How will Junior’s decision to leave effect Rowdy later in the book? How is this going to change Rowdy and his interaction with the world?
When Junior tells Rowdy that he’s leaving to go to Reardan, Rowdy thinks he’s joking. He continuosly says that this isn’t funny, and is trying to convince himself that Junior isn’t really leaving, and that this is all one big joke. Rowdy tries to secure the only stable thing in his life; Junior. He switches methods and starts insulting Junior, trying to make him stay and convincing Junior that he will never make it. This was a desperate last-chance that Rowdy was giving Junior to take back his actions. So when Junior doesn’t change his mind, Rowdy shuts down. Since Rowdy has a really difficult life back home, Junior is the only postive thing in his life, so when he leaves, Rowdy has nothing. Junior was Rowdy’s hope, the last string holding him up, and without Junior, Rowdy will fall into the nothingness and give up, like everybody else. “He wiped his eyes, stared at his wet hand, and screamed. I’m sure that everybody on the rez heard that scream. It was the worst thing I’d ever heard. It was pain, pure pain.” (52) Rowdy is so hurt and overwhelmed and hopeless and mad, so he punched Junior because he had nothing else. Because it seemed like Junior knew he had nothing else and left him. As Mr.P says to Junior, “Your friend Rowdy, he’s given up. That’s why he likes to hurt people. He wants them to feel as bad as he does… He doesn’t hurt you because you’re the only good thing in his life. He doesn’t want to give that up. It’s the only thing he hasn’t given up on.” (42) Now that Junior is gone, Rowdy may aimlessly beat people up, for no reason. Rowdy will be more negative than before, and blame the world and Junior for all the pain and the screwed up world that he has to live in. He might be torn apart inside, but at the same time, feel nothing at all, like Dally from The Outsiders. With all the things going on in Rowdy’s life, he could be very unpredictable, like bomb, waiting to explode. Of course, this isn’t Rowdy’s fault, he is in a bad situation and is only fourteen years old.
Do you think this is the end of Rowdy and Junior’s friendship?
Do you think Rowdy regrets punching Junior?
If the only thing you ever loved was gone, what would you do?
Nicole R.
I think that Rowdy and Arnold will be friends again because Rowdy will definitely need help and without Arnold he is ruining his life even more, and I don’t think it can get any worse for him. I think that Rowdy regrets punching Arnold since punching him only got him one step further from being friends with Arnold. I believe that Rowdy didn’t mean what he said to Arnold, considering the fact that he explodes with rage all the time. Just the thought of being without Arnold made him furious enough to punch him in the face. If I were in his position, I would be very mad, but if I could have controlled my anger, I might have been able to keep him as my friend. Being punched in the face made Arnold upset, so do you think that he might try to get back at Rowdy, despite his physical disadvantage?
ReplyDeleteSpiros had a very strong point, but I disagree with him. I believe that this is the end of Rowdy and Junior’s friendship. When Rowdy and Junior were best friends, Junior and his family let Rowdy stay at their house when he was physically abused by his dad. Junior constantly faces adversity because of his disability, and Rowdy was always there to protect him from harm's way. Rowdy and Junior formed a very tight bond because they were always there to support each other and care for eachother. However, when Junior abandons Rowdy by switching schools, Rowdy feels betrayed and hurt. Through the text, we are able to see that Rowdy expresses his anger and pain by being violent and mean. Junior has been there to support Rowdy for his whole life and is now leaving him. Given Rowdy’s prior reactions to adversity, i am able to predict that Rowdy will react to this by being violent and mean towards Junior and rejecting his friendship.
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