On page 106, Arnold comes to the realization that penelope is anorexic. Commonly she goes to the girls bathroom and purposely forces herself to throw up, so that she loses weight and remains very skinny. She also starves herself. On page 107, Penelope quotes, “‘Anorexics are anorexics all the time,’ she says, ‘I’m only bulimic when i’m throwing up.’” This is a very ironic statement. Arnold draws a cartoon under this quote of his dad saying “i’m only an alcoholic when i get drunk(107)” This, similar to what penelope said, is crazy, because if you are addicted to alcohol, and are an alcoholic, you aren’t just an alcoholic when you are drunk, you are always considered an alcoholic.
On page 108, Arnold says “....she’s scared all the time but no one will let her be scared (108).” Arnold says this because everyone thinks that Penelope is perfect, and it isn’t possible for a pretty, popular, and smart girl to be scared. This relates to the many stereotypes in this book. Penelope being smart, pretty, and popular implies to many people that she has no issues, and is pretty much flawless, as a stereotypical girl with all of those traits is expected to be, even though it is human to be scared.
why do you think penelope is anorexic?
do you think Arnold will help her overcome this?
why do you think penelope is anorexic?
do you think Arnold will help her overcome this?
Penelope is a very important character in the story, and she shows Junior a new perspective - and makes him more open to other peoples problems. She really reminds me of when Cherry from The Outsiders says, "Things are bad all over." Even though Penelope is a beautiful white girl who has no problems n the surface, that doesn't mean that nothing's wrong.
ReplyDeleteI think that Arnold may try to help her, but it won't be the focus of his attention. He may just accept her problem as it is, like many of the people in his tribe accept poverty and do nothing to change it. But I think eventually her problem may be overcome, because Penelope seems like the sort of person who understands problems. It's a complicated problem and it may have a complicated solution. - Kate
why do you think Penelope is anorexic?
ReplyDeleteI think Penelope is anorexic because everyone judges her on the outside/appearance of her, not the inside. "...talking about how lonely she is, and how everybody thinks her life is perfect because she is pretty,smart, and popular"(108) She is depressed, and nobody is willing to talk about her problems, where Arnold is willing to. Penelope probably likes the fact that she is popular and people think she is attractive but she feels people are only focusing on that, not her personality. unfortunately she likes the attention that this image creates and this contributes to her problem.
Do you think Arnold will help her overcome this?
ReplyDeleteI think Arnold will help her overcome this. We do see in the story that they care about each other and Arnold was worried for Penelope and tried to give her some advice and says "don't give up"(98). We also notice that Arnold waits outside the bathroom door just to make sure whoever is in there is ok. As the chapter goes by we can see that Arnold does care for Penelope, and he believes in her. Arnold has more hope than anyone we have seen so far in the novel. When he wants to do something he can accomplish it. Arnold has proven this to us by fighting his own battles every day whether it is racism, the way he looks and sounds, and poverty. He came to Reardan even when all the odds were against him. Arnold is very determined. He does walk to school every morning. No matter what. Since Arnold cares so much for Penelope, he can help her get better and will help her overcome this.
Penelope is Bulimic because she wants to stay skinny and popular. She is self-conscious due to how highly everybody thinks of her. She wants to uphold her place as the prettiest girl. She only way that she has to stay on top of everyone and needs to uphold her reputation. I think that Arnold will help her overcome this because he will care a lot about the way she acts. Arnold is working his way up from the very bottom, and he will probably feel that it is not his place to make judgments. Arnold will like Penelope no matter what. Penelope just has to figure out for herself that Arnold will always like her. Since that will make her more secure about herself, which may make her slow down on being bulimic, if possible.
ReplyDeleteTristan was having a hard time posting- this is what he wrote:
ReplyDeleteI think Penelope is Anorexic because she fears that people will start to see the real her not to perfect self. She has all these dreams that she is not supposed to have so she makes a cover for herself. I think Arnold will help her get over this by teaching her what he does. He does not follow these Indian stereotypes and that is what Penelope is doing. She is living the White Girl stereotype and needs to stop or it will cause her pain.
I think Arnold will help her overcome this. I say that because he obviously really likes her and enjoys being around her and talking to her. There isn't much you can argue against Arnold for not helping her after seeing how their relationship has turned out. They are almost similar as they are both pretending to be someone they aren't or someone that causes them pain and struggle and conflict. So with them both going through this right now I think that Arnold will help her overcome her issue.
ReplyDelete