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#2-Describe how Penelope treats Junior – provide two specific examples. How does this relationship contribute to Junior’s understanding of himself/his identity? (Clara N.)




In the beginning of The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian Penelope treats Junior like she is too cool to be friends with an Indian, but over time she realizes that Junior is a nice kid that is not that much different from the rest of them. After Junior talks with Roger, he is feeling confident, so he goes up to Penelope and when he greets her, she rudely sniffs him and says, “‘Do I know you?’ ‘I’m Junior, I mean, I’m Arnold.’ ‘Oh, that’s right, you’re the boy who can’t figure out his own name’” (Alexie 73).   This quote shows that Penelope made assumptions and had a single story in her mind of what Indians were like and created a grudge against them based on stereotypes. Penelope had decided to make Junior invisible to herself before she even got to know him and was deliberately rude to him. Later on, Penelope gets to know Junior better and realizes that he is just a normal kid like her. When Junior comes in empty handed after halloween he says, “‘I’m sorry,’ I said. ‘Sorry for what?’ she asked. ‘I raised money last night, but then some guys attacked me and stole it.’ ‘Oh my God, are you okay?’... ‘That’s terrible. Did you see a doctor?’” (Alexie 80). This quote shows that Penelope starts to care about him and also feels sympathy for him and his life on the reservation. The two quotes show that Penelope treats Junior with sympathy but also like he is invisible at other times.

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