In the The Absolutely True Diary of A Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, the last line of the book represents the enjoyment of an amending friendship between Junior and Rowdy. In the beginning of the novel, Rowdy declares himself a foe to Junior after he announces his departure for Reardan. Rowdy has been unable to forgive Junior for the transition and discovers it even more challenging to amend the once inseparable bond. One day, Rowdy walks into Junior's house and requests him to play basketball. Together they practice for hours, however neither keeps track of the score, "We didn't keep score" (230). This illustrates how Rowdy and Junior are not playing to win the game. They are stepping up to issues in the past, and decide to play for friendship. This is evidently hinted as their competitiveness wanes towards the final pages.
Towards the end of the novel, Rowdy mentions reading a book about old-time Indians. When practicing basketball, Rowdy says to Junior, "'You're an old-time nomad…'" (230). Rowdy chooses to enjoy the remaining years as a friend to Junior, which demonstrates his forgiveness. He and Junior strive to parallelize each other. This small action will strengthen their friendship as it encourages internal growth for dealing with upturned relationships. Rowdy and Junior are exposing themselves to opportunities that will allow both to ameliorate their fractured friendship.
1) If you became Sherman Alexie and you were requested to write The Absolutely True Diary of A Part-Time Indian sequel, what would you write about? What would you name the book? What would be the theme, plot etc.?
2) Describe the flow of high's and low's for Junior and Rowdy throughout the story.
3) At the end of the novel, Rowdy walks into the door unexpectedly. What do you believe Rowdy was thinking about when he walked in?
4) Did you enjoy this story? Why or why not?
5) Did you like how Sherman Alexie ended the novel? Why or why not?
At the end of the novel, when Rowdy walked through the door unexpectedly, I believe Rowdy was thinking about fixing their relationship. Although he didn't show that he wanted to resolve their past low's in the story that was the reason why he came in, because if he didn't he wouldn't have complemented Junior and given him the courage to move on from the reservation. Rowdy came over to Juniors house to prove to him that he will always be a Spokane Indian no matter where he goes but that he doesn't belong on the reservation and was born to be different. Rowdy wanted to tell Junior that he belongs on the reservation and he isn't different and he never will be, but he wants Junior to make a change in the world because he knows that Junior can change the world if he wanted to. By the time Junior made it to the basketball court he had already caught on to what Rowdy was saying, they will always be with each other no matter how physically far away they are they will alway mentally be together. Rowdy and Junior were inseparable from the first moment as friends and now they will always be together in different places encouraging each other.
ReplyDeleteIf I were Sherman Alexie and had to write a sequel to this novel, a possible title for the new sequel could be "The Partially True Diary of Arnold Spirit”. I chose this title because Arnold is no longer a “part-time Indian” or a “part-time white”; he is both, in a way; he has Indian values (cultural, familial values) and he has “white" values (hope, success) as well. Combined, his Indian values, “white” values, and other personality traits (the “tribes” he is a part of, pg. 217) make up Arnold himself. Since the resolution of this novel is Arnold finding his completed identity, a second book might have the theme of holding on to that identity as he continues to pursue his goals. These goals could be in basketball, in making amends with the other people on the rez, in how he approaches the people in Reardan, or all of the above. Arnold would be trying to be Arnold everywhere; he has to become comfortable being himself in all scenarios, which could be what the second book addresses. I also included “Partially” True Diary in the title because in the challenges Arnold would be sure to face, he might feel pressured to portray the challenges in a non-accurate way. In The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, Arnold had to pretend and lie about who he was at first, which suggests that perhaps the uncertainty would reappear in the sequel as well.
ReplyDeleteI think that Rowdy may have gone a little insane or his parents were being abusive to him, therefore he felt lonely and alone so he decided to take Arnold back as a companion. I think that if that isn't the case, he may have done a little too much drinking and lost his memory of absolutely hating Junior's guts. One thing I like about this novel is how it starts out so steady, with just him and his friend living happily ever after on their happy reservation until he realizes the truth and loses all comfort and his best friend. I think that is is very interesting how after that it became all weird and terrible between them until the last few pages, when he becomes friends with him in a very low-key manner. If I were Sherman Alexi and had to make this novel, I would call it the book of a insecure, vulnerable indian boy because it describes how he is in a very bad, no good situation with a grim future ahead of him and the chances are limited.
ReplyDeleteJunior and Rowdy's relationship is like a roller coaster ride, in the beginning of the book Junior and Rowdy are best friends. To be honest, they are the only friends that they have. But when Rowdy finds out that Junior is going to Rearden Rowdy hates Junior and literally wants to kill him. But after a year of school Rowdy comes to Junior's house to play basketball with him. In other words, they are on better terms and are now starting to become friends again. I really did enjoy this book because it was "somewhat" realistic and had a lot of humor, and I think it is really hard to do that. Sherman Alexie really develops the characters by showing you a lot of what they think and do. I like how Sherman Alexie ended the book because it wasn't overdramatic but it was sentimental and really summed up the book nicely. The basketball scene shows that Junior and Rowdy are back to their old selves and that they are friends again.
ReplyDeleteAt the end of the novel, when Rowdy walked through the door unexpectedly, he was thinking about how tired he was of pretending he didn’t want to be friends with him. “ ‘What are you doing here?’ I asked. ‘I’m bored,’ he said” (227). Rowdy needs a quick excuse to cover up his true feelings, which are that he missed Junior a lot, and tells a white lie to protect his inner self. During Thanksgiving, Rowdy had seen the cartoon Junior drew, didn’t tear it up, and flipped Junior off. But Rowdy must have felt bad, and flipped him off in order to show he “didn’t care” when he did. Throughout this whole novel, Rowdy and Junior secretly, deep down, knew what the other was thinking/feeling, and occasionally ignored it. They have a very special and strong bond, and they will always be an important part of each other’s lives.
ReplyDeleteAt the end of the novel, when Rowdy walked through the door unexpectedly, he was thinking about how tired he was of pretending he didn’t want to be friends with him. “ ‘What are you doing here?’ I asked. ‘I’m bored,’ he said” (227). Rowdy needs a quick excuse to cover up his true feelings, which are that he missed Junior a lot, and tells a white lie to protect his inner self. During Thanksgiving, Rowdy had seen the cartoon Junior drew, didn’t tear it up, and flipped Junior off. But Rowdy must have felt bad, and flipped him off in order to show he “didn’t care” when he did. Throughout this whole novel, Rowdy and Junior secretly, deep down, knew what the other was thinking/feeling, and occasionally ignored it. They have a very special and strong bond, and they will always be an important part of each other’s lives.
ReplyDeleteI did in fact like the way that Sherman Alexie ended the story. He kind of threw me way off topic when talking about Turtle Lake and Junior's father's story. But then he tied everything together and ended the last few pages with the resolution between Junior and Rowdy. Rowdy and Junior play basketball together and keep no score. This is the resolution because it shows that they grow up and forgive each other. They no longer fight about winning and loosing and just play for fun like a grown man would play the game. I also liked the story as a whole because it was an easy read with easy vocabulary. I like how it was based off of a kid around our age and part of it was relatable. I also like how the story was narrated. It made me feel like it was just another kid my age just telling a story. The style was very formal.
ReplyDeleteWhen Rowdy walked into the door I was sort of surprised. Junior had tried so many times for Rowdy to take him back as a friend, and it is almost as if their thoughts of each other swapted. Now that Rowdy wants Junior back, Junior was hesitant for accepting Rowdy’s invitation. Except, when Rowdy walked through that door, I feel although he seemed to want Junior to read his expression as casual, like if he didn’t care. Although, on the inside I believe he felt fear, realizing he could lose his best friend in the whole entire world if Junior had not taken Rowdy’s offer. In this case, Rowdy took the “high road,” and was (in a way) the mature one. This was a big change in Rowdy, and the fact he was willing to do that to win back Junior, it shows Rowdy’s love, and appreciation for Junior.
ReplyDeleteI did not really like how Sherman Alexie ended the novel because there was so much un answered and so many things that could have happened. For instance will Junior make it to college. Will Rowdy ever become a pro basketball player etc… I think that there has so be a sequel to the book and in that book all my questions will be answered. As Henry said before,all good books must have a annoying sequel and I am quite annoyed now. Sherman Alexie in the end though had a good ending sentence that was,"we didn't keep score"230. This is really good because it means they don't care who is better anymore and they don't care about their inequalities. They just played
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