Explore the irony of the discussion about Thanksgiving. - Jemma Harvey

This discussion about Thanksgiving is ironic because during the actual time of thanksgiving it was about unity between the Pilgrims and Indians, but shortly after that time the pilgrims once again began to mistreat the Indians. It would be expected that many of the Indians would be against the holiday, due to mistreatment, but most actually celebrate the Holiday. Junior is exploring these ideas about Indians, Including his family, celebrating Thanksgiving. Junior becomes more curious about it so he consults his father. His father replies by saying, "We should give thanks that they didn't kill all of us (102)." His father does not say this in a serious way, but more sarcastically. His father is implying that the Indians were so unfairly treated that they see Thanksgiving as a time to be grateful that their whole race was not murdered violently, though that should have never even been a concern. Though they are just joking, what they say has a deeper meaning to it. During the times when Thanksgiving first happened racism was a prominent problem. Racism is still a big problem in today’s society, people just like to think that it isn’t because people today are not as direct as people in the past. Junior’s father’s comment is very smart because he knows what he said has some truth to it.

Questions:

1) If you were Arnold would you be curious as well to why your family celebrates Thanksgiving?

2) Do you think Arnold’s father’s response is satisfactory? Why or why not?