The Absolutely False Diary Of A Full Time Predator, Or, Why I Hated Part Time Indian-- Part 4, Poorly

the Absolutely False Diary of a Full Time Predator, or, Why I Hated Part Time Indian-- Part 4, Poorly Handled Characters

Alexie has this little bad habit of having his characters bring something up, and then never mention it again. My favorite examples are Penelope and Roger.

So Roger we meet early on, he’s kind of a racist bully to Junior, and then Junior hits him and then they respect each other. So this guy says some undeniably racist stuff, right? And after that scene it’s just never mentioned again. Now he’s like a golden boy who is on varsity basketball and he’s going to college and he’s a really great and supportive guy to Junior. So why did he say all that racist stuff???? Was he being pressured by his friends? Did he hold those beliefs but then had a change of heart? We. Don’t. Know. Alexie just drops the angle like ⅓ of the way through. And it’s just never mentioned again by anyone. Junior doesn’t mention how their relationship started off bad, but then turned good, he doesn’t tell anyone, so we can’t see how other Reardon kids view Roger. Would they be surprised? We don’t know.

The character that I loathe even more though is Penelope, Junior’s girlfriend. So she starts off as a mean girl, then Junior finds out that she struggles with bulimia, then they go out. This is the exact same problem that was with Roger, but now it’s even worse. I care very deeply about representation of eating disorders, not because I’ve had one, but because I think that they’re a debilitating mental illness that can kill you, and I want them to be seen that way. So let’s see the tact and grace Alexie has with handling this sensitive issue. Junior makes fun of her for smelling like vomit but trying to cover it up. Even while Penelope is unloading a lot of mental baggage on Junior, his mind drifts elsewhere because he is so bored with the conversation. Then they never mention it ever again. 0/10, would not read again.

the Absolutely False Diary of a Full Time Predator, or, Why I Hated Part Time Indian-- Part 1, Summary

I had to read the Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian, written by Sherman Alexie; I had to analyze the use of color in reference to hope, and I have come to the conclusion that this book is very bad. Now I am going to complain about this bad book on the internet, and there's nothing you can do to stop me. So if you don’t know Part Time Indian (first of all, congratulations), here’s a summary: So there’s this kid named Junior who lives on a Native American Reservation with his Mom, Dad, Grandma, sister, Mary, and best friend Rowdy. Junior struggles with a lot of disabilities, so he gets picked on by most of the people in his Tribe. He goes to this all white school called Reardon and he makes friends with this nerd named Gordy, this Jock named Roger, and he even gets a girlfriend named Penelope. Because Junior “abandoned” his Tribe, everyone there hates him even more now, including Rowdy. So it’s a pretty normal high school coming of age story, and then it takes a hard left when Junior’s Grandma dies, then his dad’s friend dies, then his effing sister Mary dies, too. Then Rowdy pitties him and now they’re friends again. The End.

anyone else ever remember that there’s a nun in connecticut who has a PhD in microbiology so she can study cheese

revoking the title of “gun country” from usa until they stop missing trump. failing twice is ridiculous

the Absolutely False Diary of a Full Time Predator, or, Why I Hated Part Time Indian-- Part 5, Concerning Séx Stuff (content warning)

Nota bene-- I would like to preface this part with the fact that the author, Sherman Alexie, has been accused of sexual harassment multiple times. If this information bars you from properly enjoying this section, I will harbor no ill will if you decide not to read on.

I will admit my bias. I am a prude. I do not appreciate my sex and my media intersecting. Regardless, Alexie writes some passages in here that I think even people with normal sex tolerances cringe at. So Junior is a 14-year-old boy. Teenage boys have sex drives. I get that. That’s cool, that’s chill. My issue is not that there is sex in a book aged at high school audiences. My issue is that Alexie writes a lot of concerning passages sexualizing minors that are tangential to the plot. For my paper, I had to analyze Junior’s staring at the underwear of a 14-year-old girl during a sports game. There was no need for that. It had exactly nothing to do with the plot. Sexuality is one thing, over sexualization of minors written by an author who has a track record of sexual harassment is another. Eww. Gross. No. Bye.