Malik Spaloss G block
The reason Arnold tried out for the basketball team was because of the idea that his dad had about “dream big”.
The reason Arnold tried out for the basketball team was because of the idea that his dad had about “dream big”.
His father tells him a weird story about him meeting his mom and he says “ Your mother was
thirteen and i was five when we first met?” How ? She helped me get a drink from a water
fountain”. Arnold was freaked out but now he sees that they are married so he believes that since
his dad dreamed big he should to. Arnold’s first game is against his old school and when
he walks out he gets yelled at and people continuously say “ Arnold sucks”. But Arnold is not fazed
by this and he wants to use this anger as a benefit. When he goes out for his first play he gets a
quarter thrown at him and has to get stitches by Eugene and luckily he gets to go back out and
play but when he is going he slams into rowdy and get tooken out. At the end of the game he
talks to the coach and he is proud how Arnold can go back out there and keep playing.
This impacts him because he now knows that his coach actually cares for him and he
finally has someone to count on. Arnold’s grandmother explains one of her best gift which is
even though back in her day Indian tribes did not accept other races or homeless or gay people
but she did and she talked with them. The Indians sense of tolerance has changed because of
the influence in white culture and because of that they did not accept those people.
Questions:
1, why do you think the kids at the Rez treated Arnold this way when he faced them?
2. How do you feel about Arnold's dad? if good why? if not why?
Questions:
1, why do you think the kids at the Rez treated Arnold this way when he faced them?
2. How do you feel about Arnold's dad? if good why? if not why?
I have mixed emotions about about Arnold's dad because his role in the leadership department is a little wonky . Sometimes he'll be a very motivating and inspirational dad the next thing you know he's getting drunk at the local bar with his friends. For example, he says " You have to dream big to get big"(136) to Arnold and then on page 150 Arnold said that he ran away to get get drunk for a week from Christmas Eve to January 2nd because he couldn't afford presents. This shows that Arnold's dad is only reliable when Arnold and the family need him most.
ReplyDeleteHow do you feel about Arnold's dad? if good why? if not why?
ReplyDeleteArnold's dad has his issues, but also has a “dad” part of him. To start with, he is a major alcoholic which effects the future of Arnold immensely. Arnold needs someone to look after him and guide him to success. Due to the fact the grandma has passed away, Arnold's dad needs to replicate the grandmothers actions or else Arnold will never leave the Rez. However, the dad when not drunk is very inspirational. “You have to dream big to get big”. This quote shows how Arnold's dad doesn't want Arnold to be negative and think he won't even make C team. He wants him to dream big and believe in himself. He shouldn't need to feel inadequate just because of white people. He can do everything they can do. Also when he gives Arnold 5 dollars which he could have spend on staying drunk for another day, it shows how he wants Arnold to prosper in society. Even though it's only five dollars it means he cares about him too.
Why do you think the kids at the Rez treated Junior this way when he faced them?
ReplyDeleteThroughout the book, the theme has been an identity clash between Junior’s “white side” and his “poor Indian side”. Therefore, when he left the reservation school to seek a better future, he was viewed as a traitor. Even Rowdy, his best friend, said that Junior thought he was better than him and that’s why he left. Rowdy’s interaction with Junior foreshadows what the rez will think when he leaves. Also, on Halloween night the reservation mistreats him because of his choice. The Rowdy fight and the turbulent Halloween night both show how the rez feels about him. The kids at the rez have mistreated him for having physical and mental differences so when he left, they thought of him in an even worse way. Overall, the kids at the rez don’t like him because he is acting superior to them which provokes their shallow minds.
I think that the kids back at the reservation treated Junior poorly when he arrived with all of the other kids from Reardan mainly because they were envious of the opportunities that he got. I think that they were jealous of Junior because he had gotten the chance of a lifetime, and was going to a better school, in a better (safer) community, with better opportunities. I think that Rowdy was the first kid at the reservation who really understood what Junior was doing. As it says back on page 52 “Rowdy stopped screaming with his mouth but he kept screaming with his eyes. ‘You always thought you were better than me,’ he yelled.” I believe that this section is really the beginning of the adversity that Junior will face now that he goes to Reardan. I believe that all of the kids that were standing outside the Wellpinit gym felt just like Rowdy. They felt as if they were stuck. They were alone. They were trapped in an endless cycle of poverty and alcoholism and sadness, and Junior had managed to escape, but they were still there. I think that they understood, like Rowdy, that Junior was making a better life for himself. They believed that he was going to leave the reservation and forget about everyone else. Another section of this book that helped me to better fathom the other student’s emotions towards Junior was on page 79. This is when Junior was beat up by the three kids wearing Frankenstein masks. It says “They didn’t beat me up too bad. I could tell they didn’t want to put me in the hospital or anything. Mostly they just wanted to remind me that I was a traitor.” This section shows that other kids were hurting Junior because he had abandoned them and had gone to Reardan. The other people on the reservation even called Junior ‘an apple’ because they thought that he was red on the outside but white on the inside. I believe that although the kids and the people on the reservation in general have the right to be mad at Junior up to some degree, they are taking it too far. I think that they believe that Junior has entirely forgotten Spokane, but in reality, he hasn’t. He still lives there. He still understands what it’s like to be poor. The only difference is that now he has taken an opportunity and is running with it. Do you think that the others on the reservation are being slightly too hard on Junior, and are being unreasonably mean to him?
ReplyDeleteYes. The people on the reservation have no right to hinder what Junior/Arnold can and cannot do. If they want to go to Rearden, they can. No one is stopping them. It will be hard, but they are not stuck, they have the opportunity.
DeleteWhy do you think the kids at the rez treated Arnold this way when he faced them?
ReplyDeleteIn this book all the time there is an conflict between the kids on the rez and the white kids of Reardon. A the basketball game it is like the ultimate clash between the two groups. Unfortunately Arnold is the one that is stuck in the middle. He goes to school at Readon but he lives on the rez. The kids on the rez don’t like Arnold anymore. This is because they think Arnold had betrayed them. They think Arnold thinks he is better than them so they are mad at him and chant “Arnold sucks” and he has to taken out of the game because somebody in the crowd threw something at him. This is also really hard for Arnold he is a teenager with a crowd full of kids chanting he sucks and people are throwing things at him. It hasn’t been just this moment that Arnold has been recognized as a betrayer. He’s had to face with this for the past couple of months and he has to deal with it for the rest of his life.
I think the kids on the Rez treated Arnold poorly during the game because he was considered a traitor to his tribe. He had left the reservation hoping for a better life at Reardon. The kids at the Reservation were jealous of Arnold's life at Reardon and how he could just go get this better education at a safer school out of the Rez. Arnold walks into this gym as part of a different team and he has left all of his Reservation friends behind. Even though he was Indian, he went to a white school where he considered himself to be Indian on the outside and white on the inside. Arnold was happy at Reardon and was glad he had switched.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the other people who said that there are pretty much 2 sides to Arnold’s dad; the alcoholic dad and the “dad” dad. Sometimes (most times), his dad is half asleep on the couch drinking a bottle of beer. Other times, he is having fun by joking around with Arnold. Although his dad is always drunk, he is always willing to give advice to Arnold. For example, he inspired him to try out for basketball at Rearden, and he also gave him $5 for Christmas, which is definitely something due to the fact that he would have much rathered spending it on another day worth of alcohol. No matter the occasion, and although it might not seem like it, Arnold’s dad is always willing to help him in any occasion. This shows that Arnold must have a strong bond with his dad. On a story arc, this would be considered something good and a high point. What bad thing do you think will come after their bonding?
ReplyDeleteI believe that the kids on the reservation treated Junior poorly because he was changing schools in order to find hope, and with that, not following the social norm. Yes, the fact that Junior is leaving his home and going to school with people who have oppressed Native Americans for centuries is a solid reason to label Junior as a traitor to his people, and this might be part of the reason why the kids on the reservation treated Junior poorly during the basketball game. However, I believe that there is a deeper meaning to why the kids on the reservation consider Junior a traitor. The majority of people on the reservation’s families have lived on the reservation for centuries; “my mother and father both lived within two miles from where they were born...Ever since the Spokane Indian Reservation was founded back in 1881, nobody in my family has lived anywhere else since”(89). Many people on the reservation loose hope due to the fact that there is poor funding on the reservation and because it is difficult for them to find opportunity due to their class. People on the reservation’s relatives and ancestors faced the same adversity that they do now and for the same reasons. The kids on the reservation do not understand that the reservation promotes an atmosphere that is mostly negative, and many people are not able to live up to their fullest potential. The kids on the reservation treated Junior poorly because they do not understand that they are losing hope due to the atmosphere in which they live in and as a result of their social class. They consider Junior a traitor because he is going to school with people whose ancestors have oppressed Native Americans for centuries, and because he is breaking the social norm by leaving the reservation in order to find hope.
ReplyDeleteI think that the kids in the rez treated Arnold so badly when he came to play the game against them because they felt like Arnold was betraying them. He used to be on their team, and now he left them to go to a different school. On page 153, Arnold says, “On the rez, you know every kid’s father, mother, grandparents, dog, cat, and shoe size. I mean, yeah, Indians are screwed up, but we’re really close to each other. We KNOW each other. Everybody knows everybody.” This quote shows that Arnold was close with people in the rez, and it seems like he left them. However, this is not the case because Arnold left for a better future, not to betray the rez. Also, another reason that the kids on the rezs are so mad is probably because they are jealous that he gets to go to a school that is full of hope and offers him a future, while they have to stay in Reardan. I think that Arnold’s dad is a good thing in Arnold’s life. Although he gets drunk and wastes money and isn’t the best father, he still clearly cares and loves Arnold, and wants what's best for him. “I realize that my folks are pretty good. Sure, my dad has a drinking problem...but they make sacrifices for me. They worry about me. They talk to me. And best of all, they listen to me. I’ve learned that the worst thing a parent can do is ignore their children.” (153)
ReplyDelete