Why does Junior say “it sucks to be poor…” (13)? What does “poverty teach you”? Explain.
By Kate Constan
Junior has lived through poverty all his life. His economic status affects his outlook in many ways. He says that "it sucks to be poor," and that's because nothing good comes out of it. He is clear and blatant about this, with no ifs or buts. He makes it known that poverty doesn't teach anybody to survive or thrive under pressure - Junior says it "only teaches you how to be poor," meaning that poverty shows how hard life can be. Poverty is a constant struggle, and it paves the way for other hardships, like alcoholism and depression.
Onlookers often think that poverty teaches people to be tough and strong, but nobody can justify that it's good to be poor. Being poor doesn't lead to anything but more poverty for Junior. His outlook is that poorness holds a person down and doesn't let them get up. He explains this when he says, "It's
an ugly circle and there's nothing you can do about it." It's clear that Junior's poverty affects his life, and not in any positive ways.
Do you think that anything good will come out of Junior's poverty?
Do you disagree with Junior?
Will Junior be able to get out of the "ugly circle"?
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteA lot of people take their wealth as advantage and show off. Arnold, by being poor, tries to stay low, and even in poverty, he finds his own specialty, like drawing.
ReplyDeletedylanhigginsNovember 1, 2016 at 5:22 PM
ReplyDeleteArnold has shown that he has the qualities and the wanting to get out of the "ugly circle", and as we said in class today, if someone kept telling you that you are something, you will eventually believe that to be true about your self. If Arnold decides not to except his poverty and does everything in his power to ignore these things he could set himself on the path out of this "ugly circle" that has trapped him for fourteen years. This process of escape would take a lot of courage and will power, and maybe even disrespect from others but I still think that Arnold can achieve this if he really tries. I think that Arnold has the courage, and the commitment to try to escape poverty, as he has been controlled/limited by his poverty which has given him a great wanting to escape the cruel world of poverty. As Arnold says, "the world is a series broken dams and floods, and my cartoons are tiny little life boats". Arnold already has a smaller way to escape his reality at the rez and that is through his cartoons. This shows that he wants to get out of his rough life at the rez, but hasn't really given it a try. I truly think that Arnold could escape his life of poverty, but he needs to find a bigger escape than his cartoons, he needs to turn his lifeboats into big coast guard boats out to change his life.