In the chapter “Reindeer Games”, Arnold's
first game on Reardan's varsity basketball team is at Wellpinit High School. He
says, "Do I have to tell you that I was absolutely sick with fear?"
(142). He says this because this is the first encounter with the rez residents
where he is on the "white" team. The second the bus arrives, it gets
pelted with snowballs. When they get into the gymnasium, the crowd was
chanting, "Ar-nold sucks! Ar-nold sucks!" (143). He goes on to say,
"They weren't calling me by my rez name, Junior. Nope, they were calling
me by my Reardan name." (143). This really shows how the entire rez is
shaming him as a traitor. While he has a good sense of belonging and identity
at Reardan, he has lost that back in the rez.
The
coach reacts to this fast, and asks if Arnold is okay. He also says that he
doesn’t have to play the game, but he sticks with it and states that he does.
This is like what Arnold had told himself after playing Roger in tryouts. “I
was a warrior.” (141). This statement carries through to who and what he
becomes. Arnold’s team is very supportive as well. Junior starts to laugh
because, and he says, “If these dang Indians had been this organized when I
went to school here, maybe I would have had more reasons to stay.” (144). When Junior
starts to laugh, the coach and the rest of the team don’t understand why.
Still, they all laugh and make sure Junior isn’t the one that is being put on a
stage, alone.
One
factor that impacted Junior was Rowdy. Junior says “And then I noticed that the
only Indian who hadn’t turned his back on me was Rowdy. He was standing on the
other end of the court. He passed a basketball around his back, around his
back, around his back, like a clock. And he glared at me.” (144). Rowdy glaring
at Junior is like the time when he drew Rowdy that cartoon. Rowdy didn’t rip it
up, but he gave Junior the finger. Here, Rowdy didn’t participate in the group
shame like everyone else did, but shot daggers from his eyes to show that he
was MAD, red, hot, furious mad. Junior even says this; “He wanted to kill me,
face-to-face.” (144). During the game, Rowdy knocked Junior unconscious. The
injury and medical attention after that was not the important part. Coach’s
advice after is what impacted Junior a lot. He said, “The quality of a man’s
life is in direct proportion to his commitment to excellence, regardless of his
chosen field of endeavor.” This really makes Junior fell better about himself.
Even though Junior has lost his identity at
the rez and was shamed in front of his friends and family, he stuck through it
and truly did become a warrior and stood brave throughout this experience.
What
would you have done if the entirety of BB&N had turned their backs to you?
Do you think that Rowdy's anger was justified? Do you think that Junior
"being a warrior" is a beginning of change to him? Is the coach's
advice important to Junior in any way? Why do you think whites are so scared of
the Indians (the Spokane white judges)?
I have to apologize for posting this really late. I was bogged down in my homework, and by the time I realized it was eight, I didn't even start my blog post. So, tl;dr, sorry.
ReplyDeleteHonestly I wouldn't have been as brave as Arnold was when everyone shunned him. I would've been terrified wouldn't have known what to do. I would've just given up. I think that Rowdy does have a right to be angry, but he took it to the next level when he hit Arnold in the head. He knew about his medical condition, and I think that he just let his anger overtake him. Arnold is beginning to change, I think he's seeing the brighter side of life kind of. He's standing up for himself, when before he needed Rowdy's help.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the original post that Junior is in fact a warrior. It was shown in three ways. When the rez residents were yelling"Ar-nold sucks", instead of being offended, Arnold wasn't offended because he knew that he will be considered a traitor. The coach had offered for Junior not to play incase Junior feel comfortable playing for Reardan against Wellpinit, which was his old school, and against his best friend, Rowdy. But Junior still decided to play, by doing so he is also giving Rowdy a chance to hurt Junior and take revenge. Also, even though Junior got hit by a quarter that was threw on his forehead by one of the Indians, he still wished to play. So he asked Eugene to stitch the wound together without using pain-killers, and got on court again, later he got a concussion from Rowdy's revenge.
ReplyDeleteIf the entire BB&N turned their backs to me, I would want to know why. There isn't a reason for them to turn their backs on me. The entire rez (almost except for Rowdy and his family) turned their backs to Arnold because Arnold had left the rez to go to a White school and betrayed his own tribe.
I don't think Rowdy's anger was justified. I think Rowdy actually might regret punching Arnold on his head because if Rowdy misses Arnold, even if he just misses him a little bit, he would know that he shouldn't have done it after he has time to think about it because Rowdy never acts before thinking.
I agree with everyone. Arnold became brave and learned not to give up. For the first time Arnold tried something and succeeded. For example Arnold tried out for the basketball team thinking he would be on the C team, but he proved himself wrong and got on varsity. Another example in this chapter where he tried was during the game. He decided to give it his all and play the game, but in this example sadly Arnold doesn’t succeed. He learned from his father and Mr.P that, “You have to dream big to get big”(136). I felt Arnold was playing the game not just against his old school, but also against the old Arnold and haters. He was trying to prove to the old Arnold and the haters that he has hope now and was courageous. To answer Stanley’s question, I feel if all of BB&N turned their backs on me I would probably give up and stop trying unlike Arnold.
ReplyDeleteDo you think the concussion will affect Arnold? Predict what will happen?