Junior felt alone walking through the hallway because he finally came to the realization that he did not have any friends and that no
one liked him. After his “fight” with his best friend, Rowdy, he had no one to
turn to and no one by his side. Every white student and teacher at Reardan ignored him and it seemed like no one even knew that he was there. He felt like a “Zombie”
(Alexie 82). A great example of being ignored was during
science class with Mr. Dodge. The class was talking about petrified wood.
Junior raised his hand and nervously pointed out to Mr. Dodge that petrified
wood is not actually wood. Mr. Dodge was surprised by this Indian boy who
had the nerve to correct him. Of course, almost immediately, he started to
question what he said. He even made fun of him by saying, “Where did you learn
this fact? On the reservation? Yes, we all know there’s so much amazing science
on the reservation.” (Alexie 85). As the whole class laughed at him, he started to feel the loneliness once again, but only until Gordy chimed in. Everyone knew that whatever Gordy said would be right. So when Gordy corrected Mr. Dodge and agreed with Junior, Junior felt like someone was finally sticking up for him. That sense of gratitude vanished quickly after he thanked Gordy for sticking up for him. Gordy then said, "I didn't do it for you, I did it for science." (Alexie 87). It seems that everyone is just toying with his emotions.
Yes Junior feels more deserted and lonely than ever. He says, "It was the loneliest time of my life". (Alexie 83). He feels like he is wanted no where. He has lost his best friend whom he had for his whole life on the Rez, and now no one even pays attention to him at Reardan. Junior says, "Those white kids did not talk to me." (Alexie 83). At this time in his life, Junior has absolutely no one to be his friend or even talk to.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I think a big part of what happened in science was Mr. Dodge's reaction to Junior versus his reaction to Gordy. When Junior corrects him, he gets mad and starts to get defensive by questioning his source. Then, when Gordy said the exact same thing, Mr. Dodge thanks him for sharing and says "Isn't that interesting" (Alexie 86). He believes and respects Gordy a lot more that Junior. This may just be because Gordy has a reputation to be a genius; but I think it is also because he is white, not Indian. This ties in to Junior feeling alone because it proves that students are not the only people ignoring/excluding him; teachers are too! They doubt him and are just as disrespectful to Junior as his classmates. I think this contributes to Junior feeling alone because he has absolutely no one to turn to.
ReplyDeleteAdding on to what you said about Junior feeling like a zombie, he definitely felt like a zombie, but not even a zombie. He felt that nobody payed attention to him, and thought he was weird and different. As the story says, "I wasn't a zombie, not at all. Because you can't ignore a zombie" (Alexie 82). Junior thought that if he was a zombie, he would be noticed and people would be scared of him. So, Junior decides that he isn't even a zombie, because nobody pays attention to him.
ReplyDeleteJunior is the lonliest he has ever been in his life. Even on Halloween night the people on the reservation still slammed the door in his face because he left the reservation. "But there were a lot more people who just called me names and slammed the door in my face" (Alexie 79). Junior is still being scolded by people on his decision to not give up like they did. Junior is eventually jumped by three guys for his candy and the money he was raising for homeless Native Americans. Even when junior returns to school the next day and says he was jumped, Penelope felt sympathy for a little bit, but then returns to her normal ways of treating junior. Junior is lonely throught these chapters both in school and on the rez.
ReplyDelete