Alexie Ch 3 Revenge is My Middle Name

Summary

After his dog Oscar dies, Junior feels so insignificant that he considers disappearing. His best friend, Rowdy, bluntly encourages him to keep going. Junior recognizes this as Rowdy’s version of tough love.

Rowdy is fierce and quick to fight, but his toughness is shaped partly by violence at home: his father regularly beats him and his mother. Junior’s home is safer, so Rowdy spends much of his time with Junior’s family.

Rowdy persuades Junior to attend the Spokane Tribe’s annual powwow, promising to protect him. The event is full of celebration, dancing, food, and community life, but Junior worries that he might be bullied or attacked. At the powwow, Rowdy accidentally crashes into a minivan. Junior laughs, angering Rowdy, who smashes the van with a shovel. Junior runs away and is bullied and sexually assaulted by the adult Andrews triplets.

Rowdy finds Junior and seeks revenge. Instead of physically attacking the triplets, he sneaks into their camp and cuts off their eyebrows and braids. Junior feels both guilty and satisfied that Rowdy retaliated on his behalf.

The chapter also reveals Rowdy’s gentler side. He secretly enjoys children’s comic books and shares them with Junior. Junior draws cartoons for him, giving Rowdy an imaginative escape from his difficult home life.

Their friendship is central to both boys’ lives. They share their fears and dreams, spend much of their time together, and rely on each other in ways Junior says may rival or exceed his connection with family.

Key ideas: Friendship and loyalty; the effects of abuse; vulnerability beneath toughness; bullying and violence; revenge as a source of satisfaction; and imagination as an escape from hardship.

Speakers and Sources

• Junior — The first-person narrator.
• Rowdy — Junior’s best friend, whose dialogue appears throughout the chapter.
• Other quoted characters — Junior’s parents, the Andrews brothers, and people at the powwow, who appear briefly in reported dialogue.
• Reading source — An excerpt from The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, presented as a chapter reading.