Penelope Character Analysis in The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

Junior’s “translucent semi-girlfriend,” a beautiful and popular freshman at Reardan High School. Roger, a big-brother figure to her, calls her Penultimate. Penelope is the first Reardan student to speak to Junior, but generally ignores him until he discovers she is bulimic (a disorder that reminds him of his father’s alcoholism) and she ends up crying on his shoulder, beginning their “friends with potential” relationship. Like Junior, Penelope has big dreams and wants to leave the place where she came from, although some of her dreams are so grandiose that Junior finds them a little silly. With blond hair, pale skin, and an all-white volleyball uniform, Penelope embodies both the hope and the unattainability that Junior associates with the color white.

Penelope Quotes in The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

The The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian quotes below are all either spoken by Penelope or refer to Penelope. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

Identity, Belonging, and Coming-of-Age Theme Icon

“My name is Junior,” I said. “And my name is Arnold. I’m Junior and Arnold. I’m both.”
I felt like two different people inside of one body.
No, I felt like a magician slicing myself in half, with Junior living on the north side of the Spokane River and Arnold living on the south.

Related Characters: Junior (Arnold Spirit, Jr.) (speaker), Penelope

Page Number and Citation: 60

Explanation and Analysis:

When Junior gets to the high school Reardan, filled mostly with white students, he begins to experience a phenomenon that feels like splitting himself in half. He feels like he has to be a different person around white people than he is around Indians, and he feels like his true self doesn't fit quite right in either world.The difficulty with his name is emblematic of this feeling. The Indians in his community have always called him Junior, but his official name is Arnold, and the white students want to call him Arnold. Junior has to explain that both names are Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas de

“Hey buddy,” I would have said. “How do I make a beautiful white girl fall in love with me?”
“Well, buddy,” he would have said. “The first thing you have to do is change the way you look, the way you talk, and the way you walk. And then she’ll think you’re her fricking Prince Charming.”

Related Characters: Junior (Arnold Spirit, Jr.) (speaker), Rowdy (speaker), Penelope

Related Symbols: White

Page Number and Citation: 81

Explanation and Analysis:

Junior realizes he has a crush on Penelope and, while he doesn't know how Penelope feels about him, she is being nice to him which gives him hope that they could end up together. He thinks about emailing Rowdy to ask advice since Rowdy is his best friend (even though they are fighting), but he thinks better of it, perhaps because Rowdy's tough love approach has begun to seem pessimistic rather than realistic. Junior imagines Rowdy telling him that the only way for a white girl to fall in love with him would be if he were white, too, and Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta

There are all kinds of addicts, I guess. We all have pain. And we all look for ways to make the pain go away.

Related Characters: Junior (Arnold Spirit, Jr.) (speaker), Penelope, Dad

Page Number and Citation: 107

Explanation and Analysis:

A big part of Junior's growth when he goes to Reardan is his growing understanding of and empathy for the white students he's in class with. Before going to Reardan, Junior had associated whiteness with perfection, possibility, and beauty, but he is beginning to see that the white students experience pain and difficulty that aren't totally dissimilar from his own. In this passage, he has just heard Penelope throwing up in the bathroom and when he confronts her about her eating disorder she says something reminiscent of the way Junior's dad talks about his alcoholism. This is a moment of Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitati

Penelope Character Timeline in The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

The timeline below shows where the character Penelope appears in The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

Racism, Poverty, and Alcoholism Theme Icon

...front office. He arrives late to his homeroom class, where a beautiful blond girl named Penelope asks his name and laughs at him when he tells her it’s Junior, even though... (full context)

When the teacher calls Junior by his full name, Arnold Spirit, Penelope asks accusingly why he told her his name was Junior, the Indian nickname that Junior... (full context)

Confessions, Revenge, and Forgiveness Theme Icon

Penelope also says Junior has a funny accent, which makes him afraid to talk for his... (full context)

Junior’s relief and happiness at having earned Roger’s respect gives him the courage to greet Penelope when he sees her a moment later. However, she snubs him and then calls him... (full context)

On Halloween, Junior and Penelope both arrive at school dressed as homeless people—an easy costume for Junior, he notes, since... (full context)

At school, Junior tells a shocked and concerned Penelope what happened. She sympathizes (even touching his bruises, to Junior’s amazement) and promises to put... (full context)

Still, Junior and Penelope don’t say much to each other. Junior wishes he could ask Rowdy for advice about... (full context)

The vomiter turns out to be Penelope, who comes out of the bathroom clearly trying to hide what she’s done by chewing... (full context)

Junior reflects that Penelope’s purging and his dad’s drinking are both forms of addiction—that everyone has pain, and that... (full context)

Drawing, Writing, and Junior’s Cartoons Theme Icon

Junior finds all of this sexy, including Penelope’s ego and her cinnamon-vomit breath. He understands for the first time why love and lust... (full context)

Over the next few weeks, Junior and Penelope become “the hot item at Reardan High School—not exactly a romantic couple [but] more like... (full context)

Besides this, talking with Penelope makes Junior realize that they have more important things in common. At first, Junior makes... (full context)

However, Junior admires Penelope’s more specific dream of going to Stanford to study architecture: her desire “to build something... (full context)

While Junior points out to Penelope that she won’t get to travel very far if she doesn’t eat enough, he doesn’t... (full context)

One day while watching Penelope at a volleyball game, Junior marvels at how beautiful she is with her pale skin... (full context)

In December, Junior takes Penelope to the Winter Formal, which is complicated for him because he’s been trying to keep... (full context)

...when Roger invites them along with his friends to drive into Spokane for pancakes, which Penelope is eager to do. Junior doesn’t have money to pay for pancakes, but he can’t... (full context)

...he’s lost his wallet. Without hesitation, Roger gives Junior forty dollars to cover his and Penelope’s food. (full context)

...and so Roger drops him off there and waits in the car while Junior and Penelope get out to say goodbye. Saying that Roger told her he lent Junior some money,... (full context)

Under Penelope’s persistent questions, Junior also admits that his dad isn’t picking him up. Refusing to let... (full context)

Junior thinks the best thing about Reardan is Penelope—as well as Gordy, maybe—and the best thing about Wellpinit was his grandmother. He thinks his... (full context)

Junior begins his next chapter with the following sentence: “A few days after I gave Penelope a homemade Valentine (and she said she forgot it was Valentine’s Day), my dad’s best... (full context)

Instead, Junior goes to school, where his white friends, including Penelope, offer their concern and sympathy. He is surprised, and touched, to find that he matters... (full context)

Junior spends the first part of summer reading comics and missing his white friends—Penelope, whom he’s written three love letters although she hasn’t written one in return yet; Gordy,... (full context)

Penelope Character Analysis

Penelope Quotes in The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

Chapter 8 Quotes

Chapter 11 Quotes

Chapter 15 Quotes

Penelope Character Timeline in The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian