As The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian progresses, it is clear that the protagonist Junior develops a clearer understanding about how addiction affects people universally. Growing up on the reservation, Junior has been surrounded by people who resort to alcohol to deal with the lack of opportunities and poverty on the reservation. Several members of Junior's own family, such as his father, and others around him are often drunk, and Junior only sees addiction through the narrow context of the reservation. However, after Junior begins attending Reardan and makes friends with students there, namely Penelope, he sees that addiction affects people of other ethnicities and classes too. Penelope seems to have an ideal life on the surface; however, Junior eventually learns that her father is mean and abusive, and Penelope deals with her harsh home life by trying to exert control over her body, resulting in her bulimia. Through conversations with Penelope, Junior learns that people universally struggle with addictions that have been a result of trying to cope with hardships in their lives.
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