Without self-confidence, people think twice about whether they should do something. They are too worried about whether they will succeed or what others will think about them. Arnold was like this at first; he did not go out much, did not talk much and joined the basketball team because his friend Rowdy was on it. Even though Arnold was quite the player, as stated by Reardan’s basketball coach, “he is the best shooter that has ever played for me,” Arnold did not believe in his skills. However when Arnold got the courage and the self-confidence to try out for his new school’s team, he eventually made it to the school’s senior team as a junior. Arnold got the self-confidence to try out for the team because his dad told him “You have to dream big to get big”. If Arnold didn’t build up the confidence to try out for the team, he would have never made it and it would have been a waste of his skill. Also, after gaining confidence, Arnold started going to parties with his friends and started to hang out with them more often. This was proven when Arnold got invited to go to a party by roger to which get delayed at first but eventually agree. He wouldn’t have been able to do that if he wasn’t confident about himself. Therefore, confidence is important in giving enough courage to people to improve their …show more content…
At first, Arnold had no self-confidence at all. He let other step all over him and he believed that he didn’t matter at all. This was proven when Arnold stated “I am zero on the rez”. Arnold let this happen because he was born many problems. He was born with an unusually large head, a brain deficiency causing him to have too much liquid in his brain, and stuttering problems. All these things lowered Arnold’s confidence gradually to a point where he had none left which made him inferior to everyone. This is proven when Arnold let five year olds pick on him, beat him and call him name such as, “globe and orbit”. This is also proven when he let 30 year olds pick on him and beat him up as stated by Arnold that, “They were playing catch with and kneed me in the ball.” Arnold started feeling good about himself and became more confidence as the novel progressed, he said” im not some ugly mutated beast” which is very different from the comments he made about himself earlier in the novel. Arnold started feeling good about him because Penelope and him became very close friends .Confidence is important because if you don’t feel good about yourself, nobody will. Having confidence helps us overcome obstacles and achieve a lot in