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#5. What does Arnold hide and ultimately reveal in “Dance Dance Dance?” What does he learn? Be sure to discuss the final sentence on page 129. (Noé A-B)


Since Arnold has been at Reardan, he has been hiding the fact that he is poor, and he finally confesses the truth to Penelope and Roger. He learns that they are real friends of his, as their view of him as a person does not change when they learn about his financial status. At Reardan, people generally assume that Junior is rich as they think that the government gives money to Indians. As Junior is starting to gain some popularity at school, he concludes that if his peers find out he is disadvantaged financially, then they would stop liking him or dislike him even more. Arnold states: “I figured it wouldn’t do me any good if they knew I was dirt poor… So I pretended to have a little money… I pretended I belonged” (Alexie 119). Junior is afraid that if everybody knows he is poor, then his reputation as a weird, Indian, new kid would be even worse. However, this assumption of his is proven wrong, as when he comes back from the pancake restaurant with Roger and Penelope, he ends up telling them the truth, and both of his friends result in feeling empathy for him. Penelope begins to cry and kisses Junior, and Roger kindly proposes to take him back home instead of walking 22 miles in the dark. Arnold understands that “if you let people into your life a little bit, they can be pretty darn amazing” (Alexie 129). In this chapter, Arnold finally understands that by sharing his true self with his peers, he can form new, solid friendships.

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