Saturday, November 9, 2013
Question 2: Summarize the cartoon on 182. What is the significance? What does this show about Junior? What is his dilemma? (Anna)
The cartoon on page 182 shows how Arnold is seen as a traitor at Wellpinit, and an angel at Reardan. The drawing shows Arnold playing basketball at the Rez gym with the crowd calling him a "white lover", and dressed as a devil. On the other side, Arnold is an angel who is getting cheered on by his Reardan teammates. This shows that in Junior's mind, he sees himself as a traitor to his old school. He sees himself getting praised at Reardan, his new team; and dishonored by Wellpinit, his hometown team. Arnold can't even figure out his emotions towards this dilemma. He says, "A basketball game...can be the difference between being happy and being miserable for the rest of my life." (Alexie 184). Arnold will feel joyous if his team wins, but ashamed for crushing his own former school mates. This dilemma will affect Arnold and make him feel like a traitor, which is exactly what Arnold conveys through his cartoon.
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Also, Arnold is in a dilemma because everyone at Reardan expects so much of him and wants him to be great. As Coach is giving the team a pep talk, he says "We have Arnold Spirit...and you're going to guard Rowdy...You have to stop him." (Alexie 188). The Reardan team is putting a lot of pressure on him to beat his old bestfriend and teammates. As much as Arnold would love to win he feels badly that he left Wilpinit in the dust and is now at a fancier and richer school. If he loses the game he will be letting his team down but if he wins, he will feel like a traitor.
ReplyDeleteI agree, this picture is showing the different sides of Junoir, it shows how different people react to him. When he shows up in the Wellpinit gym, everyone is pushing him down, making him feel like a devil. On the contrary though in the Reardan gym he's supported, making him feel like he's an angle. In both sides of the picture though he doesn't know who he is, yet he tries overcomes this in both scenarios. At the beginning of the game all Junior wants is too win and beat Rowdy as he says, "I wanted to win. I wanted revenge. I wasn't playing for the fans. I wasn't playing for the white people. I was playing to beat Rowdy." (Alexie, 182-183). Junior is playing to beat Rowdy, to show him that he's over him and has moved on. Even though he has some second thoughts that are pulling him back about, about winning his determination pushes him through to win.
ReplyDeleteIn the chapter “In like a Lion”, Junior was forced to make the decision between winning and losing (perhaps purposely) the basketball game between Wellpinit and Reardan. By winning the game, he would either turn his old classmates even more against him or let them see how Reardan had turned him into a better player. If they chose to think about it, they would be able to see that Reardan was not a bad school. If he lost, however, nothing would change between him and his classmates. Junior made the right decision: he would take his chances by trying his best. In the end, however, when the Reardan team wins, the Wellpinit team only becomes sad and angrier, and Junior feels “suddenly ashamed that he’d wanted so badly to take revenge on them” (Alexie 196). This quote also suggests that he was angry at Wellpinit. In the rivalry between Junior and Wellpinit, both sides certainly changed their opinions following the game.
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