Quote 1
"Hey Arnold," he said. "I looked up 'in love with a white girl' on Google and found an article about that white girl named Cynthia who disappeared in Mexico last summer. You remember how her face was all over the papers and everybody said it was such a sad thing?"
"I kinda remember," I said.
"Well, this article said that over two hundred Mexican girls have disappeared in the last three years in that same part of the country. And nobody says much about that. And that's racist. The guy who wrote the article says people care more about beautiful white girls than they do about everybody else on the planet. White girls are privileged. They're damsels in distress." (16.24-16.26)
Gordy's Google-searched article discusses the preference given to white women by Western society. As the case of Cynthia illustrates, white women are often more highly valued than Mexican women. Is Arnold privileging white women by pursuing Penelope? Why or why not? What does Gordy think? What does Rowdy think? What do you think?
Quote 2
"I know, I know, but some Indians think you have to act white to make your life better. Some Indians think you become white if you try to make your life better, if you become successful."
"If that were true, then wouldn't all white people be successful?"
Man, Gordy was smart. I wished I could take him to the rez and let him educate Rowdy. Of course, Rowdy would probably punch Gordy until he was brain-dead. Or maybe Rowdy, Gordy, and I could become a superhero trio, fighting for truth, justice and the Native American way. Well, okay, Gordy was white, but anybody can start to act like an Indian if he hangs around us long enough. (18.15-18.17)
Gordy and Arnold discuss how you can become white or become Indian. This suggests that race is not so much something that you are born into (something biologically determined), but a category that can be changed by your behavior. We might say then that, according to the novel, race can be socially constructed.
Quote 3
"There are three thousand four hundred and twelve books here," Gordy said. "I know that because I counted them."
"Okay, now you're officially a freak," I said.
"Yes, it's a small library. It's a tiny one. But if you read one of these books a day, it would still take you almost ten years to finish."
"What's your point?"
"The world, even the smallest parts of it, is filled with things you don't know."
Wow. That was a huge idea.
Any town, even one as small as Reardan, was a place of mystery. And that meant Wellpinit, that smaller, Indian town, was also a place of mystery. (12.199-12.205)
Oh, the joy of knowledge! Gordy helps Arnold embrace this concept by taking him to the library and showing him just how much there is in this world that Arnold doesn't know. Crazy, right? We see how through books, the world –"even the smallest part of it" – becomes huge and filled with mystery. For Gordy and Arnold, books are not a means to escape the world; instead, books make the world bigger and more exciting.
Quote 4
"Oh, yes, we are. Weird people still get banished."
"You mean weird people like me," I said.
"And me," Gordy said.
"All right, then," I said. "So we have a tribe of two."
I had the sudden urge to hug Gordy, and he had the sudden urge to prevent me from hugging him.
"Don't get sentimental," he said.
Yep, even the weird boys are afraid of their emotions. (18.29-18.32)
Gordy and Arnold discover that they are both outcasts, so they decide to declare themselves a tribe of two bookworm weirdoes. (Aww.) What tribes do you belong to? Who is in your tribe?
Quote 5
"Listen," he said one afternoon in the library. "You have to read a book three times before you know it. The first time you read it for the story. The plot. The movement from scene to scene that gives the book its momentum, its rhythm. It's like riding a raft down a river. You're just paying attention to the currents. Do you understand that?"
"Not at all," I said.
"Yes, you do," he said.
"Okay, I do," I said. I really didn't, but Gordy believed in me. He wouldn't let me give up. (12.174-12.177)
In this scene Gordy is teaching Arnold how to read a book. What are the other steps Gordy describes? What is the difference between Gordy as a teacher and Mr. P as a teacher? Why is it so significant that Gordy believes in Arnold?
Quote 6
"There are three thousand four hundred and twelve books here," Gordy said. "I know that because I counted them."
"Okay, now you're officially a freak," I said.
"Yes, it's a small library. It's a tiny one. But if you read one of these books a day, it would still take you almost ten years to finish."
"What's your point?"
"The world, even the smallest parts of it, is filled with things you don't know."
Wow. That was a huge idea.
Any town, even one as small as Reardan, was a place of mystery. And that meant Wellpinit, that smaller, Indian town, was also a place of mystery. (12.199-12.205)
Gordy, the boy genius and resident know-it-all, takes it upon himself to expand Arnold's ideas about knowledge. By taking him the library, Gordy shows Arnold just how much there is in the world that he doesn't know. The world becomes a huge place filled with knowledge, with mystery, and with things to learn.
Quote 7
"Hey Arnold," he said. "I looked up 'in love with a white girl' on Google and found an article about that white girl named Cynthia who disappeared in Mexico last summer. You remember how her face was all over the papers and everybody said it was such a sad thing?"
"I kinda remember," I said.
"Well, this article said that over two hundred Mexican girls have disappeared in the last three years in that same part of the country. And nobody says much about that. And that's racist. The guy who wrote the article says people care more about beautiful white girls than they do about everybody else on the planet. White girls are privileged. They're damsels in distress." (16.24-16.26)
Needing relationship advice, Arnold asks Gordy about his semi-relationship with the beautiful Penelope. Gordy's response is analytical: he presents Arnold with a Google-searched article that discusses the preference given to white women by Western society. In his own nerdy way, Gordy teaches Arnold about the larger inequalities in the world and how even our personal desires can be influenced by them.