Short Story

When Arnold beats Wellpinit High in their second basketball game against each other he has a

All of a sudden, we see John signed up. We were as sad as a boy who dropped his ice cream. I didn't know what to do. He was going to take my spot on the team. “I knew he would sign up!” said Alex. After school was over Alex came over and we practiced hitting and fielding until dinner. “I hope we're ready for tryouts.” I said. Tomorrow we saw John. “Hey losers, which one of you is trying out for the team.” John shouted.

Throughout the book Arnold struggles to find his identity, and Alexie shows that if you want to find your identity you must find where you belong, you need to find the people who love you, and if what you are and what you’re doing right now is what you want. The novel proves people need to find where they belong to truly figure out who they are. Arnold doesn’t feel like he belongs on his reservation, and he wants to leave to find hope. Alexie proves this when his entire school chants “Arnold sucks!”(143) at him.

Throughout the book Arnold encounters many discouraging situations but remains positive. In the book, one of the most sad moments is when Christmas comes around for him and his family. Having been in poverty for many years, his family can never afford presents so his dad spends whatever money they have on alcohol. “Hey, Dad,” I said. “Hey, kid,” he said.

After Arnold Jr’s decision to transfer to Reardan school, he faces the consequences of being hated by Indians by his best friend and races white people in Reardon school. Arnold wants to get out of reservation to peruse a better life and better future so he transfers to Reardon school in white community. After his decision most of the people in reservation starts to hate him, they look at him as traitor. Even his best friend Rowdy turns into his worst enemy he starts to hate him he even punch’s him in the face. When finally, he goes to school in his first day all the student stared at him because he was not white

In the beginning of the book Arnold tells us of his complicated birth and how he was born with too much cerebral fluid. This led to him having an abundance of physical issues as he got older, like poor eyesight, a rather large head, speech impediments, and seizures. Because of these issues he is frequently bullied and it is usually up to Arnold’s best friend Rowdy to protect him. Rowdy’s father abuses him and as a result he is very volatile and short-tempered. On Arnold’s first day he is

He gives words to Arnold's feelings and helps and encourages him to express himself. There is no substitute for a good friend and it is right after Arnold bonds with Gordy that things start to improve for him at school. He makes friends with Penelope and Rodger and becomes a significant presence on his basketball team. In contrast to Arnold’s ex-friend Rowdy, Gordy is extremely factual and to the point. This is what Arnold needs at that time to help him figure out where he fits in the world. As Gordy says, you have to take every moment of life seriously, but not too seriously. Gordy gives him an open person to talk to but also the tough love when necessary. Friendships have a strong affect on people just as Gordy has a strong, positive effect on Arnold’s life. Sometimes a friend can be the most meaningful thing in the whole world. At least, that’s how it worked out for part-time Indian, Arnold

The reader notices that he “accidentally” kills his brother. The thing that is ironic is that, before they go out Arnold praises his brother Eugene, “The very way he slipped his cap on was an announcement of his status; almost everything he did was a reminder that he was eldest–first he, then Nora, then Arnold–and called attention to how tall he was (almost as tall as his father), how long his legs were, how small he was in the hips, and what a neat dip above his buttocks his thick-soled logger's boots gave him. Arnold never tired of watching Eugie offer silent praise unto himself. He wondered, as

The “main jock” Roger, comes up to Arnold in front of the school and says a very racial slur about indigenous people. Arnold then punches him in the face for that comment, but that has nothing to do with this topic as of right now. But the point of this example is that, in the beginning of Arnold’s experience at Rearden, he is looked down on because of his skin color. This negative type of judgement is just another layer of sadness on the large cake of

During the game, their star player, Albert, was flirting with Sierra. Anybody can tell she was gaging at his nasty breath and unusual muscle size. Carlisle took offense to that, and when he came up to the plate, he hit a ball the speed of a bullet towards Albert. Since Albert was a pitcher, he had no time to react. Albert took the ball to the head and he hit square to the ground. He got up and charged at Carlisle and wanted a fight with him.

The cheer of the crowd and the laughter of the kids in the air were the only things reminding me that it was just a game. Eight and a half innings, seven pitching changes by both teams, twenty-seven runs scored in all, and we were still losing. The sweat came dripping off my nose and forehead like melting ice. My eyes stung, and I could barely keep them open due to the bright rays of the sun beating down on the dirt and grass, the baseball diamond seemingly larger than it had been eight and a half innings ago. My coach’s whisper rang through my ears. “Only if you think you can,” he said so softly that I had to almost lean in to hear what he said. I was on third base, with the winner of the game was being decided by one out. We had made

“Of course they aren’t helping,” Adia groaned, slamming the door to Heron’s Hideaway shut. It was our last midnight patrol for the week of camp, and it was supposed to be easy. But how was cleaning an entire building with just the two of us easy?

Bill pointed out that Dylan was giving Coach Gary a real workout. Then he jokingly said that I had “Better shake Dylan out before we leave the park and replace some of that infield dirt that is on his practice jersey.” Gary looked mystified and was starting to sweat. All three of s bowed our head to try to hide our laughter.

I felt bad for her when she had “given up”. She had such a great dream. I wish I had told her that. And I had to tell him, Arnold needed a way out.

Arnold takes the least amount of Connie’s space by threatening the harm of her family. That day, Connie’s family goes to a barbeque that Connie stays home from. After her family left, Arnold and his friend show up to her house. Connie realizes that Arnold isn’t who he claims to be and runs inside the house. Connie threatens to call her parents and says that her father will be back anytime though Arnold knows the truth. He says, “... You come out here… nobody else gets hurt, I mean, your nice old bald-headed daddy and your mummy and your sister in her high heels. Because listen: why bring them into this?” (Oates 1099). Arnold reassured Connie that if they came back, he would have no choice but to