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Racism in children's literature
Racism in children's literature
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In the novel, “The Absolute True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” by Sherman Alexie, the main character, Junior is exposed to a number of traumatic events due to his problematic life. So far in the novel, Junior is seen as very frustrated by the continual cycle of poverty and his disabilities, yet he finds a way to contain his sorrow through the things he loves. However, complications still manage to find a way into his life on the reservation. In the second chapter, Junior is faced with the death of his dog, Oscar due to him becoming really ill. When Oscar becomes sick Junior’s family could not afford to pay for the vet bill, which is seen in the line, “Junior, sweetheart,’ Mom said. ‘I'm sorry, but we don't have any money for Oscar.’ " Due …show more content…
I think that as Junior had said earlier in the chapter, the worst thing about being poor is not being able to help the ones you love. So the reaction received from the main character in this chapter depicted how Junior’s character shows so much compassion towards his loved one. Oscar does not appear as a main character but he is unfortunately brought in the chapter to prove a point about hardships. However, Oscar’s character is able to show how effective an animal can be as a symbolic figure for destruction from poverty despite only appearing in the book once. While reading this excerpt, “It’s an ugly circle and there's nothing you can do about it,” it struck to me that Junior really desires the ability to ease the suffering around him on the reservation. As someone who owns a dog and sees their pet as their best friend like Junior, his situation develops into a circumstance that everyone can relate to. There has been abundance of times where my dog has suffered from an illness but the difference between Junior and I is that I have the power to end my dogs pain without causing any for myself. At the end of the chapter Junior helps me conclude to the point that the only solution to escaping poverty is death when he implies that in the line, “A bullet only costs two cents, anybody can afford …show more content…
Junior and his best friend Rowdy attend the Spokane Powwow celebration and runs into some trouble when Rowdy gets mad due to Junior laughing at him. However, because Rowdy wants to refrain from hurting Junior, he takes his anger out on a nearby van. Junior becomes afraid of Rowdy and going to jail so he runs away, but he runs into the Andruss Brothers. This is where Junior’s bullying is first seen in the book. It is evident in the line, “Hey, look," one of them said. ‘It's Hydro Head.’ Yep, those bastards were making fun of my brain disorder. Charming, huh?” It is clear that the bullying is a result of Junior’s disabilities when the Andruss Brothers call him names poking at his hydrocephalus
Modern day Native American are widely known as stewards of the environment who fight for conservation and environmental issues. The position of the many Native American as environmentalists and conservationists is justified based on the perception that before European colonists arrived in the Americas, Native Americans had little to no effect on their environment as they lived in harmony with nature. This idea is challenged by Shepard Krech III in his work, The Ecological Indian. In The Ecological Indian, Krech argues that this image of the noble savage was an invented tradition that began in the early 1970’s, and that attempts to humanize Native Americans by attempting to portray them as they really were. Krech’s arguments are criticized by Darren J Ranco who in his response, claims that Krech fails to analyze the current state of Native American affairs, falls into the ‘trap’ of invented tradition, and accuses Krech of diminishing the power and influence of Native Americans in politics. This essay examines both arguments, but ultimately finds Krech to be more convincing as Krech’s
Encountering struggles in life defines one’s character and speaks volumes about their strength, ambition, and flexibility. Through struggles, sacrifice, and tragedy, Junior in The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie, adapts to survive difficult situations and faces his problems head-on. As he makes life changing decisions, adapts to an unfamiliar culture, and finds himself amongst misery and heartbreak, Junior demonstrates resilience to overcome adversity and struggles.
To conclude, in the book The Absolutely True Diary of A Part-Time Indian an Indian boy shows how to escape the poverty of his Indian Reservation by going to a wealthy white school, as well as keeping his Indian Culture alive when living on the reservation.
At first, Junior was stuck on the rez and he felt hopeless because Indians who lived on the rez never got a chance to have hope, and some of the things that lead to losing hope are alcoholism,
In the fictional story, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian written by Sherman Alexie, a Native American author, describes the problems of a teenager living between two different cultures; one Native American, and the other white. Alexie uses figurative language elements to convince teenagers to be aware and support people living between two worlds in The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. By using these literary elements, Sherman Alexie guides the audience to respond emotionally and act upon about the book’s message. Throughout the story, Alexie uses juxtaposition to show the differences between the two worlds the protagonist lives in.
What do the following words or phrases have in common: “the last departure,”, “final curtain,” “the end,” “darkness,” “eternal sleep”, “sweet release,” “afterlife,” and “passing over”? All, whether grim or optimistic, are synonymous with death. Death is a shared human experience. Regardless of age, gender, race, religion, health, wealth, or nationality, it is both an idea and an experience that every individual eventually must confront in the loss of others and finally face the reality of our own. Whether you first encounter it in the loss of a pet, a friend, a family member, a neighbor, a pop culture icon, or a valued community member, it can leave you feeling numb, empty, and shattered inside. But, the world keeps turning and life continues. The late Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computers and of Pixar Animation Studios, in his 2005 speech to the graduating class at Stanford, acknowledged death’s great power by calling it “the single best invention of Life” and “Life’s great change agent.” How, in all its finality and accompanying sadness, can death be good? As a destination, what does it have to teach us about the journey?
Junior says that he has been to 42 funerals and that, “About 90 percent of the deaths had been because of alcohol.” This shows that Junior should be majorly affected by alcohol because the closest people to him died because of alcohol. His sister, his grandma and Eugene have all died because of alcohol. In almost all Indian homes in his tribe someone drinks in their house. Junior overcame it by getting away from it and going to Rearden where alcoholism is not an issue. The importance of alcoholism in his life is so that he could get away and find hope although most native americans face it in their lives and do not get away from it and it becomes a problem their whole
Alexie, Sherman. The Absolute True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. New York: Hachette Book Group, 2007. Print.
Growing up on a reservation where failing was welcomed and even somewhat encouraged, Alexie was pressured to conform to the stereotype and be just another average Indian. Instead, he refused to listen to anyone telling him how to act, and pursued his own interests in reading and writing at a young age. He looks back on his childhood, explaining about himself, “If he'd been anything but an Indian boy living on the reservation, he might have been called a prodigy. But he is an Indian boy living on the reservation and is simply an oddity” (17). Alexie compares the life and treatment of an Indian to life as a more privileged child. This side-by-side comparison furthers his point that
With the obstacles that happen to Junior, it creates an emotional and traumatic impact on Junior as well as getting the readers hooked to turn the page and keep reading. To begin, in “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” Sherman Alexie describes a moment in Junior's life before he went to the white school. From comparing the death rates and even mentioning the deaths, Alexie shows an emotional impact on Junior from the deaths he has to go through. Alexie writes about how Junior being an Indian has impacted his life.
Identity. Social Injustice. Coming of age. Those are three out of several other themes that are touched on in The Diary of a Part-Time Indian, written by Sherman Alexie.
Losing a basketball game is not such a big deal, but losing a grandmother, a sister, a best friend, and an entire community all in a couple of months in another story. This is what happened to Arnold “Junior” Spirit in the book The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie. In the diary, Junior tells readers about his experience in an Indian reservation. he tells the story of when he transfers from his unprivileged Indian school on the reservation to a privileged white school outside of the reservation. The white school, Reardan, puts Junior in a vulnerable situation as he is the only Indian at the school. Throughout the course of the story, Junior becomes emotional, brave, and determined.
His father will sometimes forget about Junior and never show up to give him a ride home. Junior is then forced to walk or hitchhike all the way back to the reservation. His father also constantly spends all of his money on alcohol, even during the holidays, “.Dad did what he always does when we don’t have enough money. He took what little money we did have and ran away to get drunk” (Alexie 150). Junior’s unfortunate understanding of alcoholism makes him see the world as an unfair place.
Can you imagine growing up on a reservation full of people with no hope? The character Arnold in the book The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie did. In the beginning of the book, Arnold was a hopeless Native American living on a hopeless reservation. In the middle of the book, Arnold leaves the reservation and finds out that his sister left too. By the end of the book, Arnold experiences a lot of deaths of people who mean a lot to him but he still found hope. Arnold becomes a warrior for leaving the reservation and going to Reardan.
Junior sometimes had to go to bed hungry, but that wasn’t the worst thing about being in poverty. He made a diary entry stating, “Poverty= empty refrigerator+empty stomach. And sure sometimes my family misses a meal…and hey, in a weird way, being hungry makes food taste better (8).” This really puts the diary reader in his shoes about how many times he had to go without food and starve while trying to go to sleep, simply because his family couldn’t afford it. But to Junior, being hungry wasn’t necessarily that bad. What he felt was the worst thing about his poverty was that there was no money to save his beloved animal Oscar. Oscar became really ill and Junior wanted to take the animal to the doctor, but the family couldn’t afford it. When it came down to it, his father had to put the dog out of misery, and decided to shoot him. Visualizing someone having to shoot your best animal friend is heart wrenching. Most people have been in Juniors shoes where they have a sick animal, however they never imagine having to shoot it. This comparison of being hungry and losing an animal, shows Junior’s great strength at a young age about going through poverty, and sometimes even hope...