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#1. Why does Junior say, “it sucks to be poor…” (13)? What does “poverty teach you (13)”? Explain. (Sandro B.)

 Junior compares an Indian’s life to a white person’s life. He believes that Indians don’t get as much opportunity as white people, and sometimes have to make choices that a white person doesn’t, such as putting a dog down because an individual can not afford a Vet. “But we reservation Indians don’t get to realize our dreams. We don’t get those chances. Or choices. We’re just poor. That’s all we are” (13, Alexie). Junior believes that poverty doesn’t motivate one to do better, “Poverty only teaches you how to be poor” (13, Alexie). Junior’s dog had been suffering from pain and needed a Vet critically, but Junior’s family had to put him down because they didn’t want the dog, Oscar, to undergo all of that progressive pain like that. If the family had the opportunity,  maybe Oscar could have been saved and be living a happy life right now. This experience does not motivate Junior, it just makes him deeply heartbroken. This is just one case of the minimized opportunity that someone living on The Spokane Reservation gets, and it is displayed in the text how much more opportunity they could use.

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