The Absolutely True Diary Of Part Time Indian Essay

Junior easily loves Rowdy the most out of all of his friends. Even after all of the times that he was mean to Junior and when he has his outburst, Junior knows that Rowdy needs friends and that it’s all just temporary. Junior also knows Rowdy’s secrets and has never given them away. This is the sign of a true friendship. Rowdy also has never given away any of Junior’s secrets which shows that even though he’s been mean, he still wants to be friends. Junior also loves his other friends because of how much they support him too, especially Penelope and Gordy.

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is a book that depicts cultural differences; the issues of alcohol; and friendships in a harsh, yet humorous way. Junior, the main character of the book, stands out in many ways, both to the reader, and in the book itself. He is courageous, yet also emotional and smart.

Progressing through the middle of the book, Junior faces multiple instances of embarrassment, and friendship. When Junior first arrived to Rearden, he was treated poorly because of his skin and origin, “...I was still a potential killer. So mostly they called me names. Lots of names” (63). The name-calling and bullying continued for a while before Junior stood up for himself, by “punching Roger in the face… he wasn’t laughing when he landed on his ass” (65). Though, standing up for himself was only the beginning. Roger responded with respect for Junior (72), but Penelope didn’t, “...I might of impressed the king, but the queen still hated me” (73). The embarrassment ensues when the Winter Formal rolls around. Following the dance, Junior and his friends hang out at a breakfast diner. Junior is ashamed by the fact he doesn’t have any money to pay for the food. This is where his friendship comes into play. Roger doesn’t mind, and, in fact, Roger “...opened his wallet and handed me [Junior] forty bucks… what kind of kid can just hand over forty bucks like that” (126). Consecutive to the diner incident, Penelope also reveals to Roger that Junior doesn’t have a ride home (129), and friendship also saves the day in this particular

109), because he's an "absolute stranger" to Reardan, and also, Penelope's dad is racist. Still, they become close friends and start dating. He also makes friends with Roger (surprisingly), since Roger is a friend of Penelope. When Junior made the basketball team, they become closer. Roger even gave Junior a ride home after a basketball game. Arnold also becomes a friend of a geek, Gordy. They were both "outcasts", and they understood how it felt to not fit in. After making all these friends, he feels that he is starting to fit in with the white people.

If people don’t like you for who you are then there is no reason wasting your time being friends with them. After Junior lies to Penelope and Roger about not being poor, they still want to be his friend which proves my point. Penelope and Roger liked Junior for the person he was, “half Indian” or half white” they liked him either

Adolescents experience a developmental journey as they transition from child to adult, and in doing so are faced with many developmental milestones. Physical, cognitive, social and emotional changes are occurring during this tumultuous stage of life, and making sense of one’s self and identity becomes a priority. Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian addresses the challenges of adolescence in an engaging tale, but deals with minority communities and cultures as well.

Friendship Do you remember how you became friends with your friends? I met my friend at the end first grade, she was the new kid and was sitting alone at lunch. I sat with her and from that day on we were friends. The novel The Absolutely True Diary Of A Part-Time Indian (ATD) is about a kid named Junior who moves out of the school on the rez to go to a white school in Reardan.

In Sherman Alexie’s book “The absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” he speaks of several adult figures in his life, some mentioned more than others. There are three important characters: Mr. P, Arnold’s father, and his grandmother. These characters influenced many decisions and life changing events throughout the book. An important adult character in the book was his geometry teacher, Mr. P. We were introduced to Mr. P in the chapter “Because Geometry is Not a Country somewhere Near France” when Arnold throws the geometry book at the Mr. P after realizing he was using the same book that his mother used back when she was in school.

The cycle of poverty is a vicious one, and it is dangerously easy for society to give in to it. However, with perseverance and some sacrifices, it is very possible to break this cycle. For example, Arnold left the rez to go to another high school 22 miles away because he didn’t want to end up poor and unhappy like everybody else on the rez. In Sherman Alexie’s Absolutely True Diary Of A Part Time Indian, he explores poverty and how to escape it, but a costly price. Death is evident in Arnold’s life.

Junior does this because all of the other kids families at Reardan are exceptionally wealthy and he doesn’t want to feel different or possibly inferior to the others. He also worries that the other kids will not accept him as a friend if they find out he is poor. When he finally reveals that he is poor to Penelope, the response he gets is not what he expects. She is supportive of him and Junior describes it as “I figured she was going to march out of my life right then. But she didn't.

He goes through a lot while searching for his identity. He changed schools, leaving old friends behind. When Junior left the reservation to go to Reardan, many of his old friends thought he was a traitor, therefore Junior lost friends. Junior didn’t leave them for nothing. He wanted to search for more opportunities and do what he truly wants to do.

Junior grows up on the reservation where he has been bullied his whole life for being different, only when leaving does he learn to accept his differences, and all aspects of his personality, both Arnold and Junior. When he first enters Reardan his birth name is introduced as Arnold, and when he tells people his name is junior they do not believe him. Consequently, when he first meets Penelope he introduces himself as Junior, then when his birth name is revealed he says this “She accused me of telling her my real name. Well, okay, it wasn't completely my real name ... "My name is Junior," I said. "And my name is

Alexie did this to show that even though being the new kid you are supposed to be interesting, but an Indian or of another race at a new school isn’t interesting because they are an outsider and seen as another” because of social and economic status. Alexie appeals to the average high school kid by giving situations that happen every day in the school house. While in class Gordy stands up for Jr by backing up Jr’s statement to prove Jr to be right, proving the teacher wrong. This is where their friendship begins. While Gordy never really saw Jr in the beginning, he sees him now.

The novel's second major setting is Reardan, an affluent, mostly-white town 22 miles away from the reservation in Wellpinit. Reardan is home to the high school where Arnold decides to transfer. Arnold's identity in Reardan is not directly related to his tribe or his family. He is known in Reardan not as "Junior," but as

Violence and sexual expressions make most teenagers shy and can be a negative influence on students. Therefore, many parents that have teenaager students do not want schools to teach these topics. Thus many librarians and editors do “banning” because they think it is appropriate to guide what young people read. In The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, Arnold, the protagonist, who is struggling between his sexual desires as a normal teenager boy and his disadvantage such as there are no enough education environments and he have to experience violences and deaths really close to his life. All of Arnold’s feelings and events that occur to him are written in this book even if it’s sexual or violent.