do with what she did with her life, which happend to for her to end up in that burning trailer, but Arnold did not kill her. Rowdy believed that all of the decisions and actions that Arnold made, were the reason that killed his sister.

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