{"id":14422,"date":"2020-09-08T09:48:31","date_gmt":"2020-09-08T13:48:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=14422"},"modified":"2020-09-21T23:54:43","modified_gmt":"2020-09-22T03:54:43","slug":"penelope-the-absolutely-true-diary-of-a-part-time-indian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/penelope-the-absolutely-true-diary-of-a-part-time-indian\/","title":{"rendered":"Penelope in The Absolutely True Diary: Junior’s Friend"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Who is Penelope in The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian<\/em>? How do Penelope and Junior know each other, and how does Penelope help Junior come to terms with a part of his identity?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Penelope in The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian<\/em> is a friend of Junior’s at his new “white school.” Though Junior initially views her as just a pretty popular girl, the two grow closers and are able to help one another. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read more about Penelope in The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian<\/em> and her friendship with Junior. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Meeting Penelope in The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Junior shows up for his first day at Reardan with a black eye and a swollen nose from Rowdy\u2019s \u201cgood-bye punch.\u201d Before Junior\u2019s dad drops him off, he tells Junior to remember that the white kids are no better than he is. But they both know that\u2019s not true. Junior knows that they both understand they\u2019re Indians losers \u201cliving in a world built for winners.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Junior waits for the building to open, the other kids stare at him\u2014he\u2019s the only Indian at Reardan, aside from the school mascot.<\/strong> Once in class, Junior meets blonde, blue-eyed Penelope, the most beautiful girl he\u2019s ever seen. As the teacher calls roll, Penelope in The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian<\/em> asks Junior what his name is. When he tells her, she starts laughing<\/a> and telling her friends, and Junior realizes that they\u2019re laughing at his name. It\u2019s never occurred to him that he has an unusual name. On the rez, if you walk into a store and call out for \u201cJunior,\u201d seventeen guys and three women will answer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Things get worse for Junior when the teacher, still calling roll, calls him by his \u201cname <\/em>name,\u201d Arnold Spirit<\/a>. Penelope angrily turns back to him and accuses him of giving her a fake name. He tries to explain that his name is both Junior and<\/em> Arnold, feeling, as he does, like two different people: On the rez, he\u2019s Junior; in Reardan, he\u2019s Arnold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

alloween<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Junior dresses as a homeless person for Halloween, mostly because it\u2019s an easy costume for him, seeing as most of his clothes are pretty ratty anyway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Penelope in The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian<\/em> also comes to school dressed as a homeless person. She compliments Junior on how truly homeless he looks, and Junior returns the compliment by telling her she looks cute, which annoys Penelope. She\u2019s not trying to look cute. She tells Junior she\u2019s protesting the country\u2019s treatment of homeless people. She\u2019s planning on collecting money instead of candy and donating it to the homeless.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Junior decides to impress Penelope in The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian<\/em> by saying that his costume is also a political statement: He<\/em>\u2019s protesting the treatment of homeless Native Americans<\/em>. He suggests they pool their money in the morning and send it to the charity together. Penelope isn\u2019t sure Junior\u2019s suggestion is sincere, but she agrees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Back on the rez that evening, Junior collects a little spare change as he goes house to house in his homeless-man costume, and he even gets some encouragement from a few grandmothers who think he\u2019s brave for leaving the reservation to go to a white school. But more often, he gets called names by his neighbors, who slam the door in his face. Many Spokane residents resent Junior for leaving the rez, seeing this as a betrayal of his Indian culture.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As he heads home around 10 o\u2019clock, three kids in Frankenstein masks jump Junior, knocking him over, kicking him, spitting on him, and stealing his money. After they\u2019ve left, Junior reflects that they didn\u2019t beat him up too badly. Their goal wasn\u2019t to put him in the hospital. They just wanted to remind him that everyone on the rez thinks he\u2019s a traitor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The next morning at Reardan, Junior apologizes to Penelope for not having the money. He tells her about the attack, and Penelope shows concern, asking where they kicked him. When Junior lifts his shirt to show her the bruises, she touches one and comments on how painful they look. Junior almost faints at her touch. Penelope feels sorry for Junior and promises to include his name when she sends in the donation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After this intimate moment, Junior thinks he and Penelope will become close and that this will make him the most popular kid in school. But nothing really changes. Penelope continues to ignore him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One day, Junior\u2019s bored in class and asks to go to the bathroom. While he\u2019s washing his hands, he hears the sound of someone retching in the girl\u2019s bathroom next door.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He waits outside the bathroom to make sure the student is ok, and Penelope soon walks out chewing cinnamon gum, trying to cover the smell of vomit. When she asks him what he\u2019s looking at, he tells her, \u201cI\u2019m looking at an anorexic.\u201d She corrects him: She\u2019s bulimic,<\/em> not <\/em>anorexic. There\u2019s a difference. \u201cAnorexics are anorexics all the time,\u201d but bulimics are only bulimic when they\u2019re throwing up. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This reminds Junior of the way his father always insists that he\u2019s only an alcoholic when he\u2019s drunk. He tells Penelope the same thing he tells his father when his father is drunk: \u201cDon\u2019t give up.\u201d<\/strong> Junior thinks this advice is kind of corny, but it hits a nerve with Penelope, and she starts to cry. She tells Junior that she\u2019s scared and unhappy but no one allows her to be scared and unhappy because she\u2019s so beautiful and smart. As she tells Junior this, Junior contemplates the size of her ego, but he finds her self-confidence attractive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After this incident, Junior and Penelope start hanging out and become \u201cfriends with potential.\u201d Junior knows that she\u2019s only \u201csemi-dating\u201d him because she\u2019s tired of being perfect and dating an Indian gives her a blemish, with the added benefit that it pisses off her racist dad.<\/strong> Junior doesn\u2019t mind that Penelope is using him because, as he sees it, he\u2019s using her, too. Penelope is his way into the social scene at Reardan. Once he starts dating Penelope, he becomes relatively popular.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Penelope and Junior also have things in common: They\u2019re both dreamers who feel trapped in their small towns.<\/strong> Penelope\u2019s dream is to study architecture at Stanford; Junior\u2019s dream is to become a famous artist. They both want to create beautiful things, and they bond over that dream.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Seeking Advice<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Junior doesn\u2019t know how to deal with his feelings for Penelope in The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian<\/em>, so he emails Rowdy, even though he doesn\u2019t expect to hear back. To Junior, Rowdy\u2019s still his best friend, even though Rowdy hates him. Junior tells Rowdy he\u2019s in love with a girl who\u2019s white and doesn\u2019t know what to do. Rowdy responds a few minutes later, telling Junior he\u2019s just another Indian \u201ctreating white women like bowling trophies.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Winter Formal<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Junior continues to feel like a stranger no matter where he is: In Wellpinit<\/a>, he feels half white; in Reardan, he feels half Indian. At school, he doesn\u2019t correct classmates who assume that he\u2019s rich because there\u2019s a casino on the Spokane reservation. He uses the fact that all white people think Indians get free money from the government<\/strong> to hide his poverty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Junior worries his charade will be exposed when he takes Penelope to the Winter Formal. He knows that his $5 won\u2019t pay for much during the night, but he also knows that if he doesn\u2019t take Penelope to the dance, someone else will. So he decides to wing it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because he doesn\u2019t own a suit, Junior wears one of his dad\u2019s polyester, bell-bottomed suits from the 70s. He expects his classmates to make fun of him, but Penelope makes sure to loudly compliment his \u201cretroactive\u201d suit as soon as he walks into the dance, and suddenly, disco is cool at Reardan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pancakes with the Popular Kids: Learning More About Penelope in The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

As the end of the night nears, Junior thinks he has successfully hidden his poverty, but then Roger, the big guy he punched, and some other popular students decide it would be the coolest thing in the world to drive to a Spokane diner for pancakes. Because Penelope is popular, she and Junior get an invite as well, even though they\u2019re only freshmen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Junior can\u2019t pay for pancakes. But knowing that the jig is almost up, he throws caution to the wind and orders not only pancakes for himself and Penelope, but also toast, fries, orange juice, hot chocolate, and coffee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Terrified at the prospect of being exposed, Junior feels sick and goes to the restrooms half-way through the meal. Roger comes in and hears Junior retching. Junior tells him that he\u2019s feeling sick because he forgot his wallet at home and can\u2019t pay for the meal. Roger tells him he should have said something sooner and lends him $40. Junior is grateful, and he can\u2019t imagine what it must be like to be able to casually hand over that much money to a near-stranger.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

At 3 a.m., Roger drives Junior and Penelope back to the school. Junior tells them his dad is on his way to pick him up, which is clearly not true. Junior and Penelope step out of the car for a private moment and Penelope tells Junior she knows Roger lent him money. She aks Junior if he\u2019s poor. Junior\u2019s tired of lying and tells her that yes, he\u2019s poor. In response, Penelope kisses him on the cheek. She then asks if his dad is really coming to pick him up. At first, Junior insists that he is, but finally admits that he usually walks home or hitchhikes. The thought of Junior walking home makes Penelope cry, and before Junior can stop her, she asks Roger to drive Junior home. This is the first of many nights that Roger will drive Junior home from school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Junior realizes that while he\u2019s been preoccupied with Penelope\u2019s looks, she\u2019s actually been concerned about him.<\/strong> This realization makes him feel shallow. Junior sees that when you\u2019re honest with people, those people can turn out to be pretty incredible.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Who is Penelope in The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian? How do Penelope and Junior know each other, and how does Penelope help Junior come to terms with a part of his identity? Penelope in The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is a friend of Junior’s at his new “white school.” Though Junior initially views her as just a pretty popular girl, the two grow closers and are able to help one another. Read more about Penelope in The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian and her friendship with Junior.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":14427,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[40,15,33],"tags":[127],"class_list":["post-14422","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-books","category-education","category-people","tag-the-absolutely-true-diary-of-a-part-time-indian","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"\nPenelope in The Absolutely True Diary: Junior's Friend - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Who is Penelope in The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian? 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