Junior
Name two reasons why Junior draws cartoons.
Safer for him to stay inside and draw; everybody understands drawing (not matter language); communicating with the world
What is the name of Junior's sister?
Mary
What kind of school is Reardan?
It is an all white school, there are mostly rich kids, it is far away from the reservation.
What is the powwow?
A traditional Spokane festivall where the Natives of the reservation sing and dance.
Name Junior's parents' bigest dreams.
Mother: wanted to go to college
Father: wanted to become a musician
Who is Eugene and why was is death so tragic for Junior?
What kind of sport is Junior doing at Reardan?
Basketball
What is the tribe Junior belongs to called?
Spokane
What does Junior’s report card show?
He has excellent grades in spite of all the hardship and tragedy that he experienced during his freshman year.
(p. 199)
Name the positive characteristics of Junior’s grandma.
She is tolerant, open-minded, and friendly. She talks to everyone, even invisible people. Thousands of Indians know her from the powwows. And, as revealed by her dying wish, she believes in forgiveness, not in getting revenge. (pp. 144–150)
How does his relationship to Penelope and Roger change throughout the book?
Penelope: She did not like him in the beginning, after Junior finds her throwing up and still thinks she is beautiful, they both started "dating", she thinks he is cute
Roger: they fought on Junior's first day at Reardan, after Penelope dates Junior, even Roger starts to like Junior. He helps Junior out with money, he respects him
What is Junior's reputation on the rez?
First, he is a nobody. He gets beaten up. Once he leaves the school on the rez, everyone hates him.
Junior again feels a bit like an outsider, when his basketball team is having a really good season. Why is that?
The Reardan high school basketball team is having a very good season and people start comparing the current players to players from former Reardan teams. Because Junior is the first ever Indian player, nobody can compare him to anyone. He hopes that in a few years’ time, another Indian kid might be compared to him. (p. 170)
Junior kisses his dad on the cheek after drinking spree. What does that symbolize?
This just shows that Junior loves his dad, even though his father sometimes behaves in such a hurtful manner. Junior knows that his father acts this way because he is an alcoholic and he can forgive him.
How is Miss Warren reacting when telling Junior that his sister died?
Even though Miss Warren is the guidance counselor and responsible for the psychological well-being and comfort of the students at Reardan, she is the one who breaks down completely when telling Junior about his sister’s death and doesn’t really know how to react. (pp. 188–189)
Name the mistakes Ted has committed in connection to the powwow dress.
It’s not Junior’s grandma’s dress, nor has she ever been a powwow dancer. The dress doesn’t have Spokane beadwork, perhaps it’s Sioux, perhaps Oglala. The anthropologist that Ted paid for the analysis didn’t have a clue and was a fraud. (pp. 155–157)
What parallels does Junior draw between himself and Medea from Euripides’ 5th century BC tragedy?
Medea says: “What greater grief than the loss of one’s native land” and Junior realizes that the Indians have nearly lost everything: their land, their culture, their language. Full of grief, Medea even kills her own children and Junior feels like killing everybody including himself because of his terrible grief. (p. 162)
What kind of person does Ted, the billionaire, symbolize?
He is a caricature of the kind of white people who say they feel “Indian” or claim a close connection to Indian culture and traditions. (pp. 155–157)
What does the basketball game at the very end of the book stand for?
On the one hand, it stands for Rowdy and Junior’s reconciliation (becoming friends again). On the other hand, it shows Junior’s identities as both an Indian and a successful scholar, because basketball is the one thing that unites the different realities and friendships in Junior’s life. (p. 229)
What is the main conflict that Junior has to deal with in the novel?
He has to deal with not belonging anywhere. He does not really feel Indian, after he leaves the rez. But he also does not feel white, since he is not accepted on the rez anymore. He is between identities.