The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

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After reading Sherman Alexie's "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian" I noticed that there is a lot of important things to take from this book. One of them is the way he described the hardships of figuring out his true identity and also the friendship roles that he came across.

Junior, the main character went through a lot of loneliness not only because of his differences being Native American but also because of certain stereotypes others at school had towards him. He and his hometown friend Rowdy were close, but they lost touch at the beginning of the novel. Looking for someone else to confide in he decided to become friends with a kid from his science class Gordy. "And so, we did become friends. Not the best of friends. Not like Rowdy and me. We didn’t share secrets. Or dreams. No, we studied together."(pg.94) This friendship was beautiful to me, I feel like they learned a lot from each other though they came from different backgrounds and they also related a lot when it came to intelligence -  (which defeats the stereotype of people thinking that the Native Americans were not smart).

Another friendship that stood out to me was his relationship with Penelope. She was there for him as he was for her. I remember reading the part about their similar Halloween costumes dressed up as homeless people, he ended up getting beat up and she still decided to include his name as a part of the donation they were going to give to the homeless. "I'm sorry they did that to you," she said, "I'll still put your name on the money when I send it."(page 80) He also mentioned Penelope's struggles with bulimia as well - "Anorexics are anorexics all the time” “I’m only bulimic when I'm throwing up"(page 107). I believe Alexie mention things like this in the novel to portray the fact that no one is perfect no matter how they look on the outside.

“We all have pain. And we all look for ways to make the pain go away(page 107).”

Comments

  1. Anna GilfillanSeptember 8, 2019 at 12:43 PM

    I like the fact that you pointed out two significant friendships that Arnold had in the story. I think that Alexie did a great job on putting a few different friendships in the novel. Arnold's friendship with Roger is another significant friendship in the novel because of how it started and the way it grew throughout the novel. It started with Roger picking on Arnold. Then Arnold punched him in the face, and then it ended with them being not only friends but also teammates. I liked watching their friendship grow. I think that this was when Arnold started to gain confidence in himself. Do you think that this was the turning point for Arnold's confidence?

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  2. Anna GilfillanSeptember 8, 2019 at 12:43 PM

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  3. Logan FowlerSeptember 9, 2019 at 8:46 AM

    I think you did a great job discussing the topic of relationships in the book. I took the easy route and expanded on something we had already talked about in class (post-colonialism) but you brought up a good point that we hadn't touched on. I agree with the idea that identity can be found through the influences around us- like the people we spend most time with. We can learn from those around us and decide what we'd like to imitate and what we'd like to avoid. I often find myself sort of code switching depending on who I'm around. I also pick up mannerisms that I admire or that impact me positively. This all shapes me as a person (as well as a ton of other outside influences). I also like that you bring up how pain is universal. We may not understand each other completely but we can always be sympathetic.

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