Junior and Rowdy´s true friendship

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

by Sherman Alexie

Junior and Rowdy

At the beginning of the story, Junior introduced Rowdy as his only and best friend. They even shared the same birth date. Junior said Rowdy was the toughest kid in the reservation. His father was an alcoholic who used to beat him up, that is why Rowdy´s face was covered by bruises and a black eye. The ups and downs could never tear them apart. The following quotes will show how this friendship went up and down but never fade away.  

Rowdy´s personality

Ø  “It´s not like anybody´s going to notice if you go away” (p.13)- Rowdy knew that junior was a wallflower so no one would miss him except him.  

 

Ø  “Come on, I´ll protect you” (p.14)- Junior was always afraid to be beaten up, because of that, Rowdy would have to fight for him. 

Ø  “Did they hit you in the head?” (p.18)- Rowdy knew that Junior´s brain was already damaged, and one punch would have killed him.

Ø  “I know Rowdy has a temper and stuff, and he doesn´t get grades or anything, but he´s been nice to me since we were kids. Since we were babies, I don´t even know why he´s been nice” (p.34)- Junior told Mr. P that no matter how mean and aggressive Rowdy was, he has always shown compassion to him.

 

Ø  “He doesn´t hurt you because you´re the only thing in his life. He doesn´t want to give up. That is the only thing he hasn´t given up”(P.35)- Mr. P warned Junior that Rowdy would never change, and the reason why he is nice to Jr is because he has nothing left.

Ø  “I have to go. I´m going to die if I don´t leave”(p.44)- Junior shared with Rowdy his wishes to move from school because he wanted to go with him. However, Rowdy didn´t like that idea.

Ø   “Hey Rowdy, I´m in love with a white girl. What should I do?” (p. 97)- Junior trusted Rowdy so much that he even asked for his advice on girls.

Ø  “He is my best friend, well, he used to be my best friend” (p.122)- Junior still believed in his friendship with Rowdy even though the inconvenient they had.

 

Ø  “Rowdy is present at Junior´s grandmother´s funeral (p.132)- Even though Rowdy hated Junior, deep inside him he was still his best friend.

Ø  “Junior makes a list of people who had given him more joy. (p.144)- In this list Rowdy was on top of it. Rowdy was one of the few people who still worry for his well-being.

Ø  “I was crying because I had broken my best friend´s heart” (p.162)- When Junior´s team won the basketball game, he could not help crying for Rowdy´s team, Junior knew how difficult was for the other team to keep up with the training of his new team.

Ø  “You´re crying” (p.173)- Rowdy was terribly sad at Junior´s sister´s funeral, despite Rowdy´s cold heart he still shows compassion at his best friend´s loss.

Ø  “Your sister is dead because you left us. You killed her” (p.174)- Rowdy blamed Junior for all the tragic events at the reservation. He was just overwhelmed for what was going on. 

Ø "Will we still know each other when we´re old men?" (P.192)-  This question is left unanswered, but undoubtedly their friendship will always prevail. 

Always together

The path we choose to follow sometimes it is not well-seen by our love ones. However, the decisions we make today will determine whether we get what we want or simply fail the first attempt. One lesson given by the book is that friendship makes life joyful despite the drawbacks encounter. My piece of advice for everyone is to support friends and respect their decisions. 

Further discussion:

Book in pdf

https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0?ui=2&ik=d81334db3d&attid=0.0&permmsgid=msg-f:1666590551689633287&th=1720eb46db7b9e07&view=att&disp=inline

Discussion questions 

https://www.shmoop.com/absolutely-true-diary-part-time-indian/questions.html 

A brave life

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2008/oct/04/teenage.sherman.alexie