In­di­an boy li­ving in an ln­di­an re­ser­va­ti­on with his fa­mi­ly.

Con­side­red vul­ne­r­a­ble and weak -> is often bul­lied by others

Over­ca­me many phy­si­cal strug­gles, still poor vi­si­on and speech

Re­mains out­si­der in his com­mu­ni­ty -> Faces many chal­len­ges in­her­ent to the re­ser­va­ti­on:

○ Po­ver­ty (can't af­ford me­di­cal care or pro­per food)

○ Pa­rents unful­fil­led dreams (were both held back by the sys­tem)

○ Vi­o­lence (bul­ly­ing from peers, pro­tec­ted by best fri­end Rowdy) -> trap­ped in cycle of des­pair that af­fects most people in the rez

Ar­nold makes a si­gni­fi­cant de­ci­si­on by lea­ving the re­ser­va­ti­on and trans­fer­ring to a pre­do­mi­nant­ly white school.

He per­cei­ves hims­elf as an out­si­der, viewing hims­elf as com­ple­te­ly dif­fe­rent from the white stu­dents be­cau­se of his iden­ti­ty as an In­di­an. He feels iso­la­ted and out of place, sen­sing an un­brid­ge­a­ble bar­ri­er bet­ween hims­elf and the white stu­dents. In his mind, he be­lie­ves he doesn’t be­long there be­cau­se suc­cess is not so­me­thing meant for In­di­ans.

Con­fi­dence: Gains con­fi­dence th­rough Gordy and Pe­ne­lo­pe.

Be­lon­ging: Moves from iso­la­ti­on to fin­ding be­lon­ging at Re­ar­dan.

Self-​Awareness: Ac­cepts his dual iden­ti­ty as both Na­ti­ve Ame­ri­can and a stu­dent.

Emo­ti­o­nal Strength: Be­co­mes emo­ti­o­nal­ly stron­ger by con­nec­ting with others.

Lea­ving for Re­ar­dan: Ar­nold’s cou­ra­ge and bra­very to leave his com­fort zone for a bet­ter fu­ture.

Nomad Me­ta­phor: Ar­nold’s strength to adapt and find his place in two worlds.

Va­lu­es Fri­end­ship: Ar­nold works to re­build his bond with Rowdy de­spi­te con­flicts and un­der­stands others’ per­spec­ti­ves, like Rowdy’s fee­lings of be­tra­yal, sho­wing emo­ti­o­nal ma­tu­ri­ty.