The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian has a lot of pathos because so many people end up dying and never of natural causes. So while I have had a pet and a grandparent die I can only sympathize because it's never happened the same way. For instance my dog got really really old and decrepit so I knew it was coming and I wasn't even there when we put her down so I was actually totally fine with the whole thing and haven't missed her since. Arnold's dog on the other hand suddenly got sick one day and because his family's poor they couldn't afford to pay the vet to fix it so instead his dad asked him to carry Oscar outside so that he could shoot him. It was hard to pick a specific moment in this because it all adds to the pathos so I'll just write it all.
"Poverty doesn't give you strength or teach you lessons about perseverance. No, poverty only teaches you how to be poor.
So, poor and small and weak, I picked up Oscar. He licked my face because he loved and trusted me. And I carried him out to the lawn, and laid him out beneath our green apple tree.
"I love you, Oscar," I said.
He looked at me and I swear to you that he understood what was happening. He knew what dad was going to do. But Oscar wasn't scared. He was relieved.
But not me.
I ran away from there as fast as I could.
I wanted to run faster than the speed of sound, but nobody, no matter how much pain they're in, can run that fast. So I heard the boom of my father's rifle when he shot my best friend.
A bullet only costs two cents, and anyone can afford that." (Alexie, S. 13-14)
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