Mr.P's Advice

Mila

5•13•13

Canaday

"A" Block

Question: What is Mr.P's advice to Junior? Why does he give this advice?

Response:   Mr.P tells Junior that if he wants to go anywhere in life, he must leave the reservation. Mr.P believes that the majority of the people living on the reservation have lost hope, and that if Junior doesn't leave, he will lose hope too. He understands that Junior doesn't think highly enough of himself to leave the reservation, because it has been drilled into him that since he is Indian, he is ugly and stupid. Mr.P convinces Junior that he is smart and, deserves better than what is offered for him in the poor reservation community. "'I want you to say that you deserve better...You are a good kid. You deserve the world.' Wow, I wanted to cry. No teacher had ever said anything so nice, so incredibly nice, to me. (p. 41)"

                  Mr.P makes Junior promise that he won't tell anyone, before he gives Junior his advice. I think he does this because he doesn't want to other Indians to get mad at him since he is disrespecting their community by saying Junior is better than the rest of the Indians. After Mr.P gives Junior his advice of leaving the reservation, it takes a little while for Junior to get it. At first he doesn't realize that Mr.P is suggesting a permanent change, and is confused. Afterwards, Mr.P explains in further depth the situation. He believes that the Indians on the reservation are slowly being taught to give up by everyone around them. They have very low expectations for themselves, as do the people surrounding them, therefore they do not know how much they can truly complete if they set their minds to it. Mr.P sees potential in Junior, and doesn't want him to give up, or lose hope. He believes that in order to keep that glimmer of ambition in Junior, Junior needs to find a place where he isn't the best, and he has other people's higher standards to live up to. "You fought off the brain surgery. You fought off those seizures. You fought off all the drunks and drug addicts. You kept your hope. And now, you have to take your hope, and go somewhere where other people have hope." Mr.P thinks that since Junior still has a fighting chance, due to his perseverant unwillingness to lose hope, he deserves a better life than the generations before it, and in order to earn that life for himself, he will have to leave the reservation behind.

Mila