The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian

Sherman Alexie
Author
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian is a 2007 novel for young adults
written by Sherman Alexie and illustrated by Ellen Forney. Childhood[edit]
Sherman Alexie was born on October 7, 1966 on the Spokane Indian Reservation in
Wellpinit, Washington, where he spent his childhood. His father, Sherman Joseph
Alexie, was a member of the Coeur d'Alene tribe and his mother, Lillian Agnes Cox,
of Colville, Flathead(Choctaw), Spokane and European American heritage. One of his
paternal great-grandfathers was of Russian descent. Alexie was born with
hydrocephalus, a condition that occurs when there is an abnormally large amount of
cerebral fluid in the cranial cavity and had to have brain surgery when he was only
six months old. He was not expected to survive, or, if he did so, was expected to
suffer mental disabilities. However, Alexie's surgery was successful and he survived
with no damage to his mental faculties.
His father was an alcoholic who often left the house for days at a time. To support
her six children, Alexie's mother Lillian sewed quilts and worked as a clerk at the
Wellpinit Trading Post.
Alexie has described his life at the reservation school as challenging because he
was constantly teased by other kids. He was nicknamed "The Globe" because his
head was larger than usual due to the hydrocephalus as an infant. Until the age of
seven, Alexie suffered from seizures and bedwetting and had to take strong drugs to
control them.[ Because of his health problems, he was excluded from many of the
activities that are rites of passage for young Indian males. Alexie excelled
academically, reading everything available to him, including auto repair manuals.
In order to better his education, Alexie decided to leave the reservation and attend
high school in Reardan, Washington. The school was thirty miles off the reservation
and Alexie was the only Indian student. He excelled at his studies and also became
a star player on the basketball team, the Reardan High Indians. He was elected as
class president and participated as a member of the debate team.
His successes in high school won him a scholarship in 1985 to Gonzaga University, a
Roman Catholic school in Spokane. After an unsuccessful try at medicine, Alexie
switched to law, but that didn't work out either. He felt enormous pressure to
succeed in college and he began drinking heavily to cope with his anxiety. Though
he was not happy with his choice of career path, Alexie found comfort in literature
classes. In 1987 he dropped out of Gonzaga and enrolled at Washington State
University.

There he enrolled in a creative writing course taught by Alex Kuo, a respected poet
of Chinese-American background. Alexie was at a low point in his life and Kuo
served as a mentor to him. Alexie was inspired by reading works of poetry written
by Native Americans.
With his new appreciation of poetry, Alexie started work on his first collection of
poetry. With the success of his first book of poetry, Alexie stopped drinking and quit
school just three credits short of a degree. In 1995 he was awarded a bachelor's
degree from Washington State University.
Alexie is married to Diane Tomhave, who is of Hidatsa, Ho-Chunk and Potawatomi
heritage. They live in Seattle with their two sons.
Alexie's poetry, short stories and novels explore themes of despair, poverty,
violence and alcoholism among the lives of Native American people, both on and off
the reservation, but lightened by wit and humor.
Summary
Arnold Spirit, Junior, lives on the Indian Reservation near the town of Wellpinit. He
attends school there and is completely excited about beginning high school. He is
especially looking forward to studying geometry. Then he's given his book and
discovers it is the same book his mother used in high school. He's so furious that
the school can't replace books even once a generation that he slings the book at the
teacher, breaking his nose. Junior is suspended which upsets his parents and
grandmother greatly. Then Junior's teacher, Mr. P, tells Junior that he should attend
a school off the Reservation. Junior thinks about the advice and presents his plan to
his parents, who back him.
Junior begins school at Reardan High School and is initially ignored and teased. He
gets into a fight with a guy who makes racist comments then befriends a boy who is
very smart. Junior is soon enamored with a girl named Penelope and when he and
Penelope become something of an "item," Junior's popularity is sealed. He makes
the basketball team and is happy with his life at Reardan, despite the fact that he
often has to walk all or part of the distance because his parents have such limited
resources.
But Junior's life on the Reservation isn't wonderful. Many people, as his parents
predicted, are angry at him because he dared to dream for something more than
the Reservation can offer. Junior's best friend, Rowdy, is among those who make
Junior's life miserable.
When Junior faces Rowdy on the basketball court, he's subjected to anger and
actually receives a concussion that takes him out of the game. When the next game
begins, Junior rushes to take the lead from Rowdy and the Reardan team wins easily.

Junior is quickly ashamed of his desire for revenge because he knows the difficult
lives lived by most of the team.
Junior's life is filled with death, much of it because of alcohol. His grandmother is
run over by a drunk driver and dies. His father's best friend is shot in the face and
killed over a drink. Then Junior's sister is drunk in her trailer with her husband when
a fire consumes the trailer. Junior's sister never even wakes as she is burned to
death.
As the story comes to a close, Rowdy comes to visit after school is out for the
summer. Rowdy says he's still angry at Junior but is bored. Rowdy reveals that he'd
always known Junior would decide to leave the Reservation and makes him promise
to send postcards from wherever he travels. The two then spend the evening and
into the night playing one-on-one basketball, but they don't keep score.
Theme
One of the most compelling aspects of The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time
Indian is that we see firsthand how devastating and totally awful poverty is not only
for an individual, but for an entire community. We see how poverty has squashed
hope on the reservation: how alcoholism is everywhere, a condition that leads to
tons and tons of senseless death. (Arnold loses his grandmother and his sister.)
Though poverty may not teach us anything (as Arnold is quick to tell us), Arnold's
fight for a better life inspires us and gives us hope that things can change. Also
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is a novel about hope, and how
important it is to have it and how it helps us stay afloat. In this novel, we see the
consequences of people and even whole communities that lack hope. One of the
themes is race as well. The novel uses humorous narratives and comics to convey
the theme of race. It explores racial issues such as stereotyping of Native and White
people, the use of indigenous culture as sports mascots, interracial friendships, and
cultural tokenization. For example, Junior notes that the only other Indian at
Reardan was its school mascot, calling attention to the ubiquitous use of indigenous
symbols in sports (see List of sports team names and mascots derived from
indigenous peoples). Although Junior often dichotomizes Whites and Indians, Alexie
reveals the stereotyping that occurs while still blurring the lines between races.
Junior eventually establishes friendship with many of the White Reardan students,
who see past race and accept him for his caring nature, his intelligence, and his
basketball talents.
Characters
Arnold Spirit nicknamed Junior, is a fourteen-year-old boy who lives on the
Spokane Indian Reservation. He enjoys playing basketball and drawing cartoons in
his free time. Junior and his family, along with the others on the reservation are
dealing with poverty. A lot of times, there is not enough food to eat in their home or

enough money for gas in the car, forcing him to hitchhike to school or not go at all.
He is incredibly smart and transfers from an all-Indian school to an all-white school.
Junior's Mom (Agnes Adams) is a Spokane Indian, who has lived on the
reservation her entire life. She is a bad liar, likes to read books, and is considered by
Junior to be very smart. She likes to drink and is seen as eccentric by junior. "She's a
human tape recorder. Really, my mom can read the newspaper in fifteen minutes
and tell me baseball scores, the location of every war, the latest guy to win the
lottery, and the high temperature in Des Moines, Iowa."
Junior's Dad (Arnold Spirit, Sr.) is an alcoholic and a good singer. He
sometimes disappears for days on drinking binges. "He sings old country songs. And
blues, too. Like a pro." He can also play the piano, the guitar and saxophone.
Mr. P is Junior's geometry teacher at the Spokane Indian Reservation school.
He mentored Junior's sister and he wants to help Junior leave 'the rez'. He has
regrets from beating the Indian out of the children in his years of teaching. He is
short and bald. Incredibly absent minded, he often forgets to come to school, but
"he doesn't expect much of [his students]."
Rowdy "He is long and lean and strong like a snake." Junior and Rowdy have been
the best of friends since they were little. Rowdy's father abuses him, which explains
his bullying behavior. He likes reading comics, like Archie.
Mary Junior's Sister. Mary has long hair and is nicknamed "Mary runs away".
She likes to write romance stories and is considered by Arnold to be "beautiful and
strong and funny". She was very smart but didn't have the skills to get a job.[d]
After high school, she did not go to college or get a job, instead she moved to
Montana with her new husband she met at the reservation casino. Mary and her
new husband die of a fire in their trailer after a partygoer started to make some
soup and then forgot and left. A curtain drifted onto the hot plate and the trailer was
quickly engulfed. Arnold was told that Mary never woke up because she was too
drunk.
Gordy attends Reardan, wears glasses, and does everything in the name of
science. He is very smart and he eventually becomes Junior's good friend, andin
many wayshis teacher.
Penelope Arnold's girlfriend from Reardan High, she has blond hair and Junior
thinks that she is very pretty. She enjoys helping others, is bulimic, and has a racist
father named Earl. She is popular and plays on the Reardan volleyball team. She is
obsessed with leaving the small time behind and travelling the whole world.
Eugene is the best friend of Junior's father. "Eugene was a nice guy, and like an
uncle to me, but he was drunk all the time."[e] He becomes an Emergency Medical
Technician (EMT) for the tribal ambulance service and for a brief time drives a 1946

Indian Chief Roadmaster. Eugene dies after being shot in the face by his good friend
Bobby, who subsequently hangs himself in jail.
Junior's Grandma nicknamed Grandmother Spirit, is Arnold's source of advice
and support until she dies after being hit by a drunk driver, while walking on the
side of the road on her way home after a powwow. Her dying words were "Forgive
him", which meant that she wanted her family to forgive the drunk driver, Gerald,
for hitting and killing her. The irony is that she never had a drink in her life. She was
also extremely tolerant and loving of all people. Junior's grandma is his favorite
person in the world. "My grandmother's last act on earth was a call for forgiveness,
love, and tolerance."