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How Is Junior's Understanding Of The Pour Life On The Reservation

726 Words3 Pages

Junior, a Native American child living on a reservation full of poverty has had many occurrences where the identity of the character has been trialed by a conflict in the story. Junior has been struggling throughout the novel trying to figure out his identity and where he belongs. At first, Junior tried fitting in the reservation with all the other Indians. Then he wanted to change and tried to fit in with the kids at Reardan. And lastly, he tried to figure out how to fit in with both the Natives on the reservation and kids at Reardan. Juniors struggle with identity is the critical aspect that shapes his decision to change his life and ultimately better himself. The struggles Junior faced has affected his identity causing him to feel despair. …show more content…

Junior has had a hard time trying to fit in on the reservation because he looked different but when he went to Rearden it was even harder for Junior to have an identity for both the reservation and the new school Rearden. Junior then tries to make new friends and learned that “if you let people into your life a little bit, they can be pretty damn amazing”(129). Juniors identity has changed from realizing what his life would be like if he had to stay on the reservation and from realizing that it would be bad he went to Rearden which would change his life and better himself because he will be surrounded by better people that he can fit in changing his identity. Juniors identity has changed by making him excluded from the Indian Reservations but it would open opportunities for Junior to make new friends in Rearden that would push him in the right direction. Juniors Identity was changed positively when he understood he had to …show more content…

Junior has been through poverty, death, changes of identity due to switching schools, and he has struggled to be a part of all of it. He realized that “life is a constant struggle between being an individual and being a member of the community”(132). His identity change caused him to become part of many tribes. He was able to fit into many groups that he felt a part of. This is all possible because of what Junior has been through like suffering from poverty, death, and being exposed to a prejudiced environment. All these tribes are what makes up Juniors identity which would be that he is a poor Native American boy that is brave and accepting of

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