Junior and his family live on a reservation with other Indians. The reservation is in poverty and many of the family goes through hard times. Junior states “Poverty doesn’t give you strength or teach you lessons about perseverance” (13). This quote is an example of what Junior feels about the reservation, and the way he lives. The way Junior expresses this quote, it sounds like he is giving up. He doesn’t want to live on the reservation and become poor like everybody else. He wants to become something, but he doesn’t know how.
When Mr. P and Junior were talking Mr. P told Junior that he needed to find hope and go somewhere beyond the Reservation. Mr. P states “You’ve been fighting since you were born. You fought off that brain surgery […] you kept your hope. Now you have to take your hope and go somewhere” (43). Mr. P is trying to tell Junior to leave the reservation and become something that Mr. P isn’t. Junior needs to leave the reservation so he can find hope, and live a successful life. Many people on the reservation are poor, and Mr. P is trying to help Junior from going there. It reminds me of when I had to pick a Highschool and I had to choose what was right for me and my future goals. Mr. P is trying to help Junior become something better than people at the reservation.
Ever since Junior transferred to Reardan he had to balance his life with school and the reservation. Junior states that “Traveling between Reardan and Wellpinit, between the little town and the reservation I always feel like a stranger” (118). Since Junior decided he had to find hope the reservation has been giving him a hard time. They think that he is betraying them for leaving the reservation to go to a different school. Junior doesn’t know how to fit in and please everybody’s needs. He feels like a stranger because the reservation is judging him for transferring, and he can’t fit in at Reardan.