Why does Junior feel he wants to get back to school? What happens when he gets there?--Mika
Junior wants to go back to school to escape the influence of alcohol back at the Reservation. Junior understands that drinking only leads to more negative consequences, while the majority of people living on the Reservation do not. Most people living on the Reservation cope with pain by drinking alcohol as a temporary way to soothe their pain. Three of Junior’s close friends and family members have died from a cause related to the use of alcohol. Junior wants to go back to school because the people mourning his sister's death will most likely be drinking alcohol, the drink that promoted her decease, and he wants to leave this place. Although there is irony in this thought, it is very true among not only Junior’s friends and family but among the entire Reservation. When the first settlers conquered America, they oppressed Native American people, and centuries later, Native American people were still oppressed by white people when they tried to “take the indian out of the man”. Centuries of pain have caused generations of Native American people to handle their pain by drinking alcohol. Since this practice is a social norm, many Native Americans drink alcohol to handle their pain, which only leads to greater sorrow and depression.
When Junior returns to school, he is greeted by people who are supportive and empathetic when they hear about Junior’s loss; “They were worried for me.They wanted to help me with my pain” (212). Junior has become a critical asset to Reardan's basketball team, and, overall, a funny and kind addition to Reardan. Junior’s teachers and peers are so supportive when he loses his sister because that kind of trauma rarely happens to any of the students attending Reardan. At Wellpinit, the students there would be sad about the loss of Mary; however, they would not be nearly as supportive as the students attending Reardan because they have gone through similar circumstances as Junior. In conclusion, Junior wants to get back to school in order to escape the influence of alcohol at the Reservation, and when he returned to Reardan, he was greeted by supportive teachers and peers.
Are there any other characters we have read about in other books that cope with pain by drinking alcohol?
Why do you think that throughout the book Arnold was shaped into this character who was “different” and did not believe in alcohol or losing hope?
Why throughout the book have we frequently seen white people cry when they hear about Junior’s issues and struggles?
In the Outsiders, Ponyboy handles a lot of his pain and worrying by smoking. I think that Arnold was shaped to not like alcohol because he saw the detrimental effects alcohol has on people’s lives, and how many people die because of it. Since they beginning of the book, Arnold wanted a better life than the one that was expected for him, and a big part of the problems that the adults in his life faced was alcohol, and he doesn’t want to be like that. Arnold doesn’t lose hope for the same reason that he knows he’s not going to drink; he wants a better future. Throughout the book, white people have cried about Junior’s situation, when Junior himself doesn't feel so sad about it. This shows how different white people and Indian people’s lives are. They couldn’t imagine a world in which they would have to walk home many miles in the cold, but to Junior, that’s his life. So white people who do not go through the same thing can’t imagine how horrible it must be for Junior, when Junior is living through what they fear. It is sort of like a story about perspective, and how different people see things differently because of the amount of privilege each person has when they’re born.
ReplyDeleteWhy throughout the book have we seen white people cry when they hear about Junor’s issues and struggles?
ReplyDeleteThroughout this book we have seen that the daily lives of white people and the Indians are very different. The white people take for granted some of the things that the Indians don’t have. For example sometimes there is no breakfast in the Indians fridge because the parents can’t afford it. So when the whites hear about the struggles of Junior they are stunned. They think that some of the things they don’t have are so absurd that they cry. But the whites aren’t the only people who have an epiphany. When Junior and the Reardon basketball team win the game Junior realizes what those kids go through at home. He doesn't just realize it he knows he knows these kids struggles. Like the whites he doesn't cry but throws up. In conclusion the Indians are and will always be the people who don’t have food in the morning because no matter how much the whites cry about the Indians struggles they will never do anything about it.
Many times in this book white people in Juniors life cry over his loss and despair. This can be confusing because the white people can't relate to Junior and his pain but I think that this is exactly the reason why they cry and grieve with him. I think this because if the white Rearden kids think that they have a hard life and then they see what Junior has to deal with, they feel bad for him and they feel guilty for thinking that they had it rough. They start thinking that while weeping over their own pain, which is nothing compared to Junior's, they completely neglected to tend to the people who really need help. Even after the whole textbook scene, they can't see how crushed the Welpinit players are when they lose to Rearden. When the whites do realize how selfish and neglectful they have been, they weep not only for Junior but for themselves.
ReplyDeleteThe whites cry because they never imagined that Junior has such a rough life. Arnold tells us that "Everybody in Rearden assumed we made lots of money because we had a casino... And white people everywhere have always believed that the government just gives money to Indians" (119). After assuming that Arnold is well-off, maybe even better off than them because he is an Indian, they see how wrong they have been. The truth is that Spokanes are poor and have a life chock full of alcohol and death. They cry not only because they feel bad for Arnold, but because they never considered the possibility that he might be struggling and in need of help.
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