One very important scene in tonight’s reading is on page 101 when the following was written “ I
always think it’s funny when Indians celebrate Thanksgiving. I mean, sure the Indians and Pilgrims
were best friends during that first Thanksgiving, but a few years later, the Pilgrims were shooting Indians.” Although this section may seem unnecessary and irrelevant at first, it seems to have a deeper
meaning. Through this, Junior is trying to express to readers how he feels now that he is at a
previously all white school. At Reardan, Junior is the only Indian, and he gets a lot of controversy and
negativity because of that. In his (Junior's) analogy, the Pilgrims were newcomers to the Americas and the Indians took them in, but before they realized it, the Indians were getting stabbed in the back and
were treated awfully. The section about the Pilgrims shooting the Indians is meant to be a metaphor
to Junior’s everyday life at his new school. In this case he is the newcomer, and is treated poorly. On
page 64, Junior even wrote “I was afraid those monsters were going to kill me. And I don’t mean ‘kill’
as in ‘metaphor.’ I mean ‘kill’ as in ‘beat me to death.’” This section helps to better emphasize the severity of Juniors situation, and his identity in this new environment.
Another scene in this section where Junior may be implying his emotions is when on page 108
Junior says to Penelope “‘Don’t give up.’” When Junior says this, he may be also giving this advice to himself. This is because previously on page 83 Junior said “ It was the loneliest time of my life.” Even though Junior was feeling this way, he didn’t let it stop him and tried to live his new life at Reardan, and he eventually became friends with Gordy who had up to that point helped him navigate his school
life. Another reason why Junior may be giving this advice to himself too is because throughout this
book, Junior faces discrimination due to his identity and ethnicity, and even though he is a different
person at school and at home, he doesn’t want to let go of who he really is, and instead he just wants to fit in while still being himself.
Questions:
1. How does Junior's conversation with Penelope (when they discussed their dreams) connect to other sections of the novel?
2. Since Junior is now facing a "high" in this story (since he is with Penelope and is popular), what do you think the next low will be and why?
3. Do you think that when Gordy said something similar to what Rowdy said when Junior asked them for advice it made Junior see himself and his beliefs in a new light?
I feel like the next low thing will be that Penelope will get told she can't date him because he is Indian and everyone laughs at him for the rest of the school year. He will be bullied for the rest of the year and Penelope will not talk to him forever.
ReplyDeleteCurrently in the book, Junior is at a high point. He has been slowly going up for a while and now, he is at a point that he wants to be at. Whenever there is a high point in a book, a low point comes right after it. I think that Juniors next low point will be in the next chapter or the chapter after that. I think this because Junior's life it going very well right now and people don't like to read books about how great others life is because it is boring. We like to read about human struggle. I think that Junior's next low point will be about how the Rearden kids turn on him because they find out a secret about him. This might be that he walks home because he is poor, or that he is friends with Gordy, or his broken friendship with Rowdy. I think this because right now his high point revolves around his popularity at Rearden and his relationship with Penelope. When he loses the best part of his life, he will reach a low and usually the low happens when the author removes the main characters happiness and meaning.
ReplyDeleteSince Junior is now facing a "high" in this story (since he is with Penelope and is popular), what do you think the next low will be and why? -Max B-P's response below...
ReplyDeleteThe next low is going to be a big hit on Junior because right now the author shows he is at a peak in his life or at least social life. Therefore, the low will have to do with his social “popularity” which leads me to believe that it will be in relation to Penelope. For the next complication in the story, I think Penelope will leave the town of Reardan without Junior. I think this because Penelope said one day when talking to her new bae Arnold, "I want to leave as soon as I can. I think I was born with a suitcase"(111). This was after a talk about the small minded people in Reardan so I think she will leave soon whether Arnold does the same or not. The author getting rid of Penelope is big for Arnold and would cause massive upset to him especially and the whole town in some way. He has noticed her since day one and she has only now embraced him. Also, because of her, the community has as well so when/if this happens it will be a sad point in Arnold’s life.
Since Junior is now facing a "high" in this story (since he is with Penelope and is popular), what do you think the next low will be and why?
ReplyDeleteDue to the fact that there is a high moment for Junior in this part of the novel, it will definitely go straight down ending in sorrow. What I think will happen is that Penelope will be persistent about leaving Rearden, so she will leave to go somewhere in her dreams. Junior on the other hand will also want to come with her and life the rest of his life with her. However, this dream is going to be halted because of his family/reservation. His family will be OK with it, but he is going to come across conflict when he is torn between Penelope and his friends and family especially Rowdy. This is going to cause struggle for him and he is going to be torn in the middle meaning he isnt going to be living with Penelope and his Rowdy is going to be angry, angrier than ever before.
In Junior’s conversation with Penelope when they talk about their dreams it relates to other parts in the novel because Junior has dreams that he has talked about to earlier in the novel. However, he doesn’t have the self-esteem to persist with his dreams and he turns them down like he did Penelope. For example, on Page 51 after Junior tells Rowdy to come join him at Reardan Rowdy says things like “You’re a p@%*y” and “You’re a wuss”. This shows that just like Junior , Penelope had a dream and just like Junior she got rejected even by the person who the highest hopes.
ReplyDeleteJunior is at a high point right now being with Penelope. I don't think Penelope will give up her dreams of leaving Reardon. Junior doesn't think Penelope's dreams are realistic enough to ever come true. This relates to Junior's dream of leaving the reservation and coming to Reardon earlier in the novel. Junior also wanted to make friends and be a thing with Penelope. Penelope's dreams also relate to Mary's because they both wanted to leave their current hometowns and move somewhere else to explore the wider world. The difference is that Mary did not know what her destiny was and Penelope has everything planned for her future. -Riana Desai
ReplyDelete