Student Question
What is Tony's relationship with Octavio in There There?
Quick answer:
In There There, Tony and Octavio’s relationship seems exploitative and manipulative. Octavio takes advantage of Tony’s insecurities and uses him to help rob the powwow. He makes Tony buy the bullets, hide the bullets, and dress up in full regalia. It’s safe to say that Octavio and Tony’s relationship is neither wholesome nor helpful.
Tony is the name of one of the main characters in Tommy Orange's novel, whose full name is Tony Loneman. As you might already be aware from having read the novel, Tony is not the most confident or secure person. He doesn’t have very many friends. He seems rather isolated and alienated. His face is different due to fetal alcohol syndrome. When Tony hears he has fetal alcohol syndrome, he thinks he has “Drome.”
People think Tony is stupid. Yet Tony is introspective. He knows when people are looking at him. He’s quite intuitive:
I’m smart. I know what people have in mind.
Yet Tony’s intelligence doesn’t prevent him from falling into the clutches of Octavio. Octavio enlists Tony to help him rob the powwow.
In a way, Tony and Octavio’s relationship is transactional. It’s also exploitative. Octavio exploits Tony’s lack of self worth and weaponizes him against his own race. Octavio gets Tony to buy bullets and he even forces him to dress up in full regalia at the powwow they plan to rob so that he’ll fit in even better and be harder to identify. It seems like Octavio is using Tony for his own means and preying on Tony’s weaknesses.
With that being said, Tony is clearly capable of thinking for himself. Tony could have stuck up from himself and refused to go along. Although, that might have dire consequences for Tony. Of course, going along with Octavio’s robbery has dire consequences anyway.
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