On page 216 and 217 Junior cries for his sister and all the loss he has had in the past few months.
He also cried for how brave his sister was for leaving the reservation and chasing her dreams. At the bottom of page 216 it says "We were supposed to disappear" (Alexie 216) This shows that she was noble and brave because just before that Sherman Alexie says that reservations were supposed to be prisons but Mary broke free and followed her dream to Montana. Even though she didn't catch her dream, she made a attempt which is what really counts. This really counts because at the beginning of the book Mr.P says that people on the rez have already given up but its not to late for Junior or Mary. Junior also cries for himself because he took Mr.P advice and not given up and it made him a better person and made him believe in himself. This teaches us that even if people have given up around you don't let them pull you down with them. You can be better and you can prevail.
I agree with Charles. In addition, I think that Junior is also crying for everyone on the rez. The people who live with him will never get a chance to do what he did. He is crying for their lost dreams. They either are held back because of family issue or they are too afraid to leave and change their future. They can’t escape the stereotype that they spend their time drinking instead of changing their lives for the better. This is best explained by Arnold who says “I wept because I was the only one who was brave and crazy enough to leave the rez”(217). He knows that everybody had the chance to leave or change their lives but he was one of the only people who did it. The others were held back by their fears of what life would be like outside of the rez. He feels bad and starts crying because other people should be able to achieve their dreams as well instead of ending up following in the footsteps of others on the rez.
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