Quote 1
I picked up the other boot and dug inside. Man, that thing smelled like booze and fear and failure.
I found a wrinkled and damp five dollar bill.
"Merry Christmas," he said.
Wow. (21.15-21.18)
Arnold's family is totally broke during Christmas, and his father disappears to go on a drinking binge. When he returns, he gives Arnold a five-dollar bill. It's a small sum of money, but it means a quite a bit. Why is the gesture so incredibly important to Arnold?
Quote 2
"They had a party," my father said. "And your sister and her husband passed out in the back bedroom. And somebody tried to cook some soup on a hot plate. And they forgot about it and left. And a curtain drifted in on the wind and caught the hot plate, and the trailer burned down quick."
I swear to you that I could hear my sister screaming.
"The police say your sister never even woke up," my father said. "She was way too drunk."
My dad was trying to comfort me. But it's not too comforting to learn that your sister was TOO FREAKING DRUNK to feel any pain when she BURNED TO DEATH! (27.85-27.88)
As he has so many times before, Arnold loses someone he loves to a terrible alcohol-related accident. But, why Mary? Didn't she leave the reservation? Why could she not escape the same fate as so many of her loved ones?
Quote 3
"Your mother was thirteen and I was five when we first met. And guess how we first met?"
"How?"
"She helped me get a drink from a water fountain."
"Well, that just seems sort of gross," I said.
"I was tiny," Dad said. "And she boosted me up so I could get a drink. And imagine, all these years later and we're married and have two kids."
"What does this have to do with basketball?"
"You have to dream big to get big."
"That's pretty dang optimistic of you, Dad."
"Well, you know, our mother helped me get a drink from the water fountain last night, if you know what I mean." (20.9-20.17)
Though Arnold's family has problems, his Dad is always encouraging. He is even a little optimistic here, pushing his son to dream big. Is optimism important in order for us to accomplish our dreams?