Absolutely True Diary Of A Part-Time Indian By Sherman Alexie

Sherman Alexie’s novel, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, tells a story of a young Indian student who makes the decision to attend a Caucasian school than his nearby Indian reservation school. The protagonist, Arnold Spirit Junior, faces many issues in adjusting to his new school as well as the isolation he faces from his tribe members. Similarly, Mark Haddon’s novel, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, tells a story of an autistic teenager who struggles to find a place where he belongs. Christopher Boone, the protagonist of this novel, is a contrast to a “neurotypical” and this makes it difficult for Christopher to fit into places. Both Christopher and Arnold face a journey full of struggles and self-discovery

Arnold is a hydrocephalic, a medical condition that puts him at jeopardy of brain damage and makes him vulnerable to seizures. Arnold’s body is what others use to judge him or to harass him in a verbal or physical way. Due to this, he struggles in building confidence in himself and to realize the potential he truly possesses. Somehow, Arnold’s decision, in which he chose to go to the Reardon school, was not to aid his future in education but to help change his inner mind and to build the confidence he requires to sustain in both worlds, Reardon and the Indian reservation. Nonetheless, Arnold did not earn his confidence by himself, but by the trust and the encouragement, others put in Arnold. For instance, Arnold’s coach sets his belief in Arnold to start the game against Wellpinit, Arnold’s former school. Arnold could not co-operate with the coach’s decision, but the coach mentions,” You can do it” (Alexie 188), several times which lead for Arnold in being a great starter. On the other hand, Christopher’s Asperger’s Syndrome sets an isolation between him and others. He finds it difficult to cope with signals and gestures made from “neurotypicals” causing his social interactions to a limitation. Due to this, it makes it difficult for Christopher to communicate with others. Yet, when Christopher wants to do a certain task, someway he gains the confidence to do it, despite being uncomfortable and feared. In Christopher’s plan to begin an investigation into a murder of the dog, he states, “So talking to the other people in our street was brave. But, if you are going to do detective work you have to be brave, so I had no choice” (Haddon 35). As Christopher overcomes the various trials he faces, he gains confidence in his potentials and slowly becomes more self-reliant. As a result, Christopher travels to London all by himself with the confidence