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Family influence on people
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Because of the deaths that had happened, Junior begins to think about his grandmother and how she taught him things throughout his life. Junior’s grandmother was one of his favorite people in the world. He went to her when he was having problems with Roger at school. Junior was confused on why Roger reacted differently when he was punched and his grandmother replied by saying Roger respects him and wanted to see how tough he was because he was the “new dog”(68). This provides evidence that states his grandmother taught him that Roger doesn’t care what his background and where he came from instead Roger just wants to know if he could respect Junior for who he was. Furthermore with all the alcoholics in the reservation, Junior's Grandmother was
In the short story “Dog,” Russo paints the picture of a strong willed boy who is amongst parents who don’t understand what the real problem which is his lack of parents attention and bad parenting when dealing with his extreme obsessions over getting a dog.
In the book Red Scarf Girl Ji-Li's Grandmother Cao, is a role model for Ji-Li despite her family status. Ji-Li admires her grandmother’s intelligence for graduating from high school at a time where few girls went to school, and for becoming a respected vice principal and teacher. To Ji-Li her grandmother is a lovely, benevolent, clever, and well appreciated person who is valued by her community and family. Throughout the book, Grandma Cao exhibits her dependability by always being loyal to her family and being trustworthy to her friends. Although Grandma puts up a brave front in front of Ji-li, it is clear that her family status concerns her. To avoid the Red Guards Grandma Cao took her grandchildren with her to the park during the day,
The Grandmother is a bit of a traditionalist, and like a few of O’Connor’s characters is still living in “the old days” with outdated morals and beliefs, she truly believes the way she thinks and the things she says and does is the right and only way, when in reality that was not the case. She tends to make herself believe she is doing the right thing and being a good person when in actuality it can be quite the opposite. David Allen Cook says in hi...
The book “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time” talks about a curious boy with autism whose name is Christopher John Francis Boone. Christopher tries to solve a case of Mrs. Shears,his neighbor, dogs skeptical death. Christopher lives only with his father. His father tells him that his mother died in the hospital, but she really didn't die. She is still alive and is living with Mrs. Shears ex-husband. The reason why Christopher’s mother isn’t living with him anymore is because she cheated on her husband with Mr. Shears. Christopher starts to slowly understand what was happening then he goes out trying to find his mom in London.
Courage and determination directed by passion make Junior a very admirable character. By sympathizing with Junior, the reader feels that Junior is inspiring. An early example of when the reader pitied Junior was when his dog Oscar was shot, who Junior considered to be “a better person than any human [he] had ever known” (Alexie, 9). Oscar had been sick, and since Junior’s family did not have enough money to care for him, Oscar was euthanized. Furthermore, Junior felt defeated, saying, “A bullet only costs about two cents, and anybody can afford that” (Alexie, 14). Everyone, especially poor people, can be plagued with death and despair. From the very beginning of the story, where the reader learns that Junior had a brain disability to the dreadful way he experienced poverty, the reader sympathizes with him because they are truly sorry for him. The reader wants him to succeed, to grow, and, above all, to inspire the readers themselves. Junior becomes a hero to the reader for soaring above what his life entailed for him.
Although Jody continued to mature through the death of Gabilan, Old Gitano, and Nellie, Steinbeck still introduces Jody as a “little boy” in the beginning of the story. Once again, Jody acts like a young child, scuffing his shoes and killing mice. However, his maturity becomes clear when Carl’s statements hurt Jody’s grandfather. Jody feels a strong sense of loss and nameless sorrow, the same emotion he felt for Gitano. Moreover, Jody considers his grandfather’s feelings, as he carefully listens to the stories of his grandfather and anticipates himself of becoming a leader in the future. Jody says, “Maybe I could lead the people some day” (94). Unlike other episodes, Jody does not witness any physical death, yet he witnesses the death of his grandfather’s glorious past. His grandfather realizes that his moments of glory has long been gone, and recognizes his inability to communicate with the new generation. Although Jody has never experienced what his grandfather feels, he still understands his grandfather’s emotions, as he effectively consoles the emotional death with a glass of lemonade. “His mother mimicked—‘And another lemon to make a lemonade for you.’ ‘No ma’am. I don’t want one.’ ‘Jody! You’re sick!’” (95). At this point, Jody’s internal change is clearly evident. If he were still the young boy from the beginning of the novel, he
His father will sometimes forget about Junior and never show up to give him a ride home. Junior is then forced to walk or hitchhike all the way back to the reservation. His father also constantly spends all of his money on alcohol, even during the holidays, “.Dad did what he always does when we don’t have enough money. He took what little money we did have and ran away to get drunk” (Alexie 150). Junior’s unfortunate understanding of alcoholism makes him see the world as an unfair place.
Junior says he has been to many funerals and is at a young age. “Jeez, I’ve been to so many funerals in my short life. I’m fourteen years old and I’ve been to forty-two funerals. That’s really the biggest difference between Indians and white people” (Alexie 199). Throughout the years Junior has been to many funerals which impact Junior in an emotional way.
She teaches Junior how to turn the other cheek and excuse the habits of others that they cannot control, yet also how to avoid those issues in his own life. An example of this would be following the motif of alcoholism in this book. Many residents of the Spokane Indian reservation are alcoholics, including Junior’s father, but Grandmother Spirit never drank in her entire life. She explained it by saying, “‘ Drinking would shut down my seeing and my hearing and my feeling...Why would I want to be in the world if I couldn’t touch the world with all of my senses intact?’” (158). Grandmother Spirit uses herself as an example for Junior to follow; she does not want him to become dependent on alcohol like so many other people on the reservation. This also affects his development, as he becomes weary of alcohol. Junior’s grandmother also manages to impact Junior with her unfortunate passing towards the end of the book, when she is struck by a car with a person under the influence at the wheel. A doctor at the hospital talks about her last words by saying, “‘She said, ‘Forgive him’...I think she was referring to the drunk driver who killed her’” (157).
Junior's grandmother influenced Junior in many ways but most specifically, she inspired him to be a better person. Almost everyone on the reservation has lost their traditional Native American values and ideals except for Junior's grandmother. She is very tolerant of and loves everyone for what makes them different and having this kind of role model helped Junior become grow from a nothing to an amazing something at Reardan. When Junior first heard Penelope throwing up in the girls' bathroom, he could of walked away but the idea of not helping her was not a viable option because somewhere inside of Junior, he knew his grandmother would disapprove. Because of this, Penelope grew to like him and he was accepted as a something in Reardan.
Junior decides he has to leave his home reservation and go somewhere where he can be successful and get a good education. Junior decides to leave the reservation and go to Reardan in search for a better life. As Mr P says on page 43, “Son, you're going to find more and more hope the farther and farther you walk away from this sad, sad, sad reservation.” He explains that there is no reason for Junior to keep living on the reservation when he has a chance to move somewhere else and start a new life. His reservation is full of drunks and bullies so if Junior wanted to become who he dreams to be. So he leaves the reservation because nothing there will help him in life. Another example of Junior leaving his reservation in order to find hope is on
Junior experiences an internal struggle when he wishes to pursue a better education; this would mean leaving Wellpinit High School. He would be the first person to leave the reservation in this manner. Junior states that “Indian families stick together like Gorilla Glue, the strongest adhesive in the world.” His parents lived within two miles from their birthplace, and his grandmother lived one mile from where she was born - it’s uncommon to leave each other. Considering this information, Junior was in a difficult situation which ties into two themes presented in the novel: coming of age and identity. If he transferred to Reardan High School, it would be like abandoning his heritage and turning his back to his people. Whereas, if he remained on the reservation, he would face with limitations and unable to pursue his dreams. As a matter of fact, after the textbook incident with his teacher, he is not reprimanded but encouraged. Mr. P tells him that, “[He] must leave this reservation. All these kids have given up. We’re all defeated.” (Alexie 43) He expresses his disappointment with how reservation schools have failed to give the students a chance to follow their dreams. Junior’s older sister, Mary, had the potential to become an upcoming author but was not given the chance. She was a bright and shining star that faded out, and Junior could not follow the same
Similarly, this process of becoming enlightened can also be also be seen in Dave Egger’s story of a dog. In this short story the reader sees the world through the view of a dog named Steven. From a young age Steven is thrown into a life changing situation that changes his perception of the world. After having been thrown into a lake and almost having drowned, it seems that he began to see the world differently. From the start of the story Steven talks about his personal view on humans and their language:
He is different looking than everyone else so he gets bullied on the reservation. He did have a best friend and that was his dog but when he got sick his dad shot the dog to put it out of its misery. On the reservation Junior has one human friend that helps him in life. “Rowdy is the toughest kid on the rez. He is long and lean and strong like a snake. His heart is as strong and mean as a snake, too. But he is my best human friend and he cares about me, so he would always tell me the truth” (Alexie, 15). This quote is meaningful because everyone needs somebody in life that helps them, stands up for them, and enjoys being their friend. Other than Rowdy, Junior does not have any other friends, and this is because he is different than all the rest of the kids on the reservation. Later in the book, Junior decided to switch schools to better his education and Rowdy does not agree with his decision and start to be mean to Junior and drift away from him. One reading the book can see that this affects Junior a lot and just proves that everyone needs friends to stay afloat in
As a kid, I fell in love with the idea of getting a puppy for Christmas. Wrapped in a small box with a bow on top sitting under the tree just like the movies and tv shows I had seen. I can remember making a Christmas list of all the things I wanted that year, and every year the same thing that I wanted had said “puppy” with it underlined so that my mother knew which was my favorite on the list. Every year no surprise, I didn’t find a dog. I never understood why I never received one. When the kids at school talked about the few dogs they had at home made me so jealous, but I hoped that one day it would be me to have my own best friend at home.