Junior is transfering schools and is nervous to tell Rowdy because of Rowdy's reaction of punching Junior and giving him a bloody nose after feeling jealous.
Junior was hesitant to tell Rowdy that he was transferring schools to Reardon because Rowdy is known to be a tough kid who beats up and gets in fights with everyone. Junior predicts that Rowdy will somehow hurt him in anger when he finds out the news and will be mad at Junior for leaving him. Regardless of what will happen, Junior has a strong desire to tell Rowdy because he is his friend who he can trust and Junior doesn’t want to just leave him hanging without a friend and someone who accepts him for who he is. Instead of a pleasant goodbye, Rowdy reacts in a way that wasn’t surprising to Junior, but still a harsh way to say bye. When hearing the news, Rowdy’s first reaction was “You always thought you were better than me.” (Alexie, 52)
Rowdy ends up punching Junior making him lie on the ground with a bloody nose while Rowdy walks away like nothing happened. Rowdy reacts this way because he feels that Junior thinks he is better and smarter than him. Also, Rowdy may feel jealous that Junior gets to go to a “smart white kids school” while he is stuck at the Rez high school with no true, trustworthy friends. After Junior informs Rowdy that he is transferring schools, Rowdy is mad because he feels that he is losing one of his only friend who he can trust and feel comfortable around. Feeling nervous to tell Rowdy that he is transferring schools, the conversations resulted in a punch to Junior’s face and Rowdy walking away and Junior left feeling like, “my best friend had become my worst enemy.” (Alexie, 52)
This is a very good response to the question at hand. Rowdy feels that Junior is leaving him, though Junior does not mean to abandone Rowdy. For Junior, it is just taking advantage of an opportunity. In my opinion, Rowdy is just jealous because Junior gets to go to a white school off of the reservation. The quote, “my best friend had become my worst enemy.” (Alexie, 52) is one that tells a lot about the feelings in this chapter. All of his life, Rowdy has been protection Junior and punching everyone who verbally or physically hurts Junior, but now Junior is on the wrong end of it. He has hurt Rowdy, and this results to a viscous punch in the face. What was once Junior's greatest ally, is now his greatest fear. (Attisani)
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ReplyDeleteJunior's original intention was that Rowdy would be able to come with him to Reardan. During the argument he was constantly yelling "You can still comem with me!" (Alexie 52). Rowdy probably wasn't jealous of Junior, since he had the opportunity to go to a white school with him. Rowdy felt that he wasn't good enough to go to a white school, or that in doing so, he would be a traitor.
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