Themes

"White people," my parents said at the same time. || "Junior, sweetheart," Mom said. "I'm sorry but we dont have any money for Oscar."(Page 10) || Arnold and his family has no money to save Arnolds bestfriend, and Arnold knew no matter how much he tried he wouldnt be able to get enough money in time to save Oscar. ||
 * **Identity** || "Rowdy has protected me since we were born" (17) ||
 * || I think that this shows how Arnold has to end up finding his own identity. He has depended on Rowdy since they were born to protect him, and be a part of him. Once Arnold lost Rowdy, he lost a sense of who he was as a person. I think that that then only taught Arnold that he didn't need Rowdy to protect him since they were born. He didn't need Rowdy to tell him who he was. He knew all along, but didn't realize it until he was forced to. ||
 * **Home** ||  ||
 * **Race** || "Come on," I said. "Who has the most hope?
 * **Race** || "Come on," I said. "Who has the most hope?
 * || Junior feels like he's at a disadvantage in such an unmotivated environment. He feels that the white people are more optimistic and caring about their future are that's why he wants to be with them. The Indians just don't seem to care. ||
 * **Poverty** || " I love KFC!" (19)
 * || Arlnold loves KFC, because it a symbol of how his family doesn't have much, but when they have a little, they celebrate and share with the whole family.
 * **Literature and**
 * Writing** ||  ||
 * **Mortality** || "We'd lost my grandmother and Eugene. How much loss were we supposed to endure?". (Page 171) ||
 * || Everyone suffers from losing a loved one and sometimes it just becomes too much to handle. Arnold's main pain is because his grandma didn't deserve death and Eugene's death came with alcohol. Arnold has to learn to accept the deaths and get over it. So he finds a way to forget about it.
 * || Everyone suffers from losing a loved one and sometimes it just becomes too much to handle. Arnold's main pain is because his grandma didn't deserve death and Eugene's death came with alcohol. Arnold has to learn to accept the deaths and get over it. So he finds a way to forget about it.

"And everybody knew that losing my grandmother was horrible. So they all waved the white flag that day and let me grieve in peace" (Page 159) I think this is real loss and it is significant to Arnold because his grandmother was loving and caring to him when his parents weren't there. She is killed by a drunk driver when she never drank a single drop of alchlohol. Despite this tragedy he does his best to stay positive and strong. || "my best friend had become my worst enemy"(53) "For a second, I thought about saying no. I thought about telling him to bite my a. **I thought about making him apologize. But I couldn't. He was never going to change." (228)** "Rowdy has protected me since we were born" (17) || Sometimes friendships can turn into something ugly. Although Junior lost a friend he gained a new friendship at Reardan high school. Sometimes people are only in your life for a season. Rowdy and Junior had a very interesting relationship. In the beginning it was almost them versus the world, they were each other's support group. The two boys grew distant but regardless of their fight they couldn't forget the relationship they had before. They were best friends, they knew almost everything about each other and nothing could change that. Junior wanted an apology, but he knew he wouldn't get one. He knew his friend well enough to know that. The most important part, however, is that they did play together. They managed to get through their fighting and respect each other the way true friends do, even after terrible arguments. Rowdy couldn't say no because the boys had an irreversible bond, he couldn't be mad at Rowdy because he was almost like a brother to him. Rowdy and Junior had been together since they were infants. Junior feels as though Rowdy has acted as a protective older brother to him, and he can trust him like good friend. Rowdy always has had Junior's back. || Dreams' and Plans || " (Penelope) 'Because I want to build something beautiful. Because I want to be remembered.' And I couldn't make fun of her for that dream. It was my dream too. And Indian boys weren't supposed to dream like that. And white girls from small towns weren't supposed to dream big either. We were supposed to be happy with our limitations. But there was no way Penelope and I were going to sit still. Nope, we both wanted to fly."(112) "Son," Mr. P said. "You're going to find more and more hope the farther and farther you walk away from this sad, sad, sad reservation." (43) || Mr. P has plans for Junior. He knows that his future can be bright and he can have hope, but he must first break free of the life he accepts just because he's Indian. He wants him to follow his dreams and be better than he can imagine. Arnold is stuck in a life where people don't expect you to be anything more than average and he has to escape that and leave the rez. || Custom ||  ||
 * **Friendship** || "Come on," Rowdy said. "I'll protect you." (17)
 * || This to me shows true friendship. It shows the depths that true friends will go to for each other. What they will sacrifice for one another. True friendship has no limitations. This type of friendship that Rowdy and Junior have is the type that they will jump in front of a bullet for one another. Thats the type of friendship that is the best kind. When you have to tip toe around youre friends and are scared to ask them certain things than it's not that that great of a friendship. You need to be able to communicate, interact and be happy with your friend. I really envy their relationship because I've never had a friendship to where I believe that I would take such extremes in protecting a friend or best friend, but then again Rowdy is probably much tougher than I am. At least on the outside anyways. I believe that the love between the two of these guys is truly beautiful and will never be replaced no matter how many hardships their friendships go through. You can really tell how much compassion and love they have for each other; Arnold seems to communicate it more in words, while Rowdy shows it more throughout is actions. He will do anything for his best friend. He loves him. They love each other. There are so many fake friendships these days, for whatever the reason - riches, money, fame - that when you find a truly genuine person it is honestly very special and you need to hold on to them as long as you can. I like to think I am one of those people. I dont entirely understand the concept of loving someone so much that they will go to the extent of doing absolutely anything to protect them or secure them from harm (other than family of course). Maybe one day I will, but for now I will just see what happens and I would think I would know when I have that feeling. I look at my sister and her boyfriend and I just wonder how can you love someone so much that every little mistake they make can make you so upset, because my sister will get so mad about the stupidest stuff sometimes. She'll tell me about it and I will just be like get over it! In my head of course. Hopefully one day I will experience that overwhelming love for someone. Anyways, I admire their friendship so much. I want to research and see if they are still close. I really hope they are, because how Sherman wrote of their relationship I would hope that that friendship would last a lifetime.
 * Hopes,
 * || These lines display one of the most important things Penelope helped Arnold realize. She guided him and showed him that it was okay to work for his dreams, especially by protecting him at Reardan, which symbolized Arnold's path to pursuing his dreams. These lines also emphasize the bravery that Arnold possesses; he wanted to break through the limitations, even if there were consequences, because "supposed to" doesn't mean "have to" and because he knew there was no hope left on the reservation.
 * Education ||  ||
 * Tradition and
 * Tradition and