Junior lives a tough life at home and outside because he is constantly being bullied about his physical appearance. Then on top of that, his family- like most in the reservation- are in poverty and very poor. When Junior says "it sucks to be poor on page 13, he's saying that being poor isn't fair because he feels that he deserves to be poor. It's not fair to be poor because he can't accomplish his dreams, just like his parents. His dreams will never meet the expectations to escape from being in poverty. "It's an ugly circle and there's nothing you can do about it (p. 13)". His family's history is exactly the same as his, he is reliving the circle of being poor. Alexie, the author, tries to explain an Indian's life in a reservation like Junior's. He highlights how dangerous the neighborhood is and how the reservation is too poor.
Poverty doesn't teach anyone anything. In this case especially because Junior is stuck in the cycle. Junior absolutely hates being in poverty and he wants to be an artist and not be bullied. To him all poverty does is teach how to be poor and it doesn't make you stronger. Poverty is just part of his life and he thinks there is nothing he can do about it. The author puts the characters in poverty to show how hard it is to survive.
Questions: Do you think there is something that Junior can do to possibly get out of poverty and help his family? Do you think poverty teaches anything helpful besides being poor?
I think there is no real way to help his entire family get out of poverty, but he can help himself. Poverty teaches you how to live through the hardest times. Also, on the darker side, it beats people down so that they can never acomplish their dreams. Like Junior said "It's an ugly circle"
ReplyDeleteI believe that although Junior is stuck in this horrible cycle of poverty he could help himself and his family find a way out of it. Although both of his parents dreams were not paid attention to it does not mean his dreams will not be paid attention to. Throughout the book (or what we have read so far) the only way that Junior feels safe and connected with the world is when he is drawing cartoons and from what we have seen he is pretty good at them. As he grows older art could turn into a career for him and could be just the thing to get his family out of poverty. Although the chances of this are unlikely due to to cycle he is in, I believe he should not give up hope and follow his own dreams of being an artist.
ReplyDeleteI agree that it is incredibly hard for Junior to break the circle, but it is not impossible. For example, Junior is a cartoonist and you can draw on almost anything. With his skill it is possible to create a comic book or become an illustrator, but the job wouldn't make him rich. However he wouldn't be in poverty. Even though, at still wouldn't be an easy life. I agree with Isaac poverty does teach something. Poverty teaches people to enjoy what they have instead of wasting food or throwing out old toys. It also teaches you to make do with what you have. For Junior he uses what he has to do things that he can without waiting till everything goes his way. Poverty does more bad than good, but later in life it will teach Junior or anyone else something. Also Junior it is possible for Junior to become an artist or cartoonist and so not all dreams need money to come true.
ReplyDeleteI agree that it is possible that Junior would break the circle but I think that it is unlikely because of the situation he is currently in. If he chooses to follow his dreams and become an artist, he would have to be able to sell his art and that depends on other people so it is completely out of his control. There are so many other aspiring artists out there so it is unlikely that anyone important would come across his art thus making it unlikely that he would find success as an artist. He could always get a job that he isn't passionate about but then he wouldn't feel satisfied so even though he may be monetarily out of poverty, he wouldn't be content with his lifestyle.
ReplyDeleteI believe that Junior can help himself but not his whole family. It will be much much harder for junior since he has so many physical and mental issues that he is attempting a life as a minority, mentally handicapped artist. As an artist it is incredibly hard to make money even as a fully handicapped majority. I feel as if he put all his eggs in the basket if he ever wants an escape from poverty and the reservation. Also any other job he wants to get would be incredibly to get hired since he is handicapped,so if I were him I would not see much hope. Helping himself escape would probably be the biggest hardship he would ever have to face, and he see's a lot.
ReplyDeleteTo answer your question Yugi, since he is so Isolated from the rest of the world and since his means of education are so poorly funded, its near to impossible for him to develop the skills necessary to escape his poverty. As for the teachings of being poor, Junior has lived his whole life in a poverty stricken reservation and is bullied and oppressed everyday, so he knows what it is to live through tough times because he has already hit rock bottom
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