Skip to main content

Question 4: Respond to one of the quotes to note. Please identify, speaker, interlocutor, context, and significance

        “My sister is running away to get lost, but I am running away because I want to find something” (46).

        In this quote, the speaker is Junior, the main character in the book. He is talking to himself. The day after Junior is suspended, Mr. P comes up his driveway to chat with him. After asking Junior many questions, he says that Junior has to leave the reservation. He says, "The only thing you kids are being taught is how to give up" (Alexie 42) The Indians have given up hope. He says, "You threw that book in my face because somewhere inside you refused to give up" (Alexie 43) He still believes in Junior, and he thinks he can persevere and find hope. In this quote, the difference between Junior and his sister is that Junior is looking for hope, and his sister has given up, just like the other Indians. Mr. P said that she liked to write romance novels, but then, as time passed, and she just stopped writing. She gave up. Later in the chapter, Junior asks his parents who has the most hope. They tell him that white people do. The people outside the reservation. Immediately, Junior knows what he has to do. He has to transfer schools. He says, "I want to go to Reardan," (Alexie 45) loud and clear. Reardan is hope. White kids are hope. That is what Junior is looking for. His sister ran away because that glimmer of hope she had with her writing disappeared.  This is the difference between him and his sister, and in turn, the significance of this quote.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

#2 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? (Xavier I)

     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. ...

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

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...

#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 coul...