The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian Discussion Questions

"The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian" Discussion Questions 

by Maria Garcia, Taylor Golisano and Maia Steese 

Initial Impressions:
1. How did you feel about the ending? Were you satisfied with the ending?
2. What do you think Alexie's purpose of writing this book was?
3. After reading this book did it change your view on the world?

Discussion Questions:
1.Why did you think Sherman Alexie inserted the section about Turtle Lake?(With the mysterious horse carcass and flaming lake?
2. Do you think Arnold would be successful in his own way if he stayed on the reservation for the rest of his life?
3. Do you think the term "Indian" is comparable to other slang terms used within other cultural identities? (Is it appropriate for everyone to say?)
4. What adult do you think was the most influential in Junior/Arnold's life?
5.Which one of teachers played the most important role model to Junior/Arnold?

  

6. Do you think Mary's death was a breaking point in Arnold's life? Were you surprised with Arnold's reaction to his sister's death? Do you think the laughing represented something?

                                       

7. Do you think adding in the basketball scenes showcased his progress in his character development?
                                   
8. After Junior and Rowdy make up in the end of the novel, do you forgive the physical and verbal violence Rowdy inflicted on Arnold? Do you think he makes up for it in the end?
                       
9. Do you think Arnold losing his grandmother, Eugene, and Mary due to the connections of alcohol, will keep him away from the consumption of alcohol ever in his life?

                     
10. What is the significance of Arnold spitting up cantaloupe after his sister died?

Quotes

"I'm fourteen years old and I've been to forty-two funerals. That's really the biggest difference between Indians and white people." (199)

"But I looked over at the Wellpint Redskins, at Rowdy. I knew  that two or three of those Indians might not have eaten breakfast that morning."(195) 

"...'White girls are privileged. They're damsels in distress.' 'So what does that mean?' I asked. 'I think it means you're just a racist asshole like everybody else.' Wow." (117)  

"He may not have loved me perfectly, but he loved me as well as he could." (189) 

                                              

"Gay people do anything. They were like Swiss Army knives!" (155) 
                           Did this  make you think of two-spirit?

"...well of course, man. We Indians have lost everything. We lost our native land. We lost our language, we lost our songs and dances. We lost each other. We only know how to lose and be lost."(173) How does this quote make you feel? Do you agree with what Arnold says?

Do you think it was wrong of the mother to slap Arnold three times and say "Don't you ever drink!" (208) Or do you sympathize with her actions? 

                       1 in 10 Native American Deaths related to Alcohol 

Throughout the novel we see this overwhelming theme of Alcoholism in the Native American community. If you click on the above link it will lead you to the article discussing the data and statistics of the  alcohol related deaths in some Native American communities. In the article CDC epidemiologist, Dwayne Jarman conducted a study, specifically a national survey that measured Native American deaths (Spanning to the great plains and the Alaska area)  due to alcohol.
Here are a few quotes from the article:

  "11.7 percent of deaths among the Native American and Alaska Natives between 2001 and 2005 were alcohol-related, compared with 3.3 percent for the U.S. as a whole."

"The two leading cause of alcohol-related deaths among Indians were traffic accidents and alcoholic liver disease, each of which cause more than a quarter of the 1,514 alcohol-related deaths over the four-year period."

" The study said more than 68 percent of the Indians whose deaths were attributed to alcohol were men, and 66 percent were people younger than 50 years old. Seven percent were less than 20 years old."

"The study recommends 'culturally appropriate clinical interventions' reducing excessive drinking and better integration between tribal healthcare centers and tribal courts, which often deal with alcohol-related crimes." 

Key Question (in connection to this novel and this article): Why do you think Alexie wrote each one of the family members who passed away, to die in an alcohol related incident?  What is the significance of this?