#6 Examine the illustration on page 166 and the repetition of laughter on 166 and 167. What is the role of laughter in this chapter? Nola.
The illustration on page 166 shows two faces with a rainbow separating them. One face is crying, while the other one is laughing. When Junior's grandmother has died, they are having a funeral for her. Ted gives Junior's mother his Grandmother's powwow dancing outfit. His mother says that it was not hers and for a couple minutes everyone is silent. The silence is broken by his mother's laughter. Her laughter triggers everyone else's laughter and soon every person there is laughing. Juniors says that "When it comes to death, we know that laughter and tears are pretty much the same thing" (Alexie 167). That sentence goes along with the illustration. The illustration is representing that laughter and tears can go hand in hand. At funerals you think about all the memories of that person. When Junior's mother received the powwow outfit, she started laughing at the memories of her mother. They wanted to send her off to heaven with laughter, not just tears and sad feelings.
I agree. However I think that laughing also helped to get rid of the sadness. The laughing would have distracted the people at the wedding from the death of the grandmother. The mother might have also been laughing at the very stereotypical speech that Ted gave, and how at the end he was wrong. I found that pretty funny.
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