Friends.....Again

On page 230, Rowdy and Arnold are playing a game of pickup basketball and Rowdy is making fun of Arnold and the two of them continue playing. Arnold says a powerful statement, "We didn't keep score." What Arnold is saying is that ever since Arnold changed schools the two haven't been as friendly. When they finally decide to continue playing and hanging out they both express their love for basketball, and they play a game of basketball. Arnold says they didn't keep score, and this statement means that they have moved past their differences and they have settled the ongoing issue; who is better at basketball. For the first time in a while Arnold and Rowdy just play, as friends; for fun.

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              Rowdy tells Junior that, "You killed her (211)" because in Rowdy's point of view Junior's sister was pressured to move out of the reservation as Junior moved to Reardan, an all white school outside the rez. Though Rowdy is a bit jealous that Junior will probably go to college and have a better life outside of the reservation, Rowdy has a point that Junior's sister felt that if she did not move out soon she would become an average poor person in the rez. Rowdy makes a valid point in this sentence, but it was her own fault that she was killed. Late that night she was to drunk, and her senses were to dull to know that she was burning to death. Rowdy believes that it was all Junior's fault, but the people at Reardan high school try to comfort him in this terrible time for Junior. Junior is disheartened to think that he was the cause of his sisters death and this adds to the many bad things that have happened to Junior after he has started going to a white school. Junior has lost another loved one to alcohol and carelessness, but this time Junior can't shake the feeling that it is his fault.   

                                                                                                                                                           - Irfan

Their Competition

At the end of the book, after being in a long fight, Rowdy and Arnold repair their lost friendship. At the beginning of the scene, Rowdy goes over to Arnold's house, essentially ready to call a truce, because he wants to play basketball with his old friend. Gladly, Arnold accepts the invitation and the two head outside to play.

While they are playing, Arnold re-invites Rowdy to come to school with him at Reardan the following year. Though Rowdy declines, he explains to Arnold that he always knew Arnold would be the one to leave the reservation. He even had a dream about Arnold at the Great Wall of China looking happy. When Rowdy had that dream, despite his toughness and competitive side, he was happy for Arnold. And, in a way, the Great Wall represented Reardan. Arnold had gotten to a place that is in a very different community, still managing to enjoy it and be happy, while Rowdy was on the outside looking in.

Then, while the two friends are playing basketball, just like the old times, the novel ends. "We didn't keep score. (Alexie, 230)" were the final words of the book. This statement made me think about the whole story and how everything was, essentially, always a competition: Rowdy against Arnold. Whether it was the basketball games, switching schools, or the fighting, the two were always in a disagreeing and against each other. But, at the end of the book, when the boys are just playing their favorite game together, their whole competition vanishes. The two finally realize that life doesn't have to be a competition with a winner or a loser. But more importantly, they realize that, while they have many similarities and differences, they will always be best friends who enjoy being together.

--Sophia

Opening Doors - Izzy

          At the end of the novel, Junior relizes, with the help from his best friend, Rowdy, that he is one out of many Indians that will be nomadic.  On page 229, Rowdy says, "Hardly anybody on this rez is nomadic. Except for you. You're the nomadic one."  At this point in the novel Junior truly realizes two things. One is that he will be the one, if someone was to leave the rez.  He also realizes that Rowdy is loyal to him, and although he doesn't always show it, he loves Junior.
          Junior realizes that his life is going to be adventure-filled, because after Rowdy tells him that, "...I always knew you were going to leave us behind and travel the world...(pg. 229)."  Junior starts crying because he realizes that he won't be a drunk parent like his were, he won't be stuck on a small Indian reservation.  He realizes that he is destined for great things and cries tears of joy.  These tears of joy are also filled with some sadness about leaving his friends, family, and way of life.  With every door that closes, a new one opens, and as Junior closes his door to reservation life, he opens a new door to the rest of the world.

Junior's Identity

Lidia
Junior's Identity

      At the end of the novel, Junior is shooting hoops with Rowdy and they aren't keeping score because the game they are playing isn't about keeping score. It's about being together as friends. Junior os the Indian on the Rez. that has decided to be a better person and has decided to live life to it's fullest. He does not want to be like the other Indians, where they are afraid of the white people, or they are mean to the white people. He does not want to become an alcoholic like the rest of his family, ever. "It's pretty." Rowdy said. "I've never seen anything so pretty." It was the only time I'd ever heard him talk like that. (pg. 226)
     I think this quote relates to the new Junior because when Rowdy said this, I believe Junior wanted Rowdy to turn into that kind of person. He wanted Rowdy to also move away from the life of an alcoholic. That is also why Junior was so sad to hear that his sister had become one as well. Junior's life literally revolves around alcohol and he doesn't want that, so he decides to become the alcohol free Indian.

Junior Finally Belongs

Why does Junior cry on pages 216 and 217?

Junior Finally Belongs

Lucy 

For Spokane Indians, alcohol is the center of their lives. On happy occasions, they drink. When someone dies, they drink. All some of the people on the reservation do all day and night is drink. For Junior, drinking is the worst thing in the world. Almost all of the important people in his life have died because of alcohol. When Junior finds out that his sister has joined that group, he cries. Junior is not only crying for his sister, “I was crying for my tribe too… because I knew five or ten or fifteen Spokanes would die during the next year, and most of them would die because of alcohol. (p. 216)” Junior knows that the deaths he has already experienced will not be the last. 

Junior also cries because he is happy and proud of himself. He is proud because he was the only one to ever leave the reservation, and he cries because “I knew that I was never going to drink and because I was never going to kill myself and because I was going to have a better life out in the white world. (p. 217)” Junior knows that he is different, and he is in poverty, and has brain problems, and he is an Indian going to an all white school. Despite all this, Junior realizes that he belongs, and he is not “alone in his loneliness (p. 217)” 

Who's Fault?

Question: Why does Rowdy tell Arnold, “You killed her” (211)? Is there truth to this statement?

Answer: Rowdy believes that it is Arnold’s fault that one of his closest friends, and Arnold’s sister, died. He thinks that since Arnold decided to stand out, and not follow everyone else’s paths, Arnold pushed his sister to change her life as well, and so she left the reservation, got married, and moved away before her family could even say good bye. At her new home, she and her husband got drunk at a party in their trailer and passed out in the bedroom. Everyone forgot about them and left. They had forgotten to turn off the hot plate, and the hot plate touched the curtain, which began to burn. Eventually, the trailer burned down, but they were too drunk to even feel it. Rowdy believes that since it was Arnold who started the entire chain, it was his fault.

When Arnold is told his sister died, despite their love, his way of coping with the pain is laughter. He laughs and laughs and laughs, until he sees Rowdy. Since he and Rowdy were fighting, they had been avoiding each other, but Rowdy had been unable to resist coming to Arnold’s sister’s funeral. He didn’t want to be seen, so he hid in the forest. When Arnold ran back there to escape the depression of the memorial service, he banged into Rowdy, who was crying. This was the first time Arnold had ever seen Rowdy crying, and he stopped in shock. Then he stood in shock for a moment, before saying, “Rowdy, you’re crying” (209). Rowdy denied that he was crying, and said that Arnold was crying, not him. When Arnold didn’t fall for it, he reached out to place a comforting hand on Rowdy’s shoulder. Rowdy was angry, and though he attempted to, he swung and missed at Arnold, unable to hit his former best friend. Arnold was even more surprised by blunder, and laughed. Rowdy looked up with hurt in his eyes, and told Arnold, “You killed her” (p. 211). Only then did Arnold stop his laughter and absorb this new opinion. ‘Had he killed her?’ he wondered to himself. If he hadn’t left to go to the new school, would his sister still be safe at home, living in his basement? 

Slowly, Arnold began to blame himself for his sister’s death. He started to think that if he hadn’t left the reservation first, his sister wouldn’t have either. Arnold began to think it was his fault.

I think that it wasn’t Arnold’s fault, because the reason his sister had left was because she wanted to escape. Seeing Arnold change his future made her realize she didn’t want to stay on the reservation forever. It was smart of her to move, though she didn’t make the right decision of how to get out. This was her fault. If she hadn’t gotten that drunk in the first place, she wouldn’t have died. This was her fault. If the people at the party hadn’t forgotten and left their hosts in danger, she wouldn’t have died. This was the people attending the parties faults. In all, there were  several people to blame for his sister’s death, but Arnold was not one of them. 

~Mila