PTI #8 Why does Junior cry on pages 216 and 217? By Abigail Rabieh

Junior cries on pages 216 and 217 because he is mourning the life that his fellow Indians lead, and is mourning what he has to do to get a good life. The Indians on the rez are all sad and drunk and slowly killing themselves through alcohol. Junior is very upset about this, and it’s only reinforced when he thinks about his life. He and his tribe have been through so many deaths because of alcohol, and will go through many more. He wants them all to not only live, but get off the rez like him, and is crying because he knows that will never happen. He is also crying because knows he has to leave the rez, but it means leaving behind everything he knows.  Junior says “I knew that staying on the rez would kill me” (Alexie 216), but he also knows that the rez and the people on is will haunt him forever. Junior knows what he has to do, and is sad about it, but also realizes that he belongs to more than just one tribe on his reservation, and he will be able to survive with other people, not just his Spokane family.