Previous
Metaphors
Definition of Mood
The mood of a piece of writing is its general atmosphere or emotional complexion—in short, the array of feelings the work evokes in the reader. Every aspect of a piece of writing... read full definition
The mood of a piece of writing is its general atmosphere or emotional complexion—in short, the array of feelings the work evokes in the reader. Every aspect... read full definition
The mood of a piece of writing is its general atmosphere or emotional complexion—in short, the array of feelings the work evokes... read full definition
Chapter 8 - How to Fight Monsters
Explanation and Analysis:
Alexie invites the reader to feel the mixed emotions of adolescence right alongside Junior. The mood of the novel is thus ambivalent, mixing hope, triumph, and confidence with fear, grief, and uncertainty, often all at once. One example occurs in Chapter 8, when Roger refuses to fight Junior:
I was absolutely confused.
I had followed the rules of fighting. I had behaved exactly the way I was supposed to behave. But these white boys had ignored the rules. In fact, they followed a whole other set of mysterious rules where people apparently DID NOT GET INTO FISTFIGHTS.
“Wait,” I called after Roger.
“What do you want?” Roger asked.
“What are the rules?”
“What rules?”
I didn’t know what to say, so I just stood there red and mute like a stop sign. Roger and his friends disappeared.
Junior comes to Reardan High School hoping for opportunities that make his rift with Rowdy worth it. He immediately is forced to hear racist comments, but he feels sure that he knows how to deal with them. The reader roots for him and then squirms with him when his swagger falters. The way Alexie taps into adolescent social dynamics helps draw on the reader's empathy: many of the novel's readers have not experienced the exact racism Junior faces, but the sudden realization that they do not know "the rules" of a social situation is no doubt familiar to almost all of them. Alexie thus takes Junior's alienating experience and draws the reader into solidarity with him.
As a narrator, Junior's vulnerability consistently helps bring the reader on his roller-coaster of emotions. Even when unthinkable or remarkable things happen to him (such as losing his sister in a fire), he lets the reader into his feelings instead of delineating between those who have had these experiences and those who have not. He points out differences between his life and the lives of his classmates in Reardan, but he goes to great lengths to empathize with them and treat them as entire human beings with their own struggles and dreams. Overall, Junior shares with the reader an openness to the entire human experience, complex, difficult, and unfair as it may be. Even if he is not resigned to a lifetime of trauma, he models for the reader a kind of acceptance that his complicated life story is as "absolutely true" as anyone else's.
Related Themes:
