This book covers a lot of issues: poverty, social justice, racism, cultural shock, self-awareness, hope, isolation, friendship etc. There are couple of things that stuck out to me , one is hope. Junior was born with many problems, living on an Indian reservation where he is bullied by local people, his father is a drunk, his mother is an ex-drunk, his sister is a recluse, his best friend Rowdy is abused by his father. It seems Junior should give up and accept the situation in such a bad growth environment. No.
As a result of prejudice and stereotypes to Junior, he becomes weaker and hopeless . Junior sees himself worthless because he is Indian. “ We always get beat up at least once a month” (Alexie 4). He experienced both physical and emotional pain because he is different. Indians like Junior can’t always get what they want or what they need.
This book/movie is centered around the conflict of Gogol’s American culture and his Indian heritage. There are big misunderstandings between Gogol and his parents and their cultural differences make communication between them very difficult. The result is that Gogol, the main character, never finds ways to effectively be intimate with family and loved ones, because he is not comfortable or practiced in understanding and therefore communicating his own identity. Gogol grows up American and strongly identifies with his Americaness. As he grows up, he distances himself further and further away from his Bengali family.
There is a common theme between this poem and this book: the loneliness, depression, and neglect teenagers face leads them to feel like “outliers” of society. Holden is going through a tough time after the loss of his brother. Life hasn’t been easy for Holden; he has had to deal with his bad grades, the stress of getting kicked out of schools, and the neglect by his parents. He has nobody to talk to, nobody to console him. In the poem, a fourteen year old faces many critical issues, although in comparison to Holden’s they seem trivial.
His father was very laid back and accomplished nothing in life and Okonkwo hated him for it. Okonkwo’s eldest son Nwoye is lazy and weak from an early age. Okonkwo’s fear of his father’s laziness rubbing off on his son Nwoye changes Okonkwo from hero to villain when he beats him to make himself more masculine. What he thinks is helping his family is actually causing pain. Okonkwo’s wives are often beaten for the simplest of things, sometimes even for not explaining to him where they have gone.
And lastly, Tyrone resents taking on a family, because it kept him from making his “big break” as an actor. In the beginning it is obvious to see that the Tyrone family lives differently than most other families. For one their house has many unused and unlived in rooms. On top of that the family is always in a tailspin of emotions. One minute joking and teasing and the next fighting and yelling.
These characteristics get him in trouble and cause his life to change drastically. In the beginning of the novel the audience is presented to Okonkwo and his harsh personality. In his village he is known for being a tough warrior but this achievement has its consequences. In chapter two of the novel the reader gets an understanding of the way Okonkwo is perceived by his family when it states, “Okonkwo ruled his household with a heavy hand. His wives, especially the youngest, lived in perpetual fear of his fiery temper, and so did his little children.” This demonstrates the fear his family feels towards him.
People in America (and teens from all over), usually the ones who have no right to, whine about how horrible their life is when some insignificant problem comes up. They won’t be allowed to go to a party or they have to redo a simple chore due to the lack of effort put into it the first time around. I admit, I too am occasionally guilty of this. But, let’s consider this. Does our life truly suck?
He has been kicked out of school several times; it seems like he does not care about it; however, he has a decent grade in English class. What makes Holden act this way? There is always a reason behind the way people behave, and Holden seems to have some serious problem going on within him. When Holden was sleeping over Mr. Antolini’s house, Holden revealed something that could be key to understand why he conducts himself to others the way he
These realizations develop from his lying and deception, his fear of relationships and intimacy, and his self imposed loneliness. Growing up is hard to do. There is no set route and countless decisions to be made which lead to the good, the bad, and the ugly. Unfortunately one cannot have only the good and more often than not has more of the bad and ugly. Holden himself saw the bad and the ugly at a very young age and it is this that makes such an impact on the personality he maintains while telling his story.