He joins Varsity Basketball as a freshman kind-of dates the hottest girl in school, Penelope, and is generally well liked.

He perseveres.Įventually, he becomes one of the more popular kids in school. This, nor-hitchhiking, nor his new classmates making fun of his K-mart clothes deters him. He explains that his family, nor any of the other members of his tribe, have any kind of money, and therefore his dad rarely has gas money in which to drive him. This interaction ends in a strange direction, as the broken-nosed teacher visits Arnold, who is home on suspension, and encourages him to leave the rez and make something of himself.Īrnold follows his advice, moves to the school in Reardon, and commutes there in knee-deep snow everyday. He ends up throwing his book in frustration and it hits his smelly, white teacher in the nose. He gets so angry that the rez is so poor and so ambivalent to education that they do not even bother keeping current materials. One day, at the start of geometry class, Arnold opens his textbook to reveal a familiar name on the cover, his mother’s. On the rez, no one ever leaves, they just become alcoholics who die in alcohol related crashes and accidents. Eventually, Arnold discovers that he really enjoys learning, and maybe he will make it out of the quicksand-esque reservation. They go to the traditional pow wows, and ceremonies together, they walk to school together, and eat lunch together. His best friend, Rowdy, another Spokane Indian boy living on the rez is a total jerk, but at least he protects Arnold. Yes, he’s a chronic masturbator, stutterer, scrawny, poor, Indian kid in clearance K-Mart clothing, but he is also a smart guy with a penchant for wise-cracking. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is a candid, no-holds-barred view at the life of one, Arnold Spirit Jr. Neither death, nor concussions, nor the loss of his best friend will deter him. He eventually is motivated to leave the rez in order to lead a successful life, and this story chronicles the ups, downs, middles, and heartaches that come with his decision to leave. He is a weirdo, poor Indian kid living on the Reservation or “rez” with the others in the Spokane Indian Tribe in Washington State. Even his brain is different than everyone else’s’ because his skull was filled with fluid when he was born. He is not tall or strong or short or medium height. Plot Summary: Fourteen-year-old Arnold Spirit Jr.is not like other people. THE ABSOLUTELY TRUE DIARY OF A PART-TIME INDIAN.

The life of a part time indian