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What is the relationship between Junior and Rowdy in The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian? Does their friendship survive when Junior leaves the reservation?
Junior and Rowdy are lifelong best friends. Over the course of the book The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, their friendship struggles, and they eventually reconcile, even though Junior knows their paths in life will be different.
Read more about Junior and Rowdy’s friendship and their ups and downs in the book.
Rowdy
Rowdy is Junior’s best (human) friend. (Junior’s best friend is his dog, Oscar.) Junior considers Rowdy to be the “most important person in [his] life,” even more important than the members of his own family. Rowdy and Junior were born on the same day in the same hospital, and they’ve been friends ever since. Junior and Rowdy’s friendship is one of the things that has helped Junior survive all these years.
Rowdy is the toughest kid on the reservation. He’ll fight anyone—girl or boy, child or adult, human or dog. He even throws punches at the rain. He got into his first fist fight when he was in kindergarten: A first-grader had thrown a piece of ice during a snowball fight, which made Rowdy mad. He punched the first-grader and two of the first-grader’s friends, and then he punched the teacher who tried to stop the fight.
Rowdy’s father is a mean drunk who beats him and Rowdy’s mother, so they both always have bruised and bloody faces. Rowdy spends most of his time at Junior’s house because it’s a “safe place.” Rowdy loves comic books, and not the “cool” ones. He likes things like Casper the Friendly Ghost, comics meant for younger kids. These are perfect for Rowdy because he has a juvenile sense of humor and he struggles to read on grade level. When Rowdy reads, his tough-guy persona disappears and he becomes childlike, laughing at all the dumb jokes. As does Junior, Rowdy pretends he lives inside these fictional worlds—they’re far better places to live than his real life.
Saying Goodbye
The next day, Junior walks to his old school to tell Rowdy that he’s switching schools. Rowdy is alone on the playground because all the other kids are afraid of him.
Junior wants to tell Rowdy that he loves him, but he knows that boys aren’t supposed to say those kinds of things to each other and also that Rowdy would hate it, so he gets straight to the point and tells him that he’s transferring to Reardan. Then, Junior and Rowdy’s friendship begins to crumble.
At first, Rowdy thinks Junior is joking, and he doesn’t think it’s funny. When Rowdy realizes Junior is serious, he mocks him and says he’ll never go because he’s too much of a “wuss.” Although Junior knows Rowdy well and, therefore, should know better, Junior makes two critical mistakes at this moment:
Mistake #1: When Rowdy turns away, upset that Junior is leaving, Junior touches Rowdy’s shoulder. Rowdy shoves him and calls him a “retarded fag.” This makes Junior cry. Then, to Junior’s surprise, Rowdy starts to cry, too. The fact that he’s crying makes Rowdy so mad that he starts screaming at Junior, accusing Junior of always thinking he’s better than Rowdy.
Mistake #2: Junior tries to explain that he doesn’t think he’s better than anyone and touches Rowdy again. In response, Rowdy punches him. At that moment, Junior knows that his best friend is now his worst enemy.
Junior Seeks an Old Friend and Makes a New One
Rowdy usually spends part of Thanksgiving at Junior’s house, but he and Junior still aren’t speaking, and Junior misses him, so he draws a cartoon of the two of them as superheroes. He walks to Rowdy’s house to give him the cartoon and Rowdy’s drunk father opens the door. When Junior hands the dad his cartoon to give to Rowdy, the father looks at the cartoon and says, “You’re kind of gay, aren’t you?” He agrees to give Rowdy the cartoon, even though it’s “a little gay.”
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Here's what you'll find in our full The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian summary :
- How Junior gets split between two worlds when he goes to a mostly white school
- How Junior overcomes being an outsider to being part of welcoming social circles
- The tragedies of alcoholism and poverty that leave Junior with renewed strength
Can someone help me with these 2 questions please.
Chapter 10 – Tears of a Clown
Explain the meaning of the chapter title “Tears of a Clown” as it relates to the story.
From the information provided in previous chapters and this chapter, how do you know Rowdy and Sherman are very close friends? Provide at least two reasons.