The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian, by Sherman Alexie

Characters
Spokane Indian Reservation	Reardon High School
Arnold Spirit, “Junior” Mother Father Mary Runs Away – sister Grandmother Spirit Oscar - dog Rowdy – best friend Mr. P. – geometry teacher Billionaire Ted	Penelope Earl – father Roger the Giant – basketball player Gordy – study partner

For Discussion:

NOTE: The page numbers are from the 2007 paperback edition.

1. What is the meaning of the quote by W. B. Yeats at the beginning of the book, “There is another world, but it is in this one.”
2. On page 5 the author compared reading words and pictures and wrote that words are unpredictable and limited and that people who speak another language than the one you wrote in will not be able to understand, “But when you draw a picture, everybody can understand it.”   What did the pictures add to this book for you?
3. Discuss the importance of best friends.  Arnold said that, “I think Rowdy might be the most important person in my life.  Maybe more important than my family.  Can your best friend be more important than your family?” (page 24).
4. What did you think about Mr. P and his confession that the educational system was, “…supposed to make you give up being Indian” and that “We were trying to kill Indian culture” (page 35).
5. When Arnold told Rowdy that he was leaving Wellpinit and going to Reardon to school, Rowdy reacted by becoming very angry and punched Arnold.  Is that an expected reaction?  Is there anything Arnold could have done to soften the announcement?
6. Discuss the difference between Arnold feeling that he was betraying his tribe and his desire to improve himself.
7. When Arnold first started at Reardon, Roger made a racist joke about Indians and Arnold punched him.   Arnold thought that incident may have been, “…the most important moment of my life.  Maybe I was telling the world that I was no longer a human target” (page 65).  What did you think of the incident?  What did Arnold learn from the incident?
8. Were you surprised that Roger became a good friend to Arnold?  Why do you think this happened?
9. Discuss the basketball game when the entire reservation turned their back on Arnold. Did you feel that the behavior of the people off the reservation was better than of those on the reservation?  Can you understand the motives of the reservation people?
10. How important are our expectations of others and ourselves?  Playing basketball at Wellpinit, Arnold, “…wasn’t expected to be good so I wasn’t.  But in Reardon, my coach and the other players wanted me to be good…They expected me to be good.  And so I became good” (page 180).  How important are our expectations of ourselves and other people’s expectations of us?
11. On page 189 the coach said to Arnold before the basketball game with Wellpinit that, “You can do it.”   Arnold reflected those were, “…the four hugest words in the world when they’re put together.”  Why was it so important for Arnold to hear those words?
12. Discuss the character of Gordy.  How influential was he to Arnold’s success?
13. What was the point of adding Billionaire Ted to the novel at Grandmother Spirit’s funeral?
14. Rowdy was crying and told Arnold that he, Arnold, was responsible for Mary’s death (page 211).  How do you explain Rowdy’s feelings and actions?  Should Arnold feel responsible?
15. Contrast the tribe’s actions (eating all food and getting drunk) and Rowdy’s (blaming Arnold and running away) treatment toward the grieving family with how Arnold felt when he returned to Reardon (“They were worried for me…I was important to them” [page 212].) 
16. Arnold listed all of the tribes he belonged to including basketball players, bookworms, etc. (page 217). Did this enhance or diminish his membership in the tribe of Spokane Indians?
17. How do you think a teenager would read this book compared to your reading as an adult?
18. How were the Indians portrayed in this novel?  What problems were highlighted?  What positives were displayed?
19. What messages do you think the author wants the reader to take from this novel?

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