Novel Connections

LUCAS:
"That night I dreamed about the boy. It was raining. He was running on the beach  and people were chasing him, throwing stones at him and calling him names, Gyppo! Thief! Dirty pervert! There were hundreds of them, brandishing sticks and lead pipes, shovels and rocks, whatever they could lay their hands on, their nightmare faces gripped with hate and streaked with tears of rain, Dirty gyppo! Dirty bastard! Jamie Tait was there, oiled, in his too-tight swimming trunks. Angel and Robbie were there. Lee Brendell, Bill, Dominic, Deefer, Simon, Dad, everyone from the island was there, all storming across the beach, screaming out for blood... and I was there too. I was with them. I was running with the mob."

Cait had this dream right after a really bad day. She had gone out to the town with Bill, Robbie, Angel and some others, and she really doesn't like hanging around witht that crowd. Bill, her long time friend, only wants to do drugs and drink lately, and hang around with a bunch of scums. This dream represents how scared Cait is to hang around with those type of people and be exactly like them. When it said, "I was running with the mob." it reperesented Cait becoming just like the scums. This shows how sleeping dreams can take on a different form and be how your life is in the past present or future. It shows how dreams can show your deepest fears, insecurities and emotions, just like Cait's dream.

THE ABSOLUTELY TRUE DIARY OF A PART-TIME INDIAN:
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is all about a boy named Arnold who lives on an Indian reserve and has one of the worst lives you could imagine. Money is low, education is poor, and alcoholism is high. Arnold is sick and tired of living like this, and he wants a brand new life. He decideds he wants to go to school at Reardan High School, an all white high school where education is amazing. When he tells people on the reserve about his new plan, they only put him down. Arnold keeps his head held high, follows his dreams and accomplishes them. He not only becomes a well educated individual, he also makes life long friends and discovers a love for basketball. This goes to show how much your life can turn around by simply following your dreams.