Diary Of A Part-Time Indian

In the book, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, the main character Junior describes himself very detailed. The way the main character explains about himself, he explains that he wasn’t very normal like other people. For example, he mentions the water in his brain (brain damage), having 42 teeth, etc. When transferring to an all-white school, it was hard to transition himself into that because Junior didn’t know anyone and he was the nerd of his school. Meeting Rowdy had a big impact on his life because he protected him, cared and both shared confidential information between each other since Junior trusted him so much. First, as Rowdy and Junior becoming best friends, they were really close. Rowdy always had his back, anyone who would mess with Junior they
would also mess with Rowdy. In the novel, many people attempt to bully Junior in different ways throughout the whole book and when they do he enjoys to be protective and violent to those who pick on Junior. For example, “He knew that I was afraid of getting beat up. And he also knew that he’d probably have to fight for me. Rowdy has protected me since we were born” (Alexie 17). They were brothers and he always had Juniors back but had a different relationship when they were with different people. One-day Junior came across brothers who were triplets that were 30 years old, beat up Junior and told his brother about it which didn’t sound so happy to hear, “Then Rowdy snuck in, shaved off their eyebrow, and cut off their braids. That’s the worst thing you can do to an Indian guy” (Alexie 22). Rowdy was good for revenge and enjoyed doing it. Secondly, they were both caring for each other when they are together alone.
In the first few chapters Junior explains about his relationship with his friend Rowdy and what it is like hanging out with him, “Rowdy isn’t a fast reader, but he’s persistent. And he’ll just laugh and laugh at the dumb jokes, no matter how many times he’s read the same comic. I like the sound of Rowdy’s laughter” (Alexie 23). On Thanksgiving day, Junior went over to deliver a cartoon for Rowdy because he missed him, “Rowdy’s dad took the cartoon and stared at it for a while. Then he smirked. ‘your kind of gay, aren’t you?’ he asked. ‘Can you just give it to him?’ I asked. ‘Yeah, I’ll give it to him. Even if it’s a little gay’” (Alexie 103). They have both been best friends for a really long time, when Junior finally decides to tell Rowdy he was leaving the rez, Rowdy didn’t take it easy on him, “My heart broke into fourteen pieces, one for each year that Rowdy and I had been best friends. I started crying. That wasn’t surprising at all, but Rowdy started crying too, and he hated that” (Alexie 52). Even though Rowdy was a hot head around others this was one of many of the examples that he was very caring towards
Junior. Finally, not only they were best friends, they told each other secrets that they would never tell anyone, “I draw his dreams. And he only talks about his dreams with me. And I only talk about my dreams with him” (Alexie 23). Rowdy was the only person Junior could vent his feelings or secrets to because he felt safe doing so, when Junior was 12 he cried about a girl he had a crush on and promised not to tell anyone he cried over her, “And he didn’t tell anybody. Rowdy was my secret keeper” (Alexie 76). Also, when seeing the girl of Juniors dreams at his new school, Junior becomes insanely attached and wants to get with her so bad. “Even though I didn’t think I’d ever hear back, I wanted to know what to do with my feelings, so I walked over to the computer lab and e-mailed Rowdy” (Alexie 115). It was hard for Junior to talk to Penelope and he didn’t know how to make her love him the way he felt about her. In conclusion, there are many different people in this novel that impacted Spirit Junior the most throughout his high school career. One of the most important people Junior thought that was the most important in his life was Rowdy. Junior personally explained in the chapters that he was more important than anyone else, including his family. Rowdy was a short tempered kid, who enjoyed violence that protected, cared and shared emotional feelings between each other. They have a very special connection when they interact with each other in the book compared to others.