In the following I am going to analyse Arnold’s poverty.

Arnold’s poverty is already mentioned in the second chapter of the book and is one of the main problems of Arnold’s family. Throughout the whole book it gets clear how hard it is to be poor and what consequences that has. Arnold explains that he can never go to college because of their poverty. Arnold’s poverty is also the reason why Arnold had given up on his life and because everyone else on the Rez is poor to, it never really bothered him. He got used to it and never wanted to change it. The only reason, Arnold changed his mind was his geometry teacher Mr.P. He showed Arnold what he has to do to have a better life, which is leaving the Rez. He told him that the hope is gone on the rez because the poverty has been given through generations and nobody can change it if they stay on the Rez. The Indians always have been poor and even the white people on the Rez are poor because the chances for the future are bad and all the wealth and chances and hope lie outside of the Rez. Throughout the book Arnold explains that there are lots of different stages of poverty in the Rez and that people have lots of different ways to handle them. Arnold’s family for example is so poor, they sometimes can’t afford food. Arnold’s dog had to die because of poverty(chapter 2). Also there is no money for Christmas presents or, as already mentioned, for college. Arnold’s father handles the poverty with drinking all the time and spending the last money in the casino. As Arnold explains, some parents even deal with drugs to outcome poverty a bit. When Arnold comes to Reardan he first realises how wealthy the White kids are and feels ashamed of his poverty. In a community of poor kids he never cared about it because everyone was poor but at Reardan he seems to be the only poor child which humiliates him. The fact that sometimes he has to walk to and from school because his parents can’t pay the gas makes it worse for him.

All in all, Arnold’s family as well as all the other Indian families are very poor and suffer from it but refuse to admit it to White people. That’s proves the pride the Indians have and how they still try to enjoy their life.