Reading #2 p. 32-66, In Junior's mind, what is a "real Indian"? How does this impact him? - Elisa

In Junior's mind, a "real Indian" is an Indian who lives alone in the woods, unlike those living in the reservation, and someone that Junior thinks he could never be. When his father leaves him at Reardan High School for his first day of school, Junior is the only Indian among all the white kids, and everyone stares at him. He is waiting outside for school to begin, and he thinks that he could escape to “go live in the woods like a hermit. Like a real Indian" (Alexie 58). Junior thinks that nobody on his reservation is a “real Indian,” as he has a very low opinion of the Indians living on the reservation. He believes that he could never be a "real Indian" and says, “since I was allergic to pretty much every plant that grew on earth, I would have been a real Indian with a head full of snot" (Alexie 58). This quote shows that Junior has a very low self-esteem. He believes that since he is neither a white person full of hope nor a real Indian who lives in the forest, he is not a worthy individual. This is similar to A Raisin in the Sun, where Lena and Ruth are from Africa, but they are not real Africans, as they do not know anything about their African heritage. Beneatha tells Lena that all anyone knows about Africa is from the story of Tarzan. In both stories the characters live in ignorance of their ancestry and culture.