Tuesday, March 8, 2011
The Absolute True Diary of a Part-Time Indian Deep Question
Junior is at an age where fitting in with your peers is everything. He struggles most of his life to make and keep friends due to his physical impairments and appearance. When he decides to go to Reardon, he does not fit in but yet he goes out of his way to make connections with other students. Surprisingly, he does become accepted relatively quickly and makes some friends and even a sort of girlfriend. Do you think the friendships were genuine? Or do you think his new friends were intrigued by the novelty of befriending the one Native American from the rez kid in school?
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For the most part I think Junior's friendships were genuine, abet a little unconventional, but sometimes unconventional friendships are the truest sort. Junior's friendship with Penelope might be the one that is the least genuine, but even at the times when the two weren't at their closest I got the feeling while reading the book that Penelope did really care for Junior. Rowdy and Junior's friendship was one of those things that even though they might not always get along, or even like each other, they will always have a strong connection and be good friends deep down. I think that it was less about Junior being from the Rez and more about him challenging set stereotypes established within his new school that made him popular. Because he stood up to the bully and upset the status quo he opened people's eyes and they found friendship in unexpected places. If being friends with Junior had been about novelty it would have been much easier to brush him off and be cruel to him, rather than go out of their way to be supportive friends to him.
ReplyDeleteI think perhaps some of them may have began as something novelty, but once the "friends got to know him it became genuine, parcularily with Penelope. The basketball team certainly grew to love him, and his friendship with Gordy sincere. I was concerned for "Arnold" that the guys at Reardan were just fooling him and would wait to totaly humiliate and/or beat the hell out of him at some point.
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