Plot Overview for The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Muse Abdi
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- 2. In the rez: Part I • Junior, the main character, is fourteen years old boy who was born with excessive cerebrospinal fluid in his brain system. • Junior was poor, and he was from a poor family from a poor family. • Junior was made elective brain surgery with fifty percent survival rate when he was six months old. • After the surgery, he developed severe complications such as ten extra teeth and seizure. 2
- 3. Continued • Junior’s extra ten teeth were extracted in one day by a white racist doctor who gave him a half dose anesthesia compared to the local white people. • Also, he developed other complications such as vision problem, stutter, lisp and chronic headache because of the bad dental surgery. • Junior had a big head and large “L” shaped feet which made him a unique person in terms of his school and in the community as a whole. 3
- 4. Continued • This special feature made him susceptible to any criticizers in the school and in the community. He was called “retard” which means a delay in growth. • Also, people used to call him “globe or orbit” because of his big head. Junior started drawing to show the world his feelings. 4
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- 6. In the rez: Part II • When Junior received the geometry book, he saw his mother’s name written on the cover. He realized that the reservation hasn’t been able to buy books in 30 years, and Junior got angry. • Junior throw the book at his teacher’s face, Mr. P, and made him bleed. • Junior was given a suspension. • After a couple of days, Mr. P came to Junior’s house. • Junior saw Mr. P was coming towards him. • Junior thought he was going to punish him. 6
- 7. Continued • Mr. P said that Junior was right to throw the book at him because he has treated badly with many Indians. • He said that all white people in the rez deserve to be hit in the face. • Mr.P told Junior to escape the reservation as soon as possible; otherwise, he would be killed. I’m going to kill you. We are all going to kill you. You can’t fight us forever. • Junior made a decision and decided to transfer to Reardan. 7
- 8. Continued • After his parents got off from work, he told them that he was moving to Reardan. • His parents were shocked at his decision, but they finally agreed with his decision. • He went to his school on the reservation. • He met his close friend, Rowdy, and he told him he was going to leave. • Rowdy was a crazy and violent boy because his parents abused alcohol. • Rowdy beat Junior several times. Rowdy hates Reardan because his basketball team was beaten in Reardan. • Junior was taken by his father to Reardan school 8
- 9. Scene I Cast: Yoshi,Abdul, Kosuke and Park 9
- 10. In the Reardan: Part I • Junior was welcomed warmly, and he got full admission. • Junior’s teacher, Dodge, was explaining to the class “Petrified Wood.” • The teacher gave a wrong definition about the topic “Petrified wood.” • Mr. Dodge said that Petrified wood was a stone which was opposite of its meaning. • Junior raised his hand. The teacher surprised because it was the first time that Junior raised his hand in the class. 10
- 11. Continued • Junior said that Petrified wood was not stone. • The whole students stared at Junior because it was kind of weird for them that this Indian boy who came from the reservation could know such tough topic. • Also, the teacher didn’t believe that Junior could figure out the meaning of the topic, Petrified wood. • The teacher, Mr. Dodge, asked Junior to explain what Petrified wood stands for, and Junior said that Petrified wood was a tree-like plant having transformed into stone by the process of permineralization. 11
- 12. Continued • After that, Mr. Dodge got angry with Junior and asked where he learned this information. • Junior said that he learned from the rez. • Students also got mad with Junior except for one boy, Gordy, who mentioned that Junior was right. • Finally, the teacher thanked Gordy but did not thank Junior. In my opinion, the reason why the author included this scene in the book is to show how the discrimination was widespread. Not only in the rez. 12
- 13. Scene II Cast: Muse, Abdul and Park 13
- 14. In the Reardan: Part II • Junior decided to pretend as a rich boy from a rich family after his poor parents gave him little pocket money. • He took his girlfriend, Penelope, to the Winter Formal, dancing event. • The money Junior had could buy nothing for them. • Junior could not cancel his appointment with Penelope because he fell in love with her, and that is why he was taking the risk. • Junior and his girlfriend, Penelope, went to the dance. • They became very busy at dancing and enjoyed the scene. • So, Junior’s girlfriend, Penelope, forgot taking photos and everything else which could cause money to Junior. 14
- 15. Continued • Junior got survived that night! • Another day, a few of Junior’s classmates decided to go to Spokane for what they called “twenty-four-hour dinner.” • One student of that students, Roger, invited Junior and his girlfriend, Penelope, to come along with them. • Penelope was very excited, but Junior got shocked about that invitation because of his empty pocket. • At that day, Junior only had five dollars which could buy nothing for them. 15
- 16. Continued • Junior took a tough decision and went with his classmates to the dinner. • Junior ordered plenty of food and drinks which he could not afford at all. • While eating the food with Penelope, Junior stood up and went to the restroom. • He started retching. • Roger heard the vomiting and went to the bathroom to know what was wrong with Junior 16
- 17. Continued • Junior reported that nothing was wrong with him. • After a short conversation, Junior told Roger that he forgot his wallet. • After that, Roger informed Junior that he covered everything Junior and his girlfriend ordered! Roger gave Junior forty dollars. • I can infer that the author showed us heroism, commitment, and love. 17
- 18. In the rez: Part III • Whenever Junior come to Rez during school breaks, he used to come to his grandmother. • Junior’s grandmother was one of the five non-alcoholic people in the reservation. • She was well-known in the reservation because of her compassion and sympathy to the neglected people. She had traveled to 100 different reservations. • She was the only person who agreed Junior’s decision to Reardan. • She told Junior that he would learn not only knowledge but also discover many new people. 18
- 19. Continued • Junior loved his grandmother so much, but unfortunately, she was struck by a drunk driver. • She was taken into a local emergency. • After a while, she died of many internal injuries. • Junior’s father asked the doctor what her last word was. • The doctor replied that, “she said: forgive him.” • The grandmother meant that the drunk driver who killed her. 19
- 20. Continued • Junior’s father who wanted to kill the murderer took her words for granted. • What is more, Junior’s father’s close friend, Eugene, was killed by his close friend, Bobby, who was drunk. • Mr. Eugene was a kind person who used give a ride to Junior when Junior’s father is not available 20
- 21. Continued • Bobby, the killer, was not aware when he was killing his close friend because he was drunk. • After Bobby realized that he killed his friend, he became sad and called Eugene’s name repeatedly. • After Bobby got arrested, he murdered himself in prison. • In this part, the author is trying to show us the consequence of alcoholism and its endemic 21
- 22. The End of Plot Overview 22