Hopes and DreamsThe diary begins by establishing Junior's situation, including the fact that Junior suffered from hydrocephalus and is therefore small for his age and suffers from seizures, with poor eyesight, stuttering and lisping, and therefore was always harassed by other people on the reservation. His family is poor, a condition Junior attributes to being from the reservation and not having the opportunity to realize his potential; their poverty is symbolized early on when Junior's dog, Oscar, suffers heat stroke and has to be put down by his father because they cannot afford to take him to a veterinarian. The only child friend he has is Rowdy, a classmate who is abused at home but defends Junior and also lets Junior see his vulnerable side, such as his enjoyment of children's comics like Archie and Richie Rich. When they started the new year at Wellpinit High School on the Spokane Indian Reservation, Junior attended his geometry class to discover that the book was a very old textbook, so he opened his textbook to find his mother's maiden name in the book attributed to him. He then feels very angry and decides to throw the book, he punches their geometry teacher, Mr. P, in the face, a few days later, Mr. P decides to visit Junior after being suspended from school. MP then apologizes to Junior for what he was doing to the Spokane Indian kids at school, which he doesn't care about and doesn't give hope to the Indian kids at school. But in Juniors' case, he starts telling him that he's smart and deserves better, and that kids like him have the potential to do anything he wants. He begins by telling Junior that his sister also had great potential, but that she never left the reservation to do anything...... middle of paper ...... ility with her brain, saying he had too much fluid in his brain. his brain. It's like it doesn't stop him from achieving his dreams. He starts dating the hottest girl in school, and the captain of the football team gives him that respect, along with being the best shooter on the basketball team. So in his transition from being on the reserve to being off the reserve, there was no hope for him on the reserve. So everyone he meets in this story has a big influence on his life as Junior becoming Arnold. It was a life learning experience that I could relate to every time I read the book. If we all try very hard to achieve our hopes and dreams, it is possible to achieve our goals in life, as Arnold shares in his story about himself. So at the end of the whole story he makes a lot of transitions, it's like he's a child turning into a man.