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Group D: #4: Explain the significance/importance of the friendship with Gordy for Junior. (Jack W)


The significance of the friendship with Gordy and Junior is that even though they are from different places and have different academic abilities, they both feel out of place in Reardan and have similar reasons to why they are different. For example, after Junior asked Gordy if he could be his friend, Junior notes, “I was an Indian kid from the reservation. I was lonely and sad and isolated and terrified. Just like Gordy.” (Alexie 94). This quote proves that Junior has felt mixed emotions about the transfer to Reardan and he feels like less of an outsider when hanging out with Gordy. They obviously have their differences, for example Gordy has counted all of the books in the Reardan library, and Junior punched Roger in the face and gave him a nose that “bled like fireworks”. When Gordy was talking about books and Junior was talking about comics, Gordy says, “So you take drawing cartoons as seriously as you take books?” (Alexie 95). Showing that the two friends share common virtues, this quote explains both of the characters’ love for drawing and reading. In the beginning, Gordy doesn’t want to be friends with Junior, but after the “exotic”  talk they had with each other, they eventually find common ground.

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