Wednesday, November 6, 2013
#3- Junior tells us more about Penelope, and he learns her secret (Julia B.)
On pages 107-109 Junior learns Penelope's secret by overhearing someone [Penelope] puking in the girl's room, then he continues to press on until she comes out of the restroom and has to tell him, because he would've figured it out anyway. She tells him that she's only bulimic when she wants to be, which reminds Junior of his father, who says that he's only a drunk when he drinks- but it's really something that won't go away. I think that he says "... she's scared all the time, but nobody lets her be scared..." (Alexie 108) because she's shown as this strong, popular person who everyone thinks is perfect. The stress might force her into being bulimic, because she wants to be skinny, because that's how people want her to be. When he finds out her secret, he tries to comfort her, then thinks to himself that she's incredibly sexy. He admits that his advice, wasn't the best, "Okay, so its not the wisest advice in the world. It's actually kind of obvious and corny" (Alexie 109). He is overjoyed though when Penelope puts a large amount of trust in him, and decides to be his friend. Penelope's secret was a way for her and Junior to slowly begin being friends.
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I think that this is a very good point because you it is really strong. I think that you could also add more to the future of Arnold and Penelope, because of Arnold finding out Penelopes secret that they are really good friends. Also, the pancake incident was really important because that is where I think there relationship really flourished.
ReplyDeleteI love your constant expression of stress, but at the same time there is an expressed idea of trust. I agree with idea of trust being put into Arnold, because at that point she was almost obligated to tell him after the evidence heard outside the bathroom (Alexie 106-108). I also agree with the idea of a "perfect" image being put up by Penelope, and her having to show everyone how strong of a person she is (Alexie 108). This blog post really reveals who Penelope really is and how she feels about trusting Arnold.
ReplyDeleteGood post. I would like to add though that once they started being good friends Arnold's life at school became a lot better. People started to recognize him and not think of him as an outcast. (Alexie 109) "Over the next few weeks, Penelope and I become the hot item at Reardan High School. Well, okay we're not exactly a romantic couple. We're more like friends with potential." To explain, when they become the "hot couple with potential" it's making junior be recognized and liked.
ReplyDeleteI though that you answered the question of why she becomes friends with Junior and tells him her secret very well by explaining how she is obligated to be perfect by her peers. But in your post, if you were to take Deven's advice, then you also should explain not only how Junior was happy to be Penelope's friend, but also about how Junior was using her. Hie is thinking," But hey, I was kind of using her too. After all, I suddenly became popular" (Alexie 110). Junior is also using Penelope to earn a better reputation at the school. Overall I think that this post clearly explained the reason why Penelope started trusting him and why she feels needed to be perfect.
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