After the Spirit family thanksgiving dinner, Arnold goes to deliver a cartoon to Rowdy which he thinks will help mend their friendship. He meets Rowdy's dad at the door (drunk as usual) who tells him that Rowdy is not home. When Arnold asks Rowdy's father to deliver the cartoon, Rowdy's dad looks it over and smirks, saying on page 103, "You're kinda gay aren't you?" The character of this man explains a lot about Rowdy's anger at the world at large, because he presumably treats his son in the same manner. When Arnold is walking away, he looks back to see that Rowdy is in fact home, and is looking at Arnold's cartoon. Rowdy seems sad, and somewhat lonely, presumably missing Arnold as much as Arnold misses Rowdy.
Arnold continues to think about this after, later on page 103, he waves to Rowdy and Rowdy responds with "the finger" from his window. He realizes that even though Rowdy didn't respond positively, he didn't tear the comic up. This means, Arnold hypothesizes, that Rowdy still has some respect left for Arnold, or maybe for the Arnold who was Junior, who was his friend. Counterpoint to this, and further complicating the situation, is the fact that Rowdy's father lied about Rowdy's whereabouts. This could possibly be a signal that Rowdy has decided to try to move on without Arnold, who he feels, and not totally unjustly, has betrayed him.
Question: What do you think is going to come out of this clash of societies in terms of Arnold's friendship with Rowdy?
I think the fact that Rowdy's father still acts like a thirteen year old boy prevents Rowdy from maturing past his age. Because of this I don't think he will ever forgive Arnold, no matter how much he wants to. In terms of the clash of societies I believe Arnold will chose to go the white route because not only does he have a friend, and a girlfriend, he is now popular and well liked. The Indians never showed him any respect especially not any popularity. Because of that he has more in a white environment than an Indian, no matter his heritage.
ReplyDeleteI think that Rowdy's father is preventing Rowdy from doing so many different things and living his life. Rowdy's father is always drunk and cruel to people. He not only inflicts physical pain on Rowdy but mental pain to. Rowdy really does want good for his father and doesn't want him to be a hungover mess anymore. Rowdy is so distraught from his father's behavior that he has lost hope. Will Rowdy ever get out of his father vicious cycle? What could Rowdy accomplish without his father holding him back?
ReplyDeleteI think that Rowdy being friends with Arnold was getting him out of the cycle. Arnold was a somewhat good influence to Rowdy because he was Rowdy's friend and truly cared for him. Rowdy and Arnold both know that they have a friendship that is really strong and can't be broken. Rowdy has a potential of being a good person, but his anger is what covers that up. Do you think he will ever forgive Arnold? He definitely needs him.
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