On pages 216 and 217 Junior is crying because he knows that Indians will never have the same opportunities that white people will have; there will be many challenges to face among, deaths, drunken Indians and loss of hope in the upcoming years. Shortly after Mary passed away, Junior is mourning over her death but begins to realize that even though it didn’t end well, moving to Montana was one of the best things she ever did; it showed that she still had an inkling of hope, “I mean, she was amazing. It was courageous of her to leave the basement and move to Montana. She went searching for her dreams, and she didn’t find them, but she made the attempt. And I was making the attempt, too. And maybe it would kill me, too, but I knew that staying on the rez would have killed me, too” (Alexie 216). Although many of the Indians on the reservation have given up hope and grieved by becoming drunk and an alcoholic the quotes shows that both Mary and Junior have not lost hope and they will attempt to make their future different from what Indians futures are supposed to be like. Even if it kills them. The Indians who have lost hope are going to die on the reservation like they were meant to but, Junior was brave, brave enough to leave.
#8. Why does Rowdy tell Arnold, "You killed her" (211)? Is there truth to this statement? (Grant L.)
Rowdy thinks that Mary got married just to adventure out of the tribe like Junior did. After Mary’s funeral, Junior runs straight into Rowdy who was watching from the forest. When Junior looks up he see’s that Rowdy has damp cheeks, symbolizing that he was crying. At first, Rowdy denies the tears and even tries to punch Junior, but when Junior starts laughing the tears come out stronger. Rowdy breaks down and says, “Your Sister is dead because you left us. You killed her” (Alexie 211). This makes Junior stop laughing, “I suddenly felt like I might never laugh again” (Alexie 211). After Rowdy runs away, the pain of his comment hits Junior hard. Junior himself does not deny the statement and he blames it all on himself. He tells himself that because he decided to spend his time with white people, she had burned. There is no truth in Rowdy’s statement because Mary had always been adventurous. She was adventurous enough to run away from home with no money, support, or experience...
Comments
Post a Comment