PDF Summary:The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie

Set in 2006, this book is a semi-autobiographical novel by Sherman Alexie. In it, 14-year-old Arnold Spirit, Jr., known on the Spokane Indian Reservation as “Junior,” grapples with his dual-identity when he transfers to a rich, racist, white high school 22 miles from the reservation. At his new school, Junior is the only Indian (aside from the school mascot); on the reservation, the members of his tribe treat him like a traitor who thinks he’s better than his fellow Indians.

As Junior struggles with racism and isolation in his “white” world and poverty, alcoholism, and tragedy on “the rez,” he survives on the hope of a better life than the one he seems destined for. The book is a hopeful story about belonging, friendship, and the importance of dreams.

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Junior’s teammates drive their own cars, carry their own cell phones, have parents with good jobs, and will go to college. In contrast, more than one kid on the Wellpinit team probably didn’t eat breakfast. Two of them have fathers in prison. None of them will go to college, and Rowdy’s father will beat him for losing the game.

Having spent most of his life as the underdog, Junior’s now ashamed of his privilege. He continues to feel like only a part-time Indian.

Strength in Numbers

Junior eventually realizes he’s in the company of millions of Americans who’ve “left their birthplaces in search of a dream.” He’s a member of the Spokane tribe, but he’s also a member of many other tribes, including:

• The basketball tribe
• The bookworm tribe
• The teenage-boy tribe
• The poverty tribe
• The American immigrants tribe
• The tortilla-chip-lovers tribe

Understanding that his world is bigger than the Spokane and that he’s a member of many different tribes, Junior knows he’s going to be okay.

Poverty

Junior says that most people think the worst thing about being poor is being hungry. He acknowledges that sometimes, he and his family go upwards of 18 hours without eating because they don’t have the money for food. But Junior always knows that eventually, one of his parents will come home with KFC. And KFC tastes even better when you’re hungry.

For Junior, the worst thing about being poor isn’t hunger. It’s the inability to save his best friend, his dog Oscar. When Oscar gets sick, Junior begs his mom to take Oscar to the vet, but the family doesn’t have the hundreds of dollars needed for the operation. Junior’s father shoots Oscar to put him out of his misery. Bullets only cost two cents.

Junior sometimes wants to blame his parents for their poverty, but he knows he can’t. He knows his family’s poverty is not his parents’ fault, and he knows they dreamed of more. But no one on the reservation realizes their dreams. They don’t get the chance. They’re too poor. And that creates a cycle that’s hard to escape.

• First, you believe you’re poor because you’re stupid.
• Then, you believe you’re stupid because you’re Indian.
• Finally, because you’re Indian, you believe you will always be poor, and the cycle repeats itself.

Poverty doesn’t make you strong or perseverant. Poverty just “teaches you how to be poor.”

The Importance of Dreams and Hope

Mr. P tells Junior that the only thing that white teachers and Indian parents are teaching reservation kids is how to give up. If Junior stays on the rez, his hope will be snuffed out. Mr. P tells Junior to take his hope and find others who have hope. And the further Junior goes from the hopeless reservation, the more hope he’s likely to find. This is how Junior ends up at Reardan.

Shared Ambitions

Reardan presents Junior with strength to chase his dreams.

Penelope and Junior have ambition in common: They’re both dreamers who feel trapped in their small towns. Penelope’s dream is to study architecture at Stanford; Junior’s dream is to become a famous artist. They both want to create beautiful things, and they bond over that dream.

In the second basketball game against Wellpinit, the Reardan coach admits that Wellpinit’s team is better, but that Reardan has more heart. He then announces Junior will be starting and he’ll be guarding his friend Rowdy, who is much bigger. Junior is terrified, but his coach keeps telling Junior he can do it. He realizes that this simple sentence, “You can do it,” is one of the most powerful sentences in English, especially coming from an adult.

Junior’s Sister Leaves

One day, Junior comes home from school to find his mother crying. Junior’s older sister, Mary, has gotten married to a Flathead Indian she’s just met at the casino and has moved to Montana. No one in Junior’s family has ever left the Spokane Reservation for good.

At first, Junior’s worried about his sister. But then he realizes that his sister is trying to live her dreams. In high school, she’s dreamed of being a professional writer, but after graduation, she’d moved into the basement, stopped writing, and had become a recluse. Junior sees that, now, she’s living the romance novel she always wanted to write. The move proves to Junior that Mary’s spirit hadn’t died.

Soon after her marriage, Mary and her husband die when their trailer burns down. Junior’s devastated, but he’s still inspired by her. She pursued her dreams. She never reached them, but it was the bravery of the attempt that mattered. Junior sees that, like his sister, he’s also making the attempt, and it also might kill him, but staying on the rez also would have killed him. Junior clings to his dreams, and this is a key to his survival.

Alcoholism

Junior’s family doesn’t have money for presents at Christmas, so his father does what he always does when there isn’t enough money for something: He takes what they do have and gets drunk. He’s gone from Christmas Eve until January 2nd.

When he gets back, he’s so hungover that he can’t get out of bed. Junior goes into his room to say hello, and his dad apologizes about there being no presents at Christmas. Junior tells him it’s okay, but it isn’t. He realizes that he’s once again trying to protect the man who repeatedly breaks his heart, but he also knows how much his dad loves him and how hard his dad tries.

Deaths Caused by Alcoholism

Junior’s world is filled with deaths caused by alcohol. Junior’s grandmother dies when she’s hit by a drunk driver. The best friend of Junior’s father, with whom Junior is close, dies in a drunken fight over a bottle’s last sip of wine. Junior’s sister is drunk when she dies, which is why she doesn’t wake up in the heat of the fire.

The day of Mary’s death, Junior’s mother is curled up on the couch, and Junior knows that she’s “now broken and that she’ll always be broken.” She pulls Junior to her and tells him that he better not ever have a drink of alcohol. Before he can respond, she slaps him. Then she slaps him again, hard, two more times. He promises not to drink, and she stops slapping him, but she doesn’t let him go. She cries and holds him like a baby for hours, soaking his hair and clothing with tears.

Friendship

Rowdy is Junior’s best (human) friend. (Junior’s best friend is his dog, Oscar.) Junior considers Rowdy to be the “most important person in [his] life,” even more important than the members of his own family.

Rowdy is the toughest kid on the reservation. He’ll fight anyone—girl or boy, child or adult, human or dog. He even throws punches at the rain. When Junior tells Rowdy that he’s transferring to Reardan, Rowdy is so upset that he ends up punching Junior and giving him a black eye. Rowdy and Junior become rivals on the basketball court and sworn enemies for the rest of the school year.

A New Friend at Reardan

One day, Junior approaches the Reardan “class genius,” Gordy. They eventually bond over their mutual love of learning. Junior thinks Gordy is weird, but he also thinks he and Gordy have a lot in common. Junior believes that, just like he is, Gordy is lonely and terrified. While they don’t become best friends, they start to study together, and Junior finally has an ally at Reardan.

Other Allies at Reardan

For the first half of the school year, Junior attempts to hide his poverty from his Reardan classmates. When he doesn’t have the money to pay for Penelope’s meal after the winter formal, Roger, the jock who’d told the racist “buffalo” joke, offers to loan him money. Penelope later aks Junior if he’s poor. Junior’s tired of lying and tells her that he is and that he was also lying about his dad picking him up from dance. He admits that usually, he either hitches a ride or he walks, and the thought of Junior walking the 22 miles home makes Penelope cry. 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.

Junior realizes that while he’s been preoccupied with Penelope’s looks, she’s actually been concerned about him. This realization makes him feel shallow. Junior sees that when you’re honest with people, those people can turn out to be pretty incredible.

Rowdy’s Return

After the school year ends, Junior’s at home watching TV when there’s a knock on the door and Rowdy enters. Junior, surprised to see him, says, “I thought you hated me.” Rowdy acknowledges that he does, but that he’s also bored. He asks if Junior wants to shoot some hoops.

Rowdy says he was reading a book about how “old-time” Indians used to be nomadic. He thinks that Junior is the only true nomad on the reservation, and that’s pretty cool. This makes Junior cry. Rowdy, dry-eyed, is unperturbed. He just tells Junior to make sure to send him postcards as he travels the world.

Junior knows that what Rowdy says is true: he’s a nomad. Junior hopes that, someday, his tribe will forgive him for leaving, and that, someday, he’ll forgive himself.

Junior and Rowdy play a game of one-on-one. They play for hours, until the moon is high in the sky, and they don’t keep score.