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It isn’t entirely true that Lewis never sees anyone else from the reservation at school. Carson is with him in chorus, but he sits in the back and they never talk to one another when they’re at school. It doesn’t help Lewis’ social standing that he, like many from the reservation, is on the free-lunch program. One kid makes the remark of “scummy welfare Indians” (28) as he walks by Lewis and Tami in the lunch line. It was the Wedgie King, and Carson has made friends with him. At lunch, Artie invites George to go to their hang out spot, The Road To Hell, which George calls Good Intentions in order to keep from swearing, something that he refuses to do. Good Intentions is actually a quarry where they like to watch the quarry workers dynamite the rock. Artie artfully shies away from having Lewis come along.
In chorus, George and Lewis discuss the conspiracy theory that Paul McCartney is actually dead and that the man posing as McCartney is Billy Shears. Lewis wishes to be both a Native American and a “Dear Boy,” i.e., like everyone else. Artie begins playing “Dear Boys” on the piano. Rose tells him and George that if they ever want to go to a concert to let her know: Her dad owns a Ticketron outlet and can get them good seats. Lewis isn’t invited. This causes him to make a remark about how “they” all stick together. George deflects Lewis’ insinuations of racism.
Mrs. Thatcher, the chorus teacher, announces that with the upcoming concert she needs to spend time with those individuals who have single parts, and so the others can remain in the room or go to the commons and work on homework. Lewis opts for the second option because he needs to get his diorama finished. All he really wants is a passing grade, and his feeble attempts at constructing a replica of an early Tuscarora dwelling leaves much room for improvement. At the end of the day, Lewis is on the bus with Carson. He wants to ask him why he hangs out with the Wedgie King, but doesn’t find the opportunity. He knows there will be other chances: “Even though Carson seemed to make white friends easier than I did, he still needed me around to be less interesting than he was” (39).
Before the holiday concert, Stacey and Gloria come in crying. Gloria’s dad just received his orders. Gloria and her family will be leaving in a week. Another boy, Nelson, will be leaving after Christmas. It’s a hard thing for Lewis to imagine, leaving and going somewhere far away as he hasn’t ever left the immediate area. George points out that having to leave at a moment’s notice is just a way of life for military kids. George asks Lewis if his family celebrates Christmas. Lewis answers sarcastically: “I was developing a bad habit of deflecting his questions by being a smart-ass” (43). There is a hint that George wants Lewis to come visit, but Lewis is reluctant because that would mean a quid pro quo situation, and he doesn’t want George to see his home. Plus, Lewis’ family doesn’t own a car.
It’s the time of the concert, and Lewis is wearing clothes too big for him: He had to borrow a shirt from his uncle. George tells Lewis he should have said something. He would have lent him a shirt. During the concert, they sing, “O Tannenbaum,” to the delight of George’s mother. The song reminds Lewis of how his grandparents were never allowed to do anything remotely cultural when they were children and forced to attend a boarding school. The boarding schools were notorious for punishment and mistreatment. After the concert, George’s mother meets Albert. As everyone is getting ready to leave, Saphronia Mastick, Carson’s mother, knowing that Albert and Lewis do not have a car, offers to take them home. Lewis politely declines and tells her that their car is parked just around the corner. Seeing the white people, Saphronia understands. Later, Lewis apologizes as he and Albert must walk home in the cold. Albert tells him not to worry about it.
Before they can arrive home, however, George and his mom pull up alongside them. She had seen them depart by foot through her rearview mirror. Albert and Lewis climb into the car, but before they do, Albert reassures Lewis by telling him that he has a plan. George is confused and miffed that Lewis lied about having a car. George’s mom tells Albert they’d hoped Lewis could come over and visit. Albert thinks that’s a great idea. As they approach the reservation, Albert tells George’s mom to let him out. He wants to walk the last few yards to the house. Albert tells Lewis that he’ll let his mom know that he’s safe. As they drive away, George’s mother remarks how thoughtful and nice Albert is. Lewis feels like he is about to cross over the border to another country, and all alone, too.
Red-Tail Manor, the housing area on base, reminds Lewis of some of the projects where most city Native Americans lived, just a whole lot cleaner and nicer. When they arrive at George’s house, George jumps out of the car and tells Lewis to follow him. George’s mother informs him that he and Lewis need to be back home in 20 minutes. George takes Lewis with him to the BX (Air Force acronym for Base Exchange, a shopping store on base that is solely for soldiers and their families). George shops for a few things and wants to know if Lewis wants anything. Lewis declines, which is good, because the soldier working that night is a stickler for the rules and reminds George that he isn’t allowed to share anything he bought with his friend. George calls the man a bad name long after he and Lewis are in the parking lot on their way back to George’s house.
Once there, George’s mom says that they’re going to be having pizza for dinner. George wants to order. Lewis finds it odd that George and his family always order from Pizza Hut when there are much better places in the area. George lets Lewis take over the ordering process. One of the things Lewis orders from a local pizza parlor are hot wings with blue cheese dipping sauce. No one in George’s family has ever had them before. It’s odd for most of them at first, but George’s dad, Mr. Haddonfield, quickly finds he enjoys them.
After dinner, George gives Lewis a brief tour of his room, showing George his collection of Smurf figurines while they also listen to music. Lewis has never heard of the Smurfs before. George tells Lewis that Papa Smurf is “supposed to keep all the knowledge and culture of the Smurfs” (66). Lewis has heard George’s mom refer to Mr. Haddonfield as Papa Smurf: When George’s dad has time off, he lets his beard grow out; it’s so blond that it looks almost white, like Papa Smurf’s beard. Plus, she also accuses his dad of being a know-it-all sometimes.
Eventually it is time for Lewis to go home. Mr. Haddonfield drives him back. Once home, Lewis and his mom have an argument about George ever coming over, especially now that Lewis has seen of the Others live. Lewis tries to argue that George would be coming to see him and not the house, but looking around, Lewis knows that George can’t come over. The kitchen is in such bad shape that neighborhood dogs can climb underneath the dilapidated walls and enter in search of food. Sometimes Lewis must beat them back outside with his brother’s old lacrosse balls. Up in his room, Lewis puts on the record Mr. Haddonfield loaned him and listens to “Band on the Run.” Albert points out how that song is Lewis’ song. Lewis shares the left-over pizza and wings with Albert. George’s mom insisted he take food, but he couldn’t let his mom know he accepted food from white people.
Lewis enjoyed having visited George at his house, so one day he gets the listing for Mr. Haddonfield and calls up George. George’s mom answers the phone and she and Lewis have a brief back-and-forth of telephone etiquette and the differences between Germany and the reservation. Lewis is calling to tell George to tell his dad that he [Lewis] will be very careful with the album and return it on the first day back at school after the holidays. George invites Lewis to hang out with him on New Year’s and won’t let Lewis dodge the invite. Later that evening, Carson calls and invites Lewis to sleep over. Lewis waits outside, expecting Carson’s mom to pick him up, but is surprised to find Carson driving the car by himself. Because US laws don’t carry over to the reservation, many Native American children learn to drive at a younger age; however, they must remain on the reservation to drive. Carson drives them back to his house.
The idea is that Carson’s sister, Sheila will drive them into town to do Christmas shopping, but she is too stoned to drive. Lewis notices a large gift for Carson sitting under the tree. It’s an amp for Carson, and Lewis learns what an amp is and that Carson has been taking guitar lessons. Since Sheila can’t drive, Carson decides he will drive them to the store to shop. Once at the store, Lewis pockets the car keys to ensure Carson won’t drive away without him. Lewis purchases a few gifts: winter gloves for Albert, a box of chocolates for his sister Charlotte and her family. While Lewis is looking for a gift for his brother Zach, he notices the Wedgie King. He keeps away but notices how Carson interacts with him. Lewis finds a car-cleaning kit for Zach.
Out in the parking lot, Carson has Lewis drive. Lewis is very reluctant because he has never driven before, but Carson refuses to let Lewis back down from the challenge. Lewis has a rough start, especially with Carson laughing at him, but quickly gets the hang of it. During the drive, Lewis contemplates the difference in his friendship with George and with Carson. As soon as they are back on the reservation, Lewis drives home, contrary to Carson’s plans, but Lewis has had enough of Carson. Lewis decides he is going to take George up on his offer to spend New Year’s with him.
The title for Chapter 4 is a song by Paul McCartney. If the song lyrics are compared with the events in the chapter, then one wonders what sort of ramifications they might carry with respect to Mrs. Thatcher’s referring to her students as “Dear Boys”: The song itself is about a man’s love for a woman; the man addresses all the men who knew the woman before he did, wondering if they all know how much they missed out on. Therefore, the question arises as to who might be missing out on what in Chapter 4. George is teaching Lewis more about the white man’s world, and Lewis is learning about a lot of life’s amenities and comforts that he has never personally known before. However, the idea of not knowing, or ignorance, has two meanings: As the reader learns more about Lewis and his peoples’ way of life, it’s easier to see how much others miss out on with their prejudice against Native Americans. Lewis introduces this topic when he wonders if he can be like everyone else and still remain a Native American.
Chapter 5’s title is a Beatles song about the mutability of life, especially the fact that people come and go. The lyrics of the song highlight the transitory nature of the lives of children with parents in the military, something that Lewis witnesses for the first time through Gloria and Nelson’s departing. However, it is also insinuated that George’s time is also limited: When Lewis asks George if leaving is always similar to how Gloria and Nelson are leaving, George answers simply, “How else would it be?” (41). The rhetorical question and almost tautological response illustrates that George cannot contemplate any other possibility for kids in his situation—a foreshadowing of George’s eventual departure.
Chapter 6’s features a Wings song, and as the title itself suggests, coincides not only with Lewis’ amazement at seeing how George lives, but also of how closely the two are becoming friends. However, the song also refers to the love Lewis holds for music and its effects on him. Toward the end of the chapter, Lewis and Albert are listening to “Band on the Run”; Albert remarks how it’s Lewis’ song, because it aligns with Lewis’ situation. Therefore, for Lewis, “Maybe I’m Amazed” can serve as a tribute to the cathartic effects of listening to music.
Though most Beatles songs are love songs, Chapter 7’s title, “If I Needed Someone,” can be interpreted as the platonic love that forms between good friends. The song supports the growing friendship between George and Lewis but also serves as a counterexample for the one-sided friendship between Carson and Lewis. The song’s chorus illustrates Lewis’ decision between spending time with George or Carson: “If I had some more time to spend / Then I guess I’d be with you, my friend / If I needed someone” (cf. “If I Needed Someone”; The Beatles: Rubber Soul). Because Carson is not an ideal friend—he is only friends with Lewis when it brings him an advantage—Lewis answers the question posed in the song when he calls George and agrees to spend New Year’s with him rather than following tradition and spending it with Carson.
This section introduces George’s mother, a German national who represents the “other white” people who are alien to the white Americans with whom Lewis contends. She adds another layer of multiculturalism to the novel and provides support for the motif that no one “racial group” is homogenous. Moreover, she provides another chance for cross-cultural exchanges between the two sides: the white side represented by George, and the Native American side represented by Lewis. Her presence opens up a world greater than the novel’s setting.
This section touches on the increasing amount of racism directed toward the Native Americans from the white community surrounding the reservation and Lewis’ increasing awareness thereof. Lewis thinks about how his earlier desire not to be invisible at school contradicts the desire to be invisible in town, especially when he goes shopping; normally, someone follows him around to make sure he doesn’t steal anything. The prejudice that Native Americans are thieves is insinuated, and Lewis is aware of it. However, the desire for others to see him as a non-Native American also makes him feel “guilt, followed, like a garden slug […] leaving its slime trail” (49). While Lewis has always been passively aware of racism against Native Americans, it isn’t until he becomes friends with George that he is compelled to view his surroundings in a harsher light.
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