The cartoon on page 182 portrays the different reactions the
fans have to Junior at Wellpint gym versus at the Reardan gym. “They came to
our gym, so I wasn’t going to get burned at the stake. In fact, my white fans
were going to cheer for me like I was some kind of crusading warrior” (182). At
the Wellpint gym, Junior feels like he is a devil, and he is hated by all the
fans and the Wellpint team as well. People there throw quarters, and yell mean
things at him. But at the Reardan gym, everyone loves him and makes him feel
like an angel! The fans cheer him on and yell encouraging things at him. Junior’s
dilemma is that he doesn’t know whether or not he wanted to return to the
Wellpint gym/go to their school and be hated for a little while before he will
be accepted again, or if he wants to hide from his angry reservation friends
and keep playing at the Reardan gym. Something I noticed about the cartoon is that
either way, he still has a speech bubble saying, “Who am I?”
I agree totally. For Junior it is all about knowing who you are and trying to be accepted. This dilemma is hard for Junior because either way he will be hated at least for a while.
ReplyDeleteI agree. Junior lives two different lives. In one life, he is hated because he left the rez school and is going to Reardan. In the other life, he is hated because he is the only Indian at the school.
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