Arnold Spirit Jr, the main character in this novel written by Sherman Alexie, is a fourteen year old Indian boy who lives in a reservation. He is in the centre of the story and he leads the reader through it. He also describes the scheme by expressing his feelings.
He looks weird according to his own description. His body is skinny because his family sometimes has no food because they’re poor. When he was born he had too much brain grease, he was hydrocephalic. Junior seems to be handicapped because of his seizures and his lopsided eyes. The boy describes himself looking like a retard, because he also has a stutter and a lisp.
Junior is honest and straight, e.g. he talks freely about masturbating: "Everybody does it."(p.28, line 5 and 6). He is polite. You can see that from his resistance against alcohol and drugs, which play a significant role in reservations. And he is also very strong because he does not give up his hope while he is bearing the sad reality and the daily …show more content…
This can be seen when he throws a book in Mr. P's face or when he cries once he has to say goodbye to Rowdy. He draws cartoons to handle emotions. While he is drawing cartoons he feels safe and he wants to get attention."I draw because words are too limited" (p.9, line 6). But Junior is not hopeless yet. In Mr. P`s opinion he is the only person in the whole reservation who has not given up. Because of that Junior changes schools. Now he goes to school in Reardan, a small town "filled with farmers and rednecks and racist cops" (p. 46, line 26). At first he has been bullied by some white guys and so he punches Roger, their leader, in his face. With this action he gets their respect. He also gets to know Penelope, a "totally, absolutely gorgeous" (cartoon p.57) blond white girl who is bulimic. Regardless of his new confidence Junior tries to hide his poverty. It is very annoying for him. Later he can´t pretend anymore but his friends are very kind and dear to
He looks weird according to his own description. His body is skinny because his family sometimes has no food because they’re poor. When he was born he had too much brain grease, he was hydrocephalic. Junior seems to be handicapped because of his seizures and his lopsided eyes. The boy describes himself looking like a retard, because he also has a stutter and a lisp.
Junior is honest and straight, e.g. he talks freely about masturbating: "Everybody does it."(p.28, line 5 and 6). He is polite. You can see that from his resistance against alcohol and drugs, which play a significant role in reservations. And he is also very strong because he does not give up his hope while he is bearing the sad reality and the daily …show more content…
This can be seen when he throws a book in Mr. P's face or when he cries once he has to say goodbye to Rowdy. He draws cartoons to handle emotions. While he is drawing cartoons he feels safe and he wants to get attention."I draw because words are too limited" (p.9, line 6). But Junior is not hopeless yet. In Mr. P`s opinion he is the only person in the whole reservation who has not given up. Because of that Junior changes schools. Now he goes to school in Reardan, a small town "filled with farmers and rednecks and racist cops" (p. 46, line 26). At first he has been bullied by some white guys and so he punches Roger, their leader, in his face. With this action he gets their respect. He also gets to know Penelope, a "totally, absolutely gorgeous" (cartoon p.57) blond white girl who is bulimic. Regardless of his new confidence Junior tries to hide his poverty. It is very annoying for him. Later he can´t pretend anymore but his friends are very kind and dear to