People make new friends, lose old friends, or have both. When you go to a new school, it can be fun making new friends or it can be the ultimate hell for you trying to relate to these strangers that seem like they will attack you at any second. This applies to Arnold Spirit Jr. a fourteen-year-old who started going to a new school in a town that was much different from the school in the town in which he lives in, Wellpinit. He left his best friend in that town, Rowdy, and he was enraged. He did not treat Arnold with that much respect anymore. Arnold did make some great friends at his new school, though, but Arnold does but made up with his long-time best friend, Rowdy in the end. I think that their relationship changes drastically over the course of the book and their characters change as well.
One of the reasons why I believe that Arnold's and Rowdy's relationship drastically changes is that they don't know what to feel about one another. For example, when Arnold first told Rowdy about his plans and decision to go to another school, one which his old school detested, Rowdy was angered. "My heart broke into fourteen pieces, one for each year that Rowdy and I had been friends. I started crying." This text shows here that Rowdy was disappointed in Arnold. Arnold started crying right after Rowdy said some hurtful things, which I believe should have even more hurtful coming from someone protected him and someone that he trusted for all his life. Next, Rowdy starts screaming and crying. "He wiped his eyes, stared at his wet hand, and screamed. I'm sure that everybody on the rez heard that scream. It was the worst thing I'd ever heard. It was pain, pure pain." This text shows that Rowdy really loved his best friend. He was in pain. His best friend who he relied on and cared for was leaving him to the school that he hated, and there was nothing that he could do about it.
Another reason that I believe that their relationship changes is that when they first played basketball against each other, Rowdy and Arnold had an odd encounter. "I jumped into the air, heard the curses of two hundred Spokanes, and then saw only a bright light as Rowdy smashed his elbow into my head and knocked me unconscious." I believe that Rowdy is extremely angered by Arnold at this point, since he feels as if Arnold betrayed him by joining the opposing basketball team. Their relationship does take a turn for the better though, when they suddenly mutually decide that all this rivalry needs to stop, and Rowdy visits Arnold's house by surprise. They started discussing Rowdy and him going to Reardan with Arnold, but Rowdy says, "I'm not nomadic. Hardly anybody on this rez is nomadic. Except for you. You're the nomadic one." I feel as if Rowdy is referring to the way that Arnold has always wanted to go ahead and explore what he can. He moves around, in search for something. After that, they play basketball until it was late at night, not keeping score.
I believe that their relationship drastically changes throughout the course of the whole book, and it shows that everything does get better eventually. This took a whole year for their friendship to go back or become even better than it was before. This change really develops the characters. Rowdy realizes that his best friend needs to be independent and Arnold realizes that he wants to move on, but he will always remember his greatest friend. Others can connect to this book because it relates with loss/grief, loneliness, partial racism, and everyone can relate with the comedy and just everyday issues of a teen.
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