The Diary : Hopes And Dreams

Hopes and Dreams

The diary begins by setting up Junior’s circumstances, including the fact that Junior was with hydrocephalus and therefore is small for his age and suffers from seizures, poor eyesight, stuttering, and lisping, and therefore has always been picked on by other people on the reservation. His family is poor, a condition Junior attributes to being from the reservation and not having opportunity to fulfill their potential; their poverty is symbolized early when Junior’s dog

Oscar gets heat stroke and has to be put down by the father because they cannot afford to take him to a veterinarian. The only child friend he has is Rowdy, a classmate who is abused at home but who stands up for Junior and who also lets Junior see his vulnerable side, such as his enjoyment of such kids’ comics as Archie and Richie Rich.

When they started the new year at the Wellpinit high school on the Spokane Indian Reservation,

Junior attends his geometry class to find out that the book was a very old textbook, he then opens his textbook to find his mother’s maiden name in the book that was assigned to him. He then feels very angry decides to throw the book, it hits their geometry teacher in the face Mr. P, after a couple of days later Mr. P decides to visit Junior after being suspended from school. Mr.

P then apologize to Junior for what he was doing to Spokane Indians kids in school, which he does not care or give the Indian kids in school hope. But in Juniors case he starts to tell him that he is smart and that he deserves better, and that kids like him have the potential to do anything he puts his mind to. He starts by telling Junior that his sister had great potential as well, but she never left the reservation to do anyt...

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...ility with his brain, saying he had too much fluid in his brain. It’s like that did not stop him from accomplishing his dreams. He starts dating the hottest girl in school, as well as the captain of the football team given him that respect, along with being the best shooter on the basketball team. So his transition a lot from being on the reservation to being off the reservation, there was no hope for him on the reservation. So everyone he meets in this story plays a big influence on his life as Junior becoming Arnold. This was a life learning experience that I could relate to ever time I read the book. If we all try very hard at what are hopes and dreams it is possible to succeed in our goals in life, as Arnold shares in his story about himself.

So at the end of the whole story he transitions a whole lot, it’s like he is a kid that transitions into a man.