Part time Indian with background and characters.

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• vmbo t, havo
• Leerjaar 3,4

Today's goals

"The absolutely true story of a part-time Indian"

- I can understand the themes of the book  

- I know who the main characters of the book are 

At the end of class:

Agenda

- Lesson goals

- YouTube 1  minute summaries x 2

- Book themes

- Key Facts

- Plot

- Book characters

What are the main themes in this book?

Themes

 Individual Ambition vs. Communal Obligation

Poverty and Privilege

Racism

Key facts

Setting (Time) Around 1980

Setting (Place) The Spokane Indian Reservation and the town of Reardan in Washington state.

Protagonist (main character) Arnold Spirit, Jr. 

Narrator of the story 

 The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is narrated by Arnold Spirit, Jr. The novel unfolds like a diary, with each entry (except the first, which narrates Junior’s early childhood) narrated just after it is meant to have occurred.

Junior's point of view

Junior narrates the story in the first person, sticking closely to his own experiences, but he occasionally re-tells stories that have been told to him by others or includes his sister Mary’s messages. Junior mostly describes characters objectively (i.e. with physical and sensory details) but he does not hesitate to give his opinions about other people’s appearances and actions. 

Major Conflict

 The major conflict of the novel is Junior’s struggle to find acceptance and belonging in two vastly different communities, the Spokane reservation and Reardan High. 

Rising Action

 Junior decides to leave the high school in the reservation town of Wellpinit and attend school in the neighboring white town of Reardan. Junior’s Indian friends feel betrayed and abandoned, while, at Reardan, Junior is treated like an unwelcome outsider. 

Climax 

Junior experiences three tragic deaths in rapid succession, his grandmother, family friend, Eugene, and his sister Mary all die. For Junior, Mary’s death is the most traumatic. 

Falling Action

 As Junior’s family mourns the recent deaths of loved ones and Junior completes a successful first year at Reardan, the Spokane community seems to realize it has treated Junior unfairly, and Junior finds unsuspected support among the new friends he has made at Reardan. 

Main Characters

Tip: take self-written notes in your book and use these notes when completing the open book test!

Arnold Spirit Jr. (Junior)

A young cartoonist and the narrator/protagonist of the novel. Junior is a 14-year-old Spokane Indian who decides to go to the mostly white high school in nearby Reardan, Washington in order to have better opportunities in life. His cartoons help him to make sense of his experiences on and off the reservation. They also help him to cope with the untimely deaths of friends and family members. Junior is a good student and, while at Reardan, he discovers he is a strong basketball player.

Rowdy

Junior’s best friend on the reservation. Rowdy is a star basketball player for the Wellpinit high school. He has anger problems and often gets physically violent with Junior and others. He feels betrayed when Junior decides to leave Wellpinit. Junior’s attempt to win back Rowdy’s friendship and trust is one of the central dramas of The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian.

Mary Spirit (Junior's sister)

After graduating from Wellpinit, Mary takes refuge in the Spirit family’s basement. She closes herself off from the world until Junior decides to attend Reardan. Then, all of a sudden, she marries an Indian poker player and moves with him to Montana where the two die in an accidental trailer fire.

Gordy

Junior’s best white friend. Gordy is the smartest kid at Reardan. Junior decides to make friends with Gordy after Gordy defends one of Junior’s answers in class against an (incorrect) teacher. Gordy is intellectually gifted but, sometimes, socially tactless.

Arnold Spirit Sr. (Junior's dad)

An alcoholic who nonetheless does his best for Junior. Despite being unreliable, Junior’s dad often drives Junior the twenty-two miles to and from Reardan, and he does his best, in a flawed way, to care for Junior, Mary, and Junior’s mom. If he had had more opportunity in life, Junior says, Junior’s dad would have been a jazz musician. He plays the saxophone.

Agnes Adams Spirit (Junior's mom)

The main provider for the Spirit family. Like Junior’s dad, Junior’s mom is an alcoholic, though her alcoholism figures less prominently in the story. She is traumatized by Mary’s death, and makes Junior promise never to drink. Junior says that, if his mother had had better opportunity, she would have been a community college professor.

Junior's Grandmother

A well-liked woman who gives Junior good advice. Junior’s grandmother is one of very few Indians Junior knows who never drinks. Junior sees a link between her and the ancient traditions of the Spokane Tribe. Namely, he thinks she is tolerant toward all people, even social outcasts. She helps Junior understand the unwritten rules of the white world at Reardan. After she is struck by a drunk driver on her way home from a powwow, she uses her dying breath to ask her family to forgive the man who killed her.

Penelope (Junior's girlfriend)

Junior’s girlfriend. Penelope is beautiful, popular, and, not insignificantly for Junior, white. Junior wonders if he is attracted to her or to her whiteness, and is surprised to discover that Penelope is bulimic. Penelope is supportive of Junior, socially conscious (she raises money for charity), and motivated.

Eugene

Junior’s dad’s best friend. Eugene gives Junior a ride to school once on his motorcycle, impressing Roger and the other Reardan boys. He becomes an EMT and stitches up Junior’s forehead after Junior is injured during the first Reardan vs. Wellpinit basketball game. Eugene is shot in the face by his friend Bobby over who will get the last sip of a bottle of wine.

Roger

A senior at Reardan and football/basketball star. Roger insults Junior with racist comments when Junior first arrives at Reardan, but, after Junior socks him in the face for it, Roger respects Junior more and the two gradually become friends.

Mr. P

A white geometry teacher at Wellpinit. Junior hits Mr. P in the face with a geometry textbook after discovering that it is the same book his Mom, Agnes Adams, used thirty years previously. Mr. P, surprising Junior, apologizes for the unequal opportunity given to Indian students, and he advises Junior to get off the reservation.

Coach

Junior’s basketball coach. Though Coach never gets a name, he is an important role model for Junior. He visits Junior in the hospital after Rowdy concusses Junior in the first Reardan vs. Wellpinit basketball game.

The Andruss Triplets

Thirty-year-old triplets who bully Junior and beat him up at the Spokane powwow.

Earl

Penelope’s racist father. Earl makes a number of inappropriate remarks to Junior after discovering that Junior is dating his daughter.

Ted

A white billionaire. Ted comes to Junior’s Grandmother’s funeral in order to return a powwow dance outfit he believes belonged to her. Junior’s mom corrects Ted’s mistake, and the tribe laughs him off the reservation.

Dawn

Junior’s first crush.

Mr. Dodge

Junior’s geology teacher. Mr. Dodge argues petrified wood is wood, and Junior corrects him that the wood has been entirely replaced by minerals.

Teachers:

Mr. Grant

Junior’s homeroom teacher.

Mr. Sheridan

Junior’s history teacher.

Miss Warren

Guidance counselor who tells Junior about Mary’s death.