Arnold
draws because "words are too limited", because words are
unpredictable. Words are in one language, they are only comprehensible to those
who speak that language, and words will not make Arnold feel understood by all.
He wants to find away to talk to everyone, to reach every one and to be
understood. He wants to know that he can show someone a drawing, and no matter
what, they will know and understand what he has expressed. "If I draw a
cartoon of a flower, then every man, woman, and child in the world can look at
it and say 'That’s a flower.'" He is so different physically and
emotionally that this shows him that he has things in common with others and
flowers are just one example of the common knowledge humans share that are
expressed through drawings. Whether his feet and hands are too big, or whether he stutters and has a lisp, nobody can deny that he has drawn a flower. Drawing also let's Arnold escape from reality for a while, and it gives him the freedom that he doesn't have in his reservation. This is Arnold's way of leaving a mark, of knowing
that he is seen by others.
Arnold does have his own way of communicating with other people. He explains how he has lisp and stutters all the time. "And when you're fourteen years old like me, and you're still stuttering and lisping, then you become the biggest retard in the world." (Alexie, 4) He explains how when he speaks nothing comes out the way he wants to, and he says that it is "dangerous" to speak. Arnold feels like he has the power when he draws and it seems like people listen to him when he draws. "So I draw because I want to talk to the world. And I want the world to pay attention to me." (Alexie 6). This quote shows how Alexie wants to be heard by others and how he feels alone and isolated from others.
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