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#8. Why does Junior cry on pages 216 and 217? (Clara N.)

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.

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