Junior's Expectations Of Reardan-Personal Narrative

Ultimately, Junior’s self-assertion has rewarded him in ways which far exceed the drawbacks: he now has an education and environment miles ahead of that of the rez, giving Junior a better set-up for success than he ever could have had at the Spokane Indian Reservation. The most obvious and easily noticed upgrade in Junior’s life is his new education at Reardan. His unequivocal “I want to go to Reardan” is not easily ignored and, in my opinion, is the first turning point driven by self-assertion in the novel (45). All the dangers of transferring to Reardan are short-term, whereas the effects are long-term. Junior has been thrown into a situation where he is cast out of his reservation as a “traitor”, superficially rejected by Rowdy, and excluded …show more content…
All the characters from the reservation, save Junior and Mary, are born, live, and die on the reservation. That is the world they have, the only one they are given. If there were other options presented, the Wellpint Indians might think differently, but, as shown by “Who My Parents Would Have Been If Somebody Had Paid Attention To Their Dreams,” even the dreamers thought small (12). Junior’s mom wanted to be a teacher for the reservation’s community college. She dreamed of staying on the reservation at an average or below average school. His dad wanted to be the “fifth-best jazz sax player west of the Mississippi” (12). Not the first or second, or even fifth in the United States, Junior’s dad kept his standards lower than that of a person with broad options in the United States. Junior dreams big, and globally; he creates his own path through life as a poor Indian boy. When he goes to Reardan, he can surround himself with other global dreamers such and Penelope and Gordy. Junior draws because “when you draw a picture, everybody can understand it” regardless of where in the world the hypothetical person hails from (5). He is trying to connect himself to everyone on the entire planet who can see. Penelope wants to travel the world and see “every single piece of everything” (111). Gordy’s passion is less physically global than the other two, but he creates an idea of the world using his books and thought. Every book is a mystery and he loves to surround himself with them, expanding his world of thought. According to Gordy, “the world, even the smallest parts of it, is filled with things you don’t know” and he lives to learn and broaden his mind and perspective (97). When Junior left left the reservation, he did more than just upgrade his education in the classroom, he was able to leave the toxic environment of the crushed Indians and surround himself with ambitious dreamers