Arnold Spirit Jr. Character Analysis

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Arnold Spirit Jr. is the social outcast in his world. He’s ignored, bullied, but still an intelligent teen who is unique, given the fact that he was born with more water in his brain. However, that didn’t stand in the way of Junior since he was able to achieve a dream which is a shift in his life that brought joy. Many obstacles such as deaths of family and poverty may have brought him down, but he came back up stronger. While experiencing many changes throughout the book, Arnold Spirit Jr. reshapes the way people looked at him on the reservation, and at his school, and while trying to find out where he belongs, which shows that the desire to fit in is human nature. Junior didn’t get heaps of attention on the rez, but it switches when he decides to leave in search of hope which changes the reservation’s view of him. …show more content…

During the first weeks of his transfer to Reardan, everyone looked at him like he was an alien. Maybe it was because of his ¨out of proportion body size¨ or maybe it was because he was the only Indian there. “I can tell you that I went from being a small target in Wellpinit to being a larger target in Reardan…. There were a few of those Reardan boys, the big jocks, who paid special attention to me. None of those guys punched me or got violent….So mostly they called me names. Lots of names” (63). The first sentence states that Junior was a bigger target since he was the only Indian boy at Reardan, not including the school’s mascot. The Indian mascot of Reardan represents the school, but the school is rarely filled with Indians. It’s filled with white students. Almost all of the kids at Reardan ignores him which makes Junior feel lower than he thought he was on the rez. Shortly after gaining respect from Roger and the other basketball players, Junior meets a bookworm, Gordy. Little did he know that they both share a few common

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