Tuesday, May 26, 2015
(97-230). #1 Why does Rowdy tell Arnold, “You killed her” (211)? Is there truth to this statement? (Grace V)
Rowdy tells Arnold, “You killed her” (211), because Arnold abandoned Rowdy and his tribe when he left the rez school to attend the white Reardan school. Junior is convinced that this action inspired Mary to leave the tribe and start a new life in Montana. If she had stayed on the reservation she would not have been killed-drunk- in a fire. Junior reflects, “This reservation had tried to suffocate her, had kept her trapped in a basement… she was trying to live out her dream… and now she was out roaming the fields in Montana” (Alexie 91). Rowdy convinced Junior that Mary’s death was all his fault. From several hundred miles away, Junior had inspired his sister to begin a new chapter, but Junior was not the one who left the stove on or poured those drinks to kill Mary. That is the small bit of truth in the statement. But Junior did not really kill his sister. Mary wanted to start over, just as Arnold had by changing schools. His actions were separate from those enacted by Mary.
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I agree that Junior partially made Mary leave but I don't think that Junior directly caused Mary. I believe that by Junior going to Rearden let Mary pursue her dreams like she never would've. She had her dreams but was not in a community that supported them. I also agree that Junior didn't light the house on fire. It was Mary who made her decisions in Montana. She tried to follow her dreams just like Arnold but made a bad decision while doing so. I don't believe the same fate will come to Arnold because he has friends and a supporting family. He isn't going to drink and he goes to a safe school. He has Rowdy to protect him and so many more things that Mary didn't have.
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