The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

About the Book

This story follows a teenage, Native American named Arnold Spirit, or Junior, who lives on an Indian reservation in Spokane, Washington. On the reservation, Junior is not well-liked because he has hydrocephalus, which explains his small size and why he has seizures; poor eyesight; stuttering; and lisping. In other words, these flaws are what make his peers pick on him. However, Junior has one friend on the reservation named Rowdy, who intimidates anyone who picks on Junior. Junior attends school on the reservation, and the school is poor and lacks proper resources for students to get their education. Junior realizes just how poor the school is when he notices his mother’s name is in his textbook his geometry teacher hands him; in other words, the book is over thirty years old. Realizing the reservation cannot afford new textbooks, he throws the book at the teacher, and he breaks his nose. After the incident, his geometry talks to him and convinces him to go to Reardan, a wealthy; all white school twenty-two miles away. He convinces his parents to let him go; however, when he tells Rowdy, he denounces Junior as his friend and bullies him.

At his new school, Junior feels like an outcast because he is the only Native American at an all-white school. The only other Native American Indian at the school is the mascot. He has only one friend, the “smartest kid in school”, Gordy. During his first days at his new school, he gets into a fight with a jock named Roger, which he wins. He also develops a crush on Penelope, the most popular girl in school. Penelope shows no interest in him at first, but takes an interest in him after fighting Roger. Even Roger becomes friends with him after fighting him and winning. Roger even encourages Junior to try out for the school’s basketball team, and he makes the varsity team. After one of their games, Junior goes out with all his popular classmates to a diner. Junior lies about his financial situation when he tells them he is rich when he is actually poor. Instead of being appalled by Junior’s lower socio-economic status, Penelope cries for him and Roger pays for his meal. Junior plays a game against Wellpinit, his old school on the reservation in which Rowdy is the star freshman of the basketball team. During the game, Rowdy knocks Junior unconscious while elbowing him in the face out of his deep hatred. Despite knocking him unconscious, Rowdy and Junior reconcile in the end over a game of basketball and decide that they will be friends no matter what the circumstances may be. In the end, Junior realizes that his friendship with Rowdy is so strong because when they are mad at each other, it is because they love each other that they feel a similar feeling of hate. In other words, pure hate comes from being upset with a friend they both truly care about.

Impact

Like The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, I really liked this book because it gave me a protagonist with whom I can identify. Junior feels like an outcast on the reservation and earlier in his new high school. I know what it feels like to feel like I have no one around. I even lost faith in humanity because I thought people were no good if they were just going to exclude other people. However, when Roger and Penelope realize that he is poor, they are sympathetic towards him instead of excluding him. This is the moment when Junior’s faith in humanity is restored, and he realizes that there are good people in the world. It reminded me of those moments I have with people on the Rutgers Camden campus compared to the people on the Rowan campus. Everyone on the Rowan campus excluded me because I was so different from everyone else around; however, when I came here, I learned that people were compassionate on this campus. I have met people willing to do me favors and willing to help me out when I need it. When I read about what Roger and Penelope did for Junior, it reminded me that it is possible to find good people in this world even when I feel like there is none. Also, as much as disliked Rowdy throughout the story, I liked how he looked at Junior’s relationship with him as if it were a sibling relationship. In the book, Junior says that “you have to love somebody that much to also hate them that much too” (Alexie 191). Junior and Rowdy are so much more than best friends, they are siblings as well. They can make each other furious with decisions and discussions in which they disagree, but they have to be really mad if they love each other that much. This is normally how siblings interact with each other; they get seriously mad with each other, but they are the only people that make them that mad. Someone really has to have an impact on another person to be that furious with them, and the reader can see that with Junior and Rowdy’s relationship.

Values

Thus, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian teaches two values about friendship. The first value is that if one gives others a chance, one will discover that people are capable of compassion. Junior did not expect his friends Penelope and Roger to be so accepting of him in his financial situation and to be so sympathetic towards him, but they prove to be real friends to him. Although one has been ridiculed by most people, there are people in the world who are good. One should not put up a façade or ignore social relationships with others just because of a bad social experience. One should give others a chance if they want one because these people can be amazing. In other words, one should see what type of contribution can make to others’ identity by being oneself rather than pretending to be someone they are not like Junior did. Although Junior pretends that he is rich, when his classmates learn that he is poor, they learn how poor he actually is, and that contribution makes them more compassionate because they truly care about him. Therefore, people should let others see who they are rather than who they think they should be to others, so they can let others get to know them. Furthermore, they can make a contribution to others based on who they are rather who others think they should be.

Significance to My Students

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian teaches students that if one gives others a chance, he or she will discover that people are not so bad after-all. Just because a student has been hurt by others, that does not mean that everyone is mean-spirited. Furthermore, people can be better than students think. Junior expects that his peers will not like him if they find out that he is actually poor. However, his peers are sympathetic towards him upon finding out that he is not as rich as they think. In fact, Roger pays for his meal, and Penelope cries when she finds out about his financial situation. Students should just give others a chance or let others get to know who they really are to make an impact on other students’ lives. Also, the book teaches people that even though people fight sometimes, they will always be friends. Rowdy hated Junior for leaving the school on the reservation, but it was because he was mad at Junior for “being less of an Indian”. In other words, he was mad at Junior for not understanding who he was anymore. Although students may be mad at their friends, that does not mean they should stop caring about their friends. Furthermore, even if their friends change, they should overcome their anger at their friends and accept who they are and continue that friendship if they care that much. Friendship is being able to overcome obstacles and accept who people are even if it is hard. Thus, the book teaches students to accept one’s friends no matter what fights they get into or how one’s friends change. Students should let the experiences they have with their friends, positive or negative, contribute to their identity.