Arnold’s first game is against Wellipint High School. It is somewhat annoying that he has to drive back and forth between schools with the limited gas money hes has, but there is much worse problems to come. The whole town is united against Arnold and the impression that he is a traitor, and it is one of the few things that the whole town agrees on. The chanting “Ar-nold sucks!” (143) is showing the hatred the Indians have for Arnold. The back-turning shows the disrespect for Arnold. The hatred and disrespect is shown to extremely well with the fact that grown men and women are all joining in in what seems like a petty cause. Arnold might be realizing what large effect his school transfer is having on the Indian community.
Arnold could absorb the hatred and take much offense to it, but he just shakes it off, by laughing. Lots of courage is needed to laugh off hatred that was shown in the gym. Also, the laughed was also noticed by everyone. “My laughter was the only sound in the gym” (144) explains how much effect that lugh had on the Indians in the gym and probably angered them more. The anger is shown vividly when Arnold gets hit in the face with a quarter
Arnold’s teammates definitely support Arnold and they show that by laughing alongside Arnold when he is turned upon. Although it shows respect, it is a lot easier to do because they know they are already hated and they are expected to be like that. His coach shows his respect later by telling stories with Arnold, and he seems to be a very nice and loving person as he comforts Arnold after his concussion. I think the coach is another example of Arnold gaining friends in the white world and show him slowly growing away from his former Indian life.
Do you think that Arnold is showing great courage through his actions? Do you think that the coach is a big example of Arnold being more connected to whites? How about Rowdy, do you think Arnold’s friendship with him ever be healed? Do you think that events like this will continue? Why?
I think that Arnold is showing great courage with his actions. First of all, as Carney said, he laughs and just shrugs off the hatred shown towards him by the crowd. This takes great courage because Arnold doesn’t know what to expect from the Indians back. The Indians could do anything, including throw a quarter that hits Arnold’s forehead. I also think that it also takes courage for the other players on the varsity team and the coach to join Arnold in his laughter. They could, just as much as Arnold, get hit, or hurt by the Indians. As Carney said, the laugh was the only sound in the gym, so you could tell that hearing this laugh wasn’t what the Indians were expecting. This laugh angered them more and also confused them. In this chapter, Rowdy concussed Arnold. I was very surprised at this action by Rowdy because even though he is mad at Arnold, I wouldn’t think he would get physical towards Arnold. It shocked me at how Sherman Alexie said that Rowdy was the only Indian still looking at Arnold. What was ironic, was that he was looking at Arnold with an expression full of hate and anger.
ReplyDeleteAs James and Alex both said, doing what Junior did took great courage. After his own community started chanting “Ar-nold sucks!” and then shunning him by turning their backs on him, he does not get upset, rather he starts to laugh out loud. It was brave to do this because no one expected this. Everyone expected him to run away or start to cry like he usually does, instead he shocks them. Then to help out their friend Arnold, the Rearden team starts to laugh with him. This helps Arnold feel better that his friends have his back. Even Arnold did not expect to start laughing, nevertheless have his friends join him. He mocks the crowd by laughing at them. This gets them even more angry. This may be part of the reason why Rowdy concussed Arnold. Rowdy knows that he has a sensitive head and that he has been through a lot with it, yet he still elbows him in his head. Once again Arnold’s new friends have his back by standing up to Rowdy when Arnold is elbowed. Do you think that the referees did the right thing by giving the game to Wellprint?
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ReplyDeleteI agree with Alex and Carney. However, I don't think it was courage, I think it was stupidity. He is a person, therefore when playing sports, his coach will be angry if he says no. Later, when he gets hit by a quarter, that is courage. he knew that he wasn't in a safe place yet he still played. I also think that the coach is a large example of Arnold being connected to the whites for many ways. The fact that Arnold respects, and listens to Coach shows that he is connected to the whites. Lastly, I don't think that Rowdy's friendship will ever be fully healed with Junior. After punching Junior twice and flipping him off Rowdy has made it clear he doesn't want to see Junior again.
ReplyDeleteI respectfully disagree with Jai. I truly believe that the whole chapter was just one big act of courage by Junior. Having his first basketball game against the people who shunned him was frightening to him. To face the people who had called him a "traitor" and showed so much disrespect him was one of his worst fears. Junior even had the choice to opt out, but still decided to go. This choice was an act of courage because he decided that the only way for him to deal with his fears is to face it. As he gets to the court and receives the unwelcome greeting from his previous classmates, he pushes his courage to a new level. Although he was extremely scared, he managed to push out those thoughts of harassment and embarrassment by laughing, even though it made the Indians hate him even more. Finally and most importantly, he decided to have the stitches right away so he could get back in the game after he got hit by a quarter. He realized that this was his only chance to redeem himself in front of the Indians and Reardan. Although the game ended badly for him, Junior felt that he successfully faced his fear. Through this act of courage, Junior demonstrates that he has found a new belonging and identity at Reardan and has partially left the rez behind, regardless of the treatment he receives from the other Indians.
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