Thursday, November 10, 2016

118 - 132 - Free Response - How do Arnold's two names reflect his double identity?

     Arnold/Junior often feels as if he is split in half  - between two identities. He also has two names. Each name means something different and is used by different people. At Reardan, he is known as Arnold. He is not made fun of or teased because of this name, because it blends in, as he hopes to do at school. His other name has a lot of meaning. Junior is a name rooted in family, in one's father. It is also a very common name on the rez, where family is a major part of culture. But it's made fun of at school, something he didn't think would happen.
      As he makes his way at Reardan and slowly separates from his family, his "Indian" name is used less and less in the book, showing his transition. On page 143, the Spokane people chant "Ar-nold sucks!" This shows that they no longer see Arnold/Junior as one of their own. His names reflect his identities, and it's important to see how they are used.


  • Do you think, eventually, only one name will be used? Why or why not?
  • Do you have two names - like a nickname and a full name, or a name in another language? Do certain people use certain names? Why is the person using the name important to Arnold's story and how can you relate this to your own experiences?
  • If you could rename Arnold and give him names to further reflect his identities, what would they be? Why?



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3 comments:

  1. AnonymousNovember 11, 2016 at 12:56 PM

    I think that eventually Arnold will lose the name junior because he is spending less and less time on the rez. The people on the rez are the mainly the ones who call him junior. As he gets called it less on the rez he will stop responding to it and people will stop calling him that. I also think that he will start to see junior as a “baby” name and he will ask people to stop calling him that. Both of these scenarios result in Arnold being called Arnold.

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  2. AnonymousNovember 11, 2016 at 2:11 PM

    Arnold's two different names symbolize his two very different lives, and how he is torn between them. Arnold still has a connection, and sense of belonging to the Rez, even though he is spending less and less time on it. In a sense Junior represented the weird boy with brain troubles who wasn't accepted for who he was. Maybe Arnold will eventually lose junior, and stick to his Reardan name, which would show that he is finally comfortable in his school life at Reardan. This comfort would be coming from the fact that he feels accepted at Reardan for who he is and who he wants to be. As the novel goes on it seems that Arnold has been feeling more and more accepted and safe at Reardan, especially now with telling the truth about his poverty. I think that eventually Arnold will break through his cocoon that he has used to protect himself from the judgment from others, and this will be crucial for the shaping of his future.

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  3. AnonymousNovember 14, 2016 at 3:31 AM

    Arnold’s two different names symbolize his two different lives and how he is treated different in them. Arnold still has a connection and sense of belonging to the Rez because everyone in the Rez is poor so he is still trying to hold on to “Junior”. In the Reardan he is finally comfortable with himself and is starting to see people excepting him. Being in this environment is helping Arnold except himself and all of its disabilities, which is critical for a successful future.

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