Even after Junior was rejected by Penelope, he kept on trying to be friends with her. It started in class, in the morning, “Hey I said. We have the same costume. I thought that she was going to sniff at me again, but she almost smiled” (Alexie 78). Penelope might be starting to realize that Junior does not want to give up on his life, at the rez and that he wants to be his own person and give himself a chance to succeed. She might be realizing how much bravery it took, for him to leave his reservation, and for him to come to a completely different school where he did not know anyone. After this first successful conversation between Junior and Penelope, they met again after Halloween, “I’ll still put your name on the money when I send it” (Alexie 80). This shows that Penelope truly cares about Junior because it says something to put his Junior’s name on the package even though he did not come up with any money. As for Junior, I think that even if Penelope does not ever think of him as much as she did then, this should be a large confidence booster. Junior has one of the most popular girls on his side and the most popular boy on his side. This is because they are realizing that Junior does not want to follow the trend of lost hope in the rez and make use of his life. Junior should hope that this catches fire in the school leading to at least a brighter future at Reardon.
(Sam)
ReplyDeleteI agree with all of your points. However I think it is also important to look at the fact that near the end of our reading Junior says that Penelope started talking to him less again. "I thought that Penelope and I would become closer.....Penelope still treated me the pretty much the same. She din't say much to me. And I didn't really say much to her(81)." As you can see after this connection Junior made with Penelope over halloween, he expected them to talk and hang out more. However that didn't happen. They net back to the way it started out, just saying something to each other here and there. So I think that although Penelope connects with Junior there is no big step up in their relationship.
ReplyDeleteSam, I think that all of your points are correct. I also think that Penelope cares and likes Junior, as a friend. After Junior shows Penelope all of his bruises, tells her he doesn't have the money, but she will still say it is from the both of them, Junior says,"'It feels good to help people, doesn't it?'" and Penelope replies back,"'Yes,... Yes it does'" then "She smiled" (Alexie 81). I think that Penelope still likes Junior, but not as much as he wishes. Although, Penelope cares very much for him. She is almost always very nice to him and that means a lot coming from a reservation into a white school. Having a friend by his side makes Junior glad. Junior is happy to have Penelope as a friend at Reardan.
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