Conflict
Symbols
Ironies
Theme
Quotations
100
Who does Junior fight right off the bat at Reardan that ultimately leads to a solid friendship?
Roger, in a person versus person battle, going to show that you never know who you might become friends with, and that your enemies sometimes can become your closest friends.
100
This insidiously addictive -- yet pleasing when you first start consuming it -- substance represents a kind of trap or lure for the Indians to never want to leave the reservation because they are too numb to want to.
Alcohol.
100
It took throwing a math book at Mr. P's face to actually get this to happen.
Mr. P does not expel Arnold but rather opens up and advises him to leave the reservation for good so that he may live.
100
What was Junior's primary reason for wanting to change schools?
He had hopes and dreams just like every other human being.
100
"A bullet only costs two cents, and anybody can afford that." What is this quote referencing,
When Junior's dad shoots Arnold's dog.
200
What is the reason Junior does not want to leave the reservation?
Arnold is dealing with a kind of inner conflict, or person versus himself, where part of him feels like he would be disrespecting tribal traditions.
200
What is the club Junior claims to belong to on the reservation?
The Black-Eye-of-the-Month Club, which suggests the discord or constant bad vibes Indians feel while "living" there.
200
This is the irony regarding the peer pressure all Indians from other Indians to stay on the reservation with each other.
They are doing exactly what "the white man" had intended them to do in the first place, and thus, shouldn't they protest the reservation by leaving it?
200
It took this to happen before other Indians stopped hassling Junior whenever he was back on the reservation.
Grandmother Spirit was killed by a drunk driver.
200
What happens after Mr. Dodge says, "Where did you learn this fact? On the reservation? Yes we all know there's so much amazing science on the reservation."
Gordy stands up for Junior.
300
The example of inner conflict within a character (who seems happy and pretty on the outside) happens in the bathroom, where Junior hears this disturbing noise coming from another stall.
Penelope intentionally vomits because she has bulimia.
300
According to Junior, what did the reservation represent?
A death camp.
300
What event seems to inadvertently take on a traditional role on the reservation?
Funerals, which in their own way, bring the Indians on the reservation together and lead them to temporarily being a little more forgiving of each other.
300
Grandmother Spirit, Eugene, Rowdy's Dad all have this in common.
They all died in an alcohol-related circumstance.
300
"I didn't literally kill Indians. We were supposed to make you give up being Indian." What does Mr.P mean when he says "give up being Indian"?
They wanted to wipe out the Indian culture: songs, stories, language, and dance.
400
What is the main contributing factor for the Indian's suffering and heartbreak?
The excessive use of alcohol. This is an example of the the conflict person vs. nature, where a person's addiction is a result or symptom of a natural sickness.
400
What does the family dog, Oscar, represent?
The senseless destruction caused by poverty on the reservation.
400
This is one of the overall ironies regarding the way Arnold was accepted at Reardan versus the way he was accepted on the reservation.
His white friends ultimately embraced Arnold for who he was and didn't see him doomed to stay on the reservation or become a traitor.
400
Arnold's polyester suit and the outgoing manner in which he dances every song is a front or cover, so to speak, for this.
Arnold is ashamed of the fact that he is poor.
400
"I had no idea that Junior was a weird name." What is the significance of this quote?
This is the point in the novel where Junior slowly becomes accepted at Reardan.
500
What is foreshadowed by Junior throwing the book?
His decision to go to Reardan.
500
When Rowdy says that Junior is a "nomad," what is he referring to?
He is not abandoning his tribe, family, history, or identity as a Native American, and that therefore, he is being more true to his cultural heritage than anyone "staying" on the reservation.
500
Although Mary had sent letters to Arnold expressing how happy her marriage and home were, her tragic death suggested this theme.
The cruel impossibility of living up to the promise American Dream.
500
"I felt like somebody had shoved me into a rocket ship and blasted me to a new planet. I was a freaky alien and there was absolutely no way to get home." What is Junior talking about?
His first day of school at Reardan.
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