Summarize the outcome of the game. Why does Junior cry at the end? What
does he realize? -Spiros Gerogiannis
After the game between Reardan and Wellpinit, Reardan won by a lot and
Arnold did an amazing job in the game. But instead of celebrating this, he
put himself back in the position of what it feels like to lose in Wellpinit.
There, if you lose, your drunk parent might physically abuse you, and it
prevents you from taking a step further in your life, while in Reardan, not
much would have happened, “I knew that none of them was going to college
Not one of them. And I knew that Rowdy’s father was probably going to beat
the crap out of him for losing this game” (195-196). Wellpinit didn’t have
many chances at becoming successful, for this game was their only chance.
When Arnold realized that he potentially ruined the rest of their lives, he felt
so ashamed, almost like carrying the burden of murder.
Considering the good person that Arnold is, he will have to do something to
do something to undo this situation, despite the fact that he would most likely
want to keep success coming his way. How do you think that Arnold might
fix this situation? Sherman Alexie has put a lot of symbolic moments between
the coach and Arnold, showing that the coach inspired Arnold to keep going,
because that is what coaches should and are supposed to do. But the coach and
Arnold seemed to have and immediate bond. Why do you think that Sherman
Alexie put the coach to be the character that inspires Arnold to keep going?
Based off of this, what do you think will happen next? Will things get better or
worse?
ReplyDeleteWhy do you think that Sherman Alexie put the coach to be the character that inspires Arnold to keep going? Based off of this, what do you think will happen next?
Sherman Alexie includes the coach of the Rearden basketball team in this novel because Junior is always pessimistic and never believes in himself and the coach helps him think more optimistic about his abilities and future. “Your starting tonight...And your going to guard Rowdy.” Before the game coach knew that Junior was scared of this game, especially playing against Rowdy. However, Coach wasn't going to just let Junior be afraid of him. Therefore, coach made Junior cover Rowdy and face his biggest fear. Coach has been a big impact on his life in and out of the sport of basketball and clearly was needed in his life. Also since he has been supporting him through his hard times and there is going to be a “down” moment in the novel very soon, I think this will be that coach will move to another school to coach or retire, just because that's how life is for Junior.