The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian is seemingly day and night from Indian Killer. While there is a fair amount of violence in this novel that isn’t the main focus. Indian Killer was more about destruction of those who are wrong while The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian is mainly about the growth of the individual. But Alexie’s writing style still shines through with his characterization through dialogue.
Theme
Alexie’s main focus in The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian is the idea of individual growth when one is separated from a comfort zone. The main character, Arnold, decides to leave his school on the reservation to commute to a richer all-white school in the nearby town after his teacher him that his current school is where Indians go to die. Once he begins to push himself out of his bubble he gains several friends and even a girlfriend. His bravery then prompts his older sister to begin her life away from the reservation.
Characters
Arnold is the main character and narrator of the novel. He spends all of his life as an outcast. He was born with a disease that plagued him with seizures and so he was often seen as a weakling and beaten up. This caused him to grow up strong of heart and be able to stand up for himself. His initiative to not be another wasted soul inspires other people to also move on with their lives to grow as people.
Rowdy is Arnold’s best friend in the beginning. They aren’t very affectionate friends but that is due to their culture and personalities. Rowdy comes from an abusive family and is quick to violent actions. He becomes Arnold protector because of this. After Arnold leaves the reservation for his schooling, Rowdy turns his back on him. He even begins to act like the other bullies on the reservation and breaks Arnold’s heart. At the very end of the book, Rowdy goes to Arnold’s house to hang out but tries to act as angry as possible although one can infer that he won’t stay angry for much longer.
Roger is part of Arnold’s new group of friends at his new school, Rearden High School. He started out as a bully who made racist jokes and comments. One day, Arnold got fed up and punched Roger square in the nose. After that lunch day Roger held Arnold in high respect and they became really close friends.
At every high school, there is the prettiest most popular girl in class. For Arnold, this girl is named Penelope. She starts out acting like any other “popular girl” and treats Arnold horribly. After he discovers her bulimic secret he becomes more interested in finding out more about her. He discovers that she is an activist on Halloween because she dresses like a homeless person and asks for change to donate rather than candy. They begin dating although, not entirely as they only kiss occasionally and Arnold suspects that she only keeps him around to anger her very racist father which doesn’t bother him much.
The smartest kid in Rearden is named Gordy. He and Arnold become good friends after Gordy discovers Arnold’s intelligence in class. Gordy is a relatively cold person and Arnold seems like him because his mannerisms remind him of Rowdy. Gordy teaches Arnold to approach life with what he called a “metaphorical boner” by which he means one should always approach a learning experience with excitement.
Besides the above characters there are a few characters that the reader doesn’t exactly interact with but rather characterization occurs through Arnold’s explanations of them. Those characters are as follows:
Arnold’s Parents- Although they’re both alcoholics, Arnold’s parents are very supportive of his ambitions. One might attribute their support to the fact that they let their dreams die on the reservation.
Arnold’s Sister- Affectionately referred to as “Mary Runs Away,” Mary lives in the basement of their home as a hermit. She has a secret dream of writing romance novels but never gains the passion to pursue her dream until her little brother changes school’s off the reservation. She then elopes to Montana with a Lakota and begins writing. Sadly, her story doesn’t end there. She is tragically killed in a fire in her trailer while she was passed out from over drinking.
Arnold’s Grandmother- It’s hard to give her the possessive title as “Arnold’s Grandmother” because she was loved by the whole tribe and other tribes as a grandmother. Arnold speaks incredibly affectionately about his grandmother as a great cook and a great advice giver. She too meets a tragic end when she is walking home from a pow wow and is struck and killed by a drunk driver.
Rowdy is Arnold’s best friend in the beginning. They aren’t very affectionate friends but that is due to their culture and personalities. Rowdy comes from an abusive family and is quick to violent actions. He becomes Arnold protector because of this. After Arnold leaves the reservation for his schooling, Rowdy turns his back on him. He even begins to act like the other bullies on the reservation and breaks Arnold’s heart. At the very end of the book, Rowdy goes to Arnold’s house to hang out but tries to act as angry as possible although one can infer that he won’t stay angry for much longer.
Roger is part of Arnold’s new group of friends at his new school, Rearden High School. He started out as a bully who made racist jokes and comments. One day, Arnold got fed up and punched Roger square in the nose. After that lunch day Roger held Arnold in high respect and they became really close friends.
At every high school, there is the prettiest most popular girl in class. For Arnold, this girl is named Penelope. She starts out acting like any other “popular girl” and treats Arnold horribly. After he discovers her bulimic secret he becomes more interested in finding out more about her. He discovers that she is an activist on Halloween because she dresses like a homeless person and asks for change to donate rather than candy. They begin dating although, not entirely as they only kiss occasionally and Arnold suspects that she only keeps him around to anger her very racist father which doesn’t bother him much.
The smartest kid in Rearden is named Gordy. He and Arnold become good friends after Gordy discovers Arnold’s intelligence in class. Gordy is a relatively cold person and Arnold seems like him because his mannerisms remind him of Rowdy. Gordy teaches Arnold to approach life with what he called a “metaphorical boner” by which he means one should always approach a learning experience with excitement.
Besides the above characters there are a few characters that the reader doesn’t exactly interact with but rather characterization occurs through Arnold’s explanations of them. Those characters are as follows:
Arnold’s Parents- Although they’re both alcoholics, Arnold’s parents are very supportive of his ambitions. One might attribute their support to the fact that they let their dreams die on the reservation.
Arnold’s Sister- Affectionately referred to as “Mary Runs Away,” Mary lives in the basement of their home as a hermit. She has a secret dream of writing romance novels but never gains the passion to pursue her dream until her little brother changes school’s off the reservation. She then elopes to Montana with a Lakota and begins writing. Sadly, her story doesn’t end there. She is tragically killed in a fire in her trailer while she was passed out from over drinking.
Arnold’s Grandmother- It’s hard to give her the possessive title as “Arnold’s Grandmother” because she was loved by the whole tribe and other tribes as a grandmother. Arnold speaks incredibly affectionately about his grandmother as a great cook and a great advice giver. She too meets a tragic end when she is walking home from a pow wow and is struck and killed by a drunk driver.
Point of View
By having a first person point of view the reader has a greater ability to sympathize with Arnold’s loses and triumphs. This also forces characterization through dialogue and the doodles. Another advantage is that Arnold is normally an outcast and so he spends a lot of time not talking which allows the reader to understand his inner thoughts about his surroundings.
Review
This book was very well put together. Even though the book involves drawings, they aren’t the main focus of the novel and for the most part just allow the reader to take a break from serious matters. As a young adult, I found it very entertaining and not your typical novel about being in high school like so many young adult books fall into. Even though this book is partially based on Sherman Alexie’s own childhood it wasn’t boring or pretentious to read like an auto biography might be.