Rowdy is convinced that Arnold "killed" Mary by motivating her to leave the reservation and go somewhere else for a better life. Rowdy thinks this way because, near the beginning of the story, Arnold decides to change schools and go to the Reardan school which is outside the reservation borders. Mary then thinks that Arnold is making the right decision because he was following his dreams. After a few weeks of Arnold being at Reardan, Mary decides to move to Montana with her newly wedded husband seeking a better life. A few months after Mary left, the family receives devastating news that she died from a fire in her home. The family decides to bring her body back to Spokane to be buried inside the reservation borders. While the wake is in progress, Arnold notices Rowdy in the forest and decides to go to him. As soon has he gets to him, Rowdy accuses Arnold of killing Mary, "You killed her" (211) says Rowdy and Arnold realizes that Rowdy was right. Arnold was the one who encouraged Mary to move away from the reservation, "It was all my fault" (Alexie 211). If he stayed at the reservation, she would not have moved to Montana and would still be alive.
I really agree with all of your post, the only thing i would like to ass is the fact that there were so many controbutions to her death that aren't just Arnold's fault but a lot of his family "How do we honor the drunken death of a young married couple? HEY, LET'S GET DRUNK!" (Alexie 212). This comment describes the scenario so well, only a few people on the rezervation never drink alcohol and to mourn the death that was caused by a reckless amount of drinking, they drink too.
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