Emiley Richardson
Mr. Duncan
English 10 Honors
29 September 2015
Emphasis on Topics The novel The Absolutely True Diary of A Part-Time Indian and the movie Smoke Signals both originated from the mind of a man named Sherman Alexie. The novel and the movie have some similarities, but each similarity has a subtle difference. Some subtle differences between the topics in the novel The Absolutely True Diary of A Part Time Indian, and the movie Smoke Signals is the emphasis the author puts on each of the topics. There are a few topics that are shown in both the novel and the movie such as racism, identity, and loss. These topics are expressed very strongly in the novel but are vague in the movie. In the novel racism is a major problem while, in
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In search for his own true identity Junior faces many problems. Junior feels as if he is an outcast on the rez. He has multiple physical impairments, including water on the brain, which causes him to have poor eyesight, seizures, a stutter, and a lisp. Junior also has a intellectual curiosity that is much stronger than most of his classmates or fellow rez members. This makes him an outcast among his own people. When Junior transferred to Reardon he is the only Native American. He is bullied and picked on as he tried to find out where he fit in. While attending Reardan, Junior feels like he has become two separate people. He feels as if he is Junior the indian and Arnold the white boy. Soon Junior realizes that he will never be truly accepted into one tribe or the other. Through this realization Junior is able to understand that he is a part of both tribes not just one. Junior solved his split personality crisis and finds his own unique identity. While in the movie Smoke Signal the topic of identity is not strongly expressed. A way that the characters, Thomas and Victor expressed this is by going out and trying to find their own identities separate from their parents. They set out on their own path and try to find their own identity as an adult. In the novel the topic of identity was more strongly expressed and straightforward that the reader could see and understand it. While, in the movie the audience may struggle to see how it comes into play with the
First, Junior confronts the dreariness of the Wellpinit school system by deciding to transfer to the Reardan school system. Junior initiates this decision when he throws a book across the room upon discovering his mother’s name inscribed inside the cover. His outburst signifies Junior’s recognition of Wellpinit’s misery and desire to achieve. This ambition drives his decisions throughout the novel and defines his unique character. In addition, Junior discloses his decision to his parents with fearlessness and trepidation. Junior confesses, “I want to transfer schools... I want to transfer to Reardan” (Alexie 45). Junior’s bluntness highlights his fearless personality and validates his ability to confront his problems and tasks head-on. In complex situations, Junior possesses the skills to navigate his future. Finally, Junior’s ability to overcome problems appears in his ability to navigate his way to Reardan each day for school. With the uncertainty of gas money in his family, Junior often finds himself walking or hitchhiking to the school, however
Sherman Alexie’s comedic novel, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, tells the story of a boy, Junior, living on a Native American reservation with his best friend, Rowdy. Rowdy grows up in an abusive
“Alcoholism is an epidemic among Native Americans”(KCTS9). Many people believe that alcoholism is in the Native’s blood, but it is truly just a situational problem. On the reservations a majority of families are poverty ridden, and these families normally stay on the reservation their whole lives. Junior, a 14 year old Spokane Indian, manages to break the cycle of hopelessness and alcoholism in his family by leaving the reservation school to go to the white school in the novel The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. Another character that Sherman Alexie brings to life, Arnold, is the typical alcoholic indian stereotype who allows alcohol to affect the course of his life in the movie Smoke Signals. In both Smoke Signals and The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, author Sherman Alexie shows how alcohol on the reservation can cause accidents, funerals, and heartache.
Mahatma Gandhi once said, “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself with others”. In stories The Absolutely True Diary Of A Part Time Indian and Smoke Signals by Sherman Alexie, the main characters struggle with finding themselves. They spend most of the story going on a journey to find who they really are. Both of these stories are very similar, but also have many differences. True Diary and Smoke Signals are similar but different in characters, plot, and theme.
Picture yourself in a town where you are underprivileged and sometimes miss a meal. In the novel, “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian,” Sherman Alexie wrote the book to show hardships that Native Americans face today. Alexie shows us hardships such as poverty, alcoholism and education. In the novel, Junior goes against the odds to go to an all white school to get a better education to have a better life
It is said by Jeb Bush that, “Our children can achieve great things when we set high expectations for them”. Well, Arnold (Junior) Spirit in the book The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, doesn’t have high expectations, if anything he is expected to fail, in life and in school. But Junior has ambition like none other, that is why he decides to break away from his reservation and attend the racist school Reardan. During his time in Reardan and on the Reservation, Junior rises above the life he was expected to live; he demonstrates ambition through perseverance and finds his identity, which proves humans ability to rise above expectations.
Vast majority of Indian reservations are suffering from chronic poverty. According to American Indian Relief Council, the reservations have been cited as, “Comparable to Third World”, in terms of living conditions. In the novel written by Sherman Alexie, entitled, “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian”, the main character, a fourteen year old, Native American teenager, which belongs to the Spokane tribe named Junior; stated that, “Poverty does not give you strength or teach you lessons about perseverance. No, poverty only teaches you how to be poor.” This indicates that poverty can turn an individual to become a pessimist. On the contrary, poverty is not a destiny. Instead, it is a source of power, an encouragement that through hard work, patience and dedication, a person can succeed in every aspect of life.
Establishing an identity has been called one of the most important milestones of adolescent development (Ruffin, 2009). Additionally, a central part of identity development includes ethnic identity (ACT for Youth, 2002). While some teens search for cultural identity within a smaller community, others are trying to find their place in the majority culture. (Bucher and Hinton, 2010)The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian chronicles Junior’s journey to discovery of self. As with many developing teens, he finds himself spanning multiple identities and trying to figure out where he belongs. “Traveling between Reardan and Wellpinit, between the little white town and the reservation, I always felt like a stranger. I was half Indian in one place and half white in the other” (p.118). On the reservation, he was shunned for leaving to go to a white school. At Reardon, the only other Indian was the school mascot, leaving Junior to question his decision to attend school he felt he didn’t deserve. Teens grappling with bicultural identities can relate to Junior’s questions of belonging. Not only is Junior dealing with the struggle between white vs. Indian identities, but with smaller peer group identities as well. In Wellpinit, Junior is th...
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie is a story of a boy who both runs away and copes with his problems. The boy in the book, Junior, has been bullied all his life and throughout the book he tells his stories using humor to make light of his depressing stories. The humor he uses is what helps him cope with his problems, those problems include: his smaller stature, his friendships, and lastly, death.
When comparing two young adult novels, one would never think that a wizard with a lightning bolt scar on his forehead and a poor Indian basketball player would have anything in common. However, this is not so as The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J. K. Rowling are alike in many aspects. One might ask why a different novel from the Harry Potter series was not used, and the answer is that the main character matures quite a deal through the novel selected and seemed better fit for comparison with Alexie’s novel. Both boys, Arnold Spirit, Jr. and Harry James Potter, encounter some form of bullying. Both must also cope with tragic deaths that have impacted the way
Through history, Native Americans have faced a lot of discrimination and difficulties and there has always been soldiers in confrontation with those struggles. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, written by Sherman Alexie, is a novel about a fourteen year-old Native American boy who lives on the Spokane Indian Reservation. Junior has a number of physical problems due to the fact that he was born with a brain problem, called Hydrocephalus. Furthermore, he struggles with several social problems in his family, on the reservation, and in school. Each time he tries to solve these problems in different ways. Junior encounters many different forms of loss in
In The Absolutely True Diary of A Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, one cause of Junior’s struggle between being an individual and a member of the community is when Junior moves to Rearden which causes him to gain more confidence and the opportunity to a better life. Entering the world with a closed mind is by far the scariest thing an individual can do.
Everyone struggles with identity at one point in their life. It will eventually happen to everyone. Identity is how people see one another, it is one of the most important things about someone. Identity goes hand in hand with experience. One’s experiences can impact one’s identity. In Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, the main character Arnold, also known as Junior, has many health issues, and notably stands out in the crowd. It does not help that he is a poor Indian boy that lives on a Reservation, and that he decides to go to an all white high school. Many of his experiences at school, and on the Reservation impact his identity. Experience is the most influential factor in shaping a person’s identity because
When he transferred to Reardan he immediately stood out from the others. " They stared at me, the Indian boy with the black eye and swollen nose, my going away gifts from rowdy. Those white kids couldn't believe their eyes. They stared at me Like I was Bigfoot or a UFO"( Alexie 56 ). He didn't have a single thing in common with the students at Reardan. Junior is an impoverished Indian, but that's not all there is to him. No one is a part of one group, differences are what make us people not robots. Junior came to a "huge realization", " I realized that, sure I was a Spokane Indian. I belonged to that tribe. But I also belonged to the tribe of American immigrants. And to the tribe of basketball players. And to the tribe of bookworms"( Alexie 217 ). At this point of the story Junior in resolving his inner conflict, by understanding that he can belong to more than one group. Which is a sign of growing up. Getting picked on is the norm for Junior. He said it himself, " Yep, I belong to the Black-eye-of-the-Month Club "(Alexie 4). In the Rez Junior is a nobody. He gets bullied by everyone there, including his "best friend" Rowdy. But Junior never defends himself because, the bullies are bigger and stronger. Junior was transferring from a tough community. Which automatically meant he was associated with criminals and tough guys. Junior knew what the students at Reardan
Throughout the beginning of the book, and into the middle, Junior is trying to establish his intrinsic values to this new community of his. Stereotypes and generalizations have become the easy way to justify the separation of races, classes, and genders. Creating these ideas about the cultures that are different than our own is a dangerous habit that must be broken by this generation so that our children can play in merriment without the fear of being misunderstood on a day-to-day basis. So as Adiche said in her TED talk, stories matter, and to only pay attention to specific stories of one’s life, is to overlook all of the other formative experiences of life. “The problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but that they are incomplete.