Sunday, May 19, 2013
Reading #4: On pages 107-109, Junior tells us more about Penelope, and he learns her secret. Explain this situation and why he says “…she’s scared all the time, but nobody will let her be scared…” (108). (Claudia)
When Junior learns that Penelope is bulimic, he act with extreme maturity. He doesn't allow this new secret to change the way he feels about her, and it's actually what brings them closer. Penelope feels that no one else would accept this about her, because they think she has no reason to be scared. This means that people assume that just because Penelope is "pretty and smart and popular" her life must be perfect, and she should never complain about anything. On page 108 Junior describes Penelope's words, "...everybody thinks her life is perfect, because she's pretty and smart and popular, but that she's scared all the time, but nobody will let her be scared because she's pretty and smart and popular." Penelope does not specifically describe why she is scared. Junior connects Penelope to his dad, because they both have ways to "make the pain go away". Juniors dad drinks, and Penelope binges then purges.
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ReplyDelete(Jimin)
ReplyDeleteLike Claudia said, Penelope feels "scared all the time, but nobody will let her be scared" (Alexie, 108) because everybody thinks that she is perfect and her life is perfect also. Penelope is bothered by what other people think of her because she can’t handle all the pressure and attention she is getting. Everybody expects her to be the best student in the grade, the most popular, and the prettiest person in the grade, which is too much to live up to for Penelope. A quote that shows Penelope’s feelings about all the expectations about her is “everybody thinks her life is perfect, because she's pretty and smart and popular, but that she's scared all the time, but nobody will let her be scared because she's pretty and smart and popular.” (Alexie, 108). As you can see, a lot is expected and assumed about Penelope and her life, and it’s too much for her to handle. I wonder if Roger ever gets the same feeling, because Roger is one of the most popular boys in the grade and is admired by everybody because of his personality and his great skills in football.