Absolutely True Diary

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Even after reading this book for the second time in the same year, I still really love it.  Something I focused in on this time was the dynamic between Arnold and Rowdy as foils of each other.  I found that (obviously) Arnold's face is in many drawings, whereas there's a sketch of Rowdy missing a face.  That made me think about the idea of what showing one's face means.  To me, it seems that Arnold, being our protagonist, is open and honest about his feelings, if only to the reader.  We can trust what Arnold is saying because he's not afraid to show his face, literal and metaphorical.  Meanwhile, Rowdy is eager to push people away, and for good reason often.  It's shown throughout the novel that he does have a sincere side, such as when he tells Arnold the truth about Dawn's feelings for him, or whenever Arnold e-mails him for advice, and especially at the end of the novel, but all of these emotional moments are undercut by his brash personality, as if he's afraid to let people in like Arnold has.  Arnold displays that it's not always easy to let people in, and by letting people get close to you, they can do some damage, but Arnold gains much more than he loses by making friends at Rearden. 
This novel also gives one of the most realistic and poignant portrayals of poverty that I've seen in any fiction.  When Oscar gets sick, it's not as if whatever illness he has is incurable.  It's the fact that Arnold's parents make the decision that the financial cost of treatment outweighs the emotional cost of putting him down.  Arnold also shows the mindset one is forced to be in when they're poor, that they're not good enough to have more money, that somehow this lifestyle is deserved.  I've seen way too many representations of poverty in popular media that seem to have the idea that all it takes is elbow grease and good intentions to move up economically.  These are clearly written by people who don't know what it's like to live that way, which makes Alexie's portrayal of it that much more effective.  Life is rarely just, so it's important to savor the smaller victories, like friendship, along the way.

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