--Mika
Junior states that, “Penelope is scared all the time, but nobody will let her be scared”(108). He is conveying that Penelope goes through pain and adversity, but she does not have anyone to help her through that pain because she has a reputation to uphold. As a result of this, she hides her pain from others and expresses her pain internally by being bulimic. When Junior is describing his interaction with Penelope’s father, he remembers something that Penelope’s father said to him: “She’s only dating you because she knows it will piss me off”(109). It could be inferred from this quote that Penelope does not maintain a positive relationship with her father. This fact shows that Penelope’s father is not someone who she can rely on for support, and so she is not able to trust him with her emotions. At school, Penelope has to battle through her pain by being tough because she feels she has to be popular and smart at school. Arnold is the only one who she can truly express her emotions to, and it is difficult for him to help her because they have only interacted with each other for a short period of time.
The method that Penelope uses to overcome pain is similar to how Rowdy overcomes pain. Rowdy’s father physically and mentally abuses him, and he handles that pain by acting tough and violent. Both Rowdy and Penelope have negative interactions with their parents, and they hide their pain by acting tough. Both Rowdy and Penelope have an unhealthy amount of pain bottled up inside of them and fight that pain by acting less vulnerable than they actually are. In conclusion, both Rowdy and Penelope are “scared all the time”, and need someone to rely on in order to handle the pain and adversity that they face.
Why do you think that Arnold tends to befriend people that handle pain by acting tough?
Can you think of any other characters that we have read about that handle pain by acting tough?
Why do you think that the author decided to have Penelope be this character who is “scared all the time”, and handles pain by being bulimic?
I think that Arnold tends to befriend people who act tough but are vulnerable on the inside because they are able to help him socially by acting tough and Arnold can help them mentally as the nice kid he is. For example, Rowdy would protect Arnold and Arnold would help Rowdy through his hard times at home. Also, Penelope has made Arnold popular and Arnold helps Penelope get through her hard times. I think that they are both similar to Johnny, because they suffer at home due to the fact that their families do not support them, and that has made them tough on the outside, but vulnerable on the inside. I think that Penelope handling her pain by being bulimic is a bit of humor put in by Sherman Alexie since it is and unexpected feature. Maybe Penelope being scared is just telling us that we all have our weaknesses. Do you think that Penelope is using Arnold only to overcome her fears? Gordy and Rowdy didn’t like the fact that Arnold liked a white girl. How do you think they will deal with the fact that he is dating her?
ReplyDeleteCan you think of any other characters that we have read about that handle pain by acting tough?
ReplyDeleteSome other examples of characters that handle pain by acting tough are Dally and Rowdy. Dally and Rowdy are both feared and in pain because they have nothing that matters in their life except one person. Penelope is also lonely for some reason that we, the readers, do not know. The main differences are that she doesn't wallow in her pain, but eats it and then throws it up instead, she is also scared, and she is popular tough, not ice cold tough. Her character puts a feminine spin on the classic "tough to hide a lot of pain". What are your opinions on her father? Is he the most racist character yet?
2. Can you think of any other characters that we have read about that handle pain by acting tough?
ReplyDeleteI think that another character that we have read about that deals with pain by acting tough is Dally. In the Outsiders Dally deals with his home life struggles by acting tough and not talking to anybody. In the PTI Penelope acts tough because people think she is perfect and has the perfect life and because people think that she has to live up to those standards and she has to act tough. I also think that they both protect people in their lives that they care about. In the Outsiders Dally protects Johnny from getting beat up. In the PTI Penelope is protecting Arnold from being bullied and because of Penelope Arnold has gained more respect and he has become more popular, because of these reasons believe that Dally and Penelope are similar.