After reading and rereading Chapters 2 and 3 of The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, I realized that Arnold has a lot to say about dreams. For your first blog response, reflect on Arnold's perspective when it comes to dreaming. How does he view the power of dreams? How does perspective and attitude differ from your own? How would Arnold respond to the quote, "Dream Big?" Finally, comment on the following two questions: How much do our dreams depend on others? Why do we sometimes give up on our dreams?
I think that Arnold has two different opinions on dreams. Because there are two definitions, he has a different opinion for each one. In the diary, Alexie writes, "But we reservation Indians don't get to realize our dreams. We don't get those chances. Or choices. We're just poor. That's all we are" (Alexie 13). In this passage Arnold is talking about dreams that people have about what they want their life to be in the future, like the goals they have in life. In this passage, Arnold is saying that people on the reservation, including himself, don't get a real chance to make their dreams come true because they're all just poor, and nobody listens to them. It seems that he has already given up on his dreams and has accepted that he's going to live on the reservation for the rest of his life, being poor.
In Chapter 3, however, Arnold uses dreams as a different definition. He refers to the dreams people have when they fall asleep. Alexie writes, "He's a big, goofy dreamer, too, just like me. He likes to pretend he lives inside the comic books. I guess a fake life inside a cartoon is a lot better than real life.
"So I draw cartoons to make him happy, to give him other worlds to live inside.
"I draw his dreams" (Alexie 23).
In this passage Arnold is saying that dreams are a different world that you can live in. I think he really thinks that dreams are an escape from the real world for him and Rowdy. It seems that in Rowdy and Arnold’s relationship, Rowdy protects Arnold from getting beat up, and Arnold gives Rowdy another world to live in by drawing cartoons.
Arnold’s opinions and my opinions are almost the same, but I think they are for different reasons. I agree with him on the first definition of dream. I think that some people don’t have the chance to have their dreams come true because of the world they were born into. If you are born into a very rich family, obviously your parents will be able to pay for anything you want, and that can help with realizing your dream. But, if you are born into a situation like Arnold is, there’s not really anyone to help you realize your dreams and try to make them come true. For the second definition I would also agree with Arnold. A few years ago, if you asked me this question, I would definitely have a different opinion than Arnold. When I was younger, I really didn’t dream that much when I went to bed, or maybe I just am horrible at remembering the dreams. But, after seeing the movie Inception, I realize now from that scene in Mombasa at Yusuf’s basement that people dream because they can control what they want in the world. If you don’t like an aspect of the real world, in your dream you can change it. Because of this I agree with what the movie says in that scene about how people dream because it has become their reality. In the movie, those people had a 40 hour dream and then went back to the real world for 12-15 hours and did it again. Because those people dreamed like 3-4 times more than they were awake in the real world, their minds had changed to think that when they woke up from the dream, they were actually falling asleep to go to their “dream world” (the real world) and then waking up in their “real world” (the dream world). That’s why I agree with Arnold about the second definition.
When responding to the quote, “Dream Big,” I think that Arnold would disagree with that . Because he has been on the reservation his whole life, he has had dreams about what he wants to be, but has accepted that he probably won’t get the chance to make them come true. In the diary, Alexie writes, "I feel important with a pen in my hand. I feel like I might grow up to be somebody important" (Alexie 6), so you know that Arnold has a dream of who he wants to be. But then in Chapter 2 Alexie writes the first quote I used on page 13, which indicates that he thinks Indians will never get a chance.
I think our dreams depend on others a moderate amount. I think that other people are the ones who see your passion for something and recommend that you should dream of being a professional on the subject. Without those people recognizing your passion, you would probably think of something yourself eventually, but it would be something that you are already familiar with. For example, if you are a good at math, particularly stats, you could have a dream to be a sports analyst who tracks the stats of a specific team. But, if you are really good at predicting outcomes, or seeing a trend for something long term, somebody might suggest to you that you should be an actuary. If you didn’t know what an actuary was, you would have never thought of it yourself, so that’s why I think others play a moderate role of your dreams, because they are like a second opinion on what your dreams could be, but you aren’t bound to listen to them.
Finally, I think that we give up on our dreams sometimes because of two main reasons. First, sometimes its because we think we can’t accomplish the dream we set out to do. Rather than try really hard to succeed, we just give up on it and focus on something else we think we can do. Lastly, it’s could be just plain impossible for you to accomplish your dreams. For example, if for your whole life you wanted to join the Military and you went to the recruitment office, but you suffered from chronic seizures, the Military would probably deny your acceptance. I think that most people think this is the case for them, when if they just try hard enough, they will accomplish their dreams. I think that all cases of giving up your dreams fall into these two main categories.
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