#3 4. Name/ explain three issues/ hurdles Junior encounters in his transition to Reardan. (Saffy)
Junior encounters three main challenges because of race and betrayal in his transition to Reardan. When Junior tells Rowdy of his plan to transfer to Reardan, Rowdy doesn’t believe him. When he realises that Junior is telling the truth, he is enraged, Rowdy couldn’t believe that Junior was betraying his tribe and his best friend to go to the school full of white children. Rowdy especially does not like Reardan because the school he goes to tries to beat them in sports and educational competitions, but they never succeed. Being the only Native American person in Reardan, Junior finds it hard to fit in. He is stared at, and teased about his name. Junior says, “Those white kids couldn’t believe their eyes. They stared at me like I was Bigfoot or a UFO. What was I doing at Reardan” (Alexie, 56). Junior obviously feels out of place at Reardan, and he is treated like an alien. Junior is called stereotypical names like “Chief” and “Sitting Bull” (Alexie, 63) by his peers at Reardan. He lets them call him names, but Junior knows that eventually he is going to have to fight, and probably lose, to try to get them to stop calling him names. Junior is not intimidated by fighting his bullies, because he has been in many before, but he they will crush him. He quotes “I was afraid those monsters would kill me. And I don’t mean “kill” as in “metaphor.” I mean “kill” as in “beat me to death” (Alexie, 66). Although Junior has a rough transition, he continues attending Reardan in his search for hope.
I agree with this; Junior's transition is definitely not a piece of cake. As Saffy said, Junior and Rowdy get into a big fight, and it is hard for Junior to fit in at Reardan. In addition, Junior also realizes that the rules at the rez aren't the same as the rules at Reardan. For example, at the rez, if anyone insults you, you must fight them. Junior tries to fight someone who bullies him named Roger, but Roger and his friends were shocked when Junior threw a punch. "...they followed a whole other set of mysterious rules where people apparently DID NOT GET INTO FISTFIGHTS" (Alexie, 65-66). This is just one of many challenges Junior faces when he transitions to Reardan.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Saffy because in my mind it is very hard for people to transition somewhere new especially when you have to leave behind people you care about. Also she says that it is very hard to be different in some place that you have to be everyday for example when Junior walked into the classroom he says that everyone freezes and stares at him. This makes him feel like a total outsider and only a few people reach out to outsiders.
ReplyDelete