Absolutely True Diary Of A Part Time Indian Analysis

A Better Life
According to Explore Campaigns more than 1.3 billion people in our world live in extreme poverty. In The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, Arnold Spirit has to prove that he can break the never-ending circle of hardship that is present on his rez. The struggles associated with stepping out of his comfort zone are clearly shown throughout the novel. As the book progresses Junior chooses to go to a rich white school in hopes of a better future, and when he gets there he is treated differently than the other students because he does not look or act the same as them. Middle school is a difficult time for a normal kid, but coming 22 miles everyday from a reservation makes life even more challenging. Arnold

struggles to find his identity while looking for hope, dealing with racism, and living in poverty, which shows the courage needed to achieve success.
As Arnold attempts to get off the reservation, he must look for hope in all situations. In the beginning of the book, Arnold realizes he must get a better education if he wishes to live more comfortably. Upon mentioning this to his parents the novel states,
“Who has the most hope?” I asked….
“White people,” my parents said at the same time.
That's exactly what I thought they were going to say, so I said the most surprising thing they’d ever heard from me. ‘I want to transfer schools,’ …. ‘I want to go to Reardan,’ I said. Reardan is the rich, white farm town that sits in the wheat fields exactly twenty-two miles away from the rez” (45).
Announcing his desire to go to Reardan shows that Arnold has enough courage to leave the reservation in hopes of success in the outside world.

In this situation, the white people symbolize hope and Arnold choosing to go to Reardan shows that he believes that he can be successful in the future. Even though he is taunted by his tribe for being “Disloyal” Arnold sticks with his decision which will help him in the long run to leave the reservation. Secondly, while talking to Penelope Arnold realizes that they both have big hopes and dreams in the world. He shows this when he says, “And I couldn’t make fun of her for that dream. It was my dream, too. And Indian boys weren’t supposed to dream like that. And white girls from small towns weren’t supposed to dream big, either. We were supposed to be happy with our limitation. But there was no way Penelope and I were going to sit still. Nope, we both wanted to fly” (112). By saying there was no way he is going to sit still, Arnold shows he has hope that he will not end up stuck on the reservation like he would be if he just stayed still. He takes the courageous step of getting off his butt and hiking the twenty-two miles to school every day. With the education Arnold receives at the better school his future is much brighter that it would be if he accepted his impoverished lifestyle. Finally, despite being doubted by adults, Arnold makes the school varsity basketball team at a young age and describes his excitement towards his

achievement. He states, “And as they expected more of me, I expected more of myself, and it just grew and grew until I was scoring twelve points a game. AS A FRESHMAN! Coach was thinking I would be an all-state player in a few years. He was thinking maybe I’d play some small-college ball. It was crazy. How often does a reservation Indian kid hear that? How often do you hear the words “Indian” and “college” in the same sentence? Especially in my family. Especially in my tribe” (180). Hearing his name in the same sentence as college gives Arnold hope that his brave decision to switch schools will actually lead him to college and a better life outside of the rez. Also, Arnold's successful sports career is foreshadowing of the prosperity that he will have in his academic and economic life. The fact that he made varsity as a freshman, a rare occurrence, gives Arnold hope that maybe he will make it big in the real world as an Indian. Maintaining hope helps Arnold be brave while fighting to get off the rez.
Throughout the book, Arnold is also faced with Racism. When Arnold is confronted on the playground by Rogers gang, he gets abused with racist comments. Roger says:
“Hey, Chief,” Roger said. “You want to hear a joke?”
“Sure” I said.
“Did you know that Indians are living proof that niggers fuck buffalo?” I felt like Roger had kicked me in the face (64).
Jokes like the one Roger told are examples of what Arnold has to endure every day at school.

Despite, all these racist remarks, he holds his head high and keeps going to Reardan. The metaphor indians are living proof that niggers fuck buffalo is used to show that racist people like Roger treated indians like big fat animals who had no feelings. The perseverance Arnold demonstrates throughout the relentless taunting is what will lead him to a more comfortable lifestyle. Furthermore, racism is also demonstrated towards the middle of the book by Arnold’s teacher when he says, “‘Okay Arnold,’ Dodge said. ‘Where did you learn this fact? On the reservation? Yes, we all know there’s so much amazing science on the reservation.’ My classmates snickered. They pointed their fingers at me and giggled” (86). The racist teacher illustrates what Arnold has to deal with on his quest for an education. Even adults don’t believe Arnold will amount to anything in life, but by overcoming the racism he faces, Arnold has a better shot at success. Letting the teacher drag him down would be letting the people who don’t believe that Indians can get off the rez win. Additionally, Penelope's dad is also racist when Penelope brings Arnold home for the first time to introduce him to her parents. Her dad says “‘Kid, if you get my daughter pregnant, if you make some charcoal babies, I'm going to disown her. I’m going to kick her out of my house and you'll have to bring her home to your mommy and daddy.

You hearing me straight, kid? This is all on you now’” (109-110). Even though Penelope’s dad is a racist and refers to future children as charcoal babies, Arnold continues to keep his head high. Not letting abusive comments affect him is one of the ways Arnold demonstrates bravery. The strength that he builds from being brave is essential for being successful in the times to come. Although the Racist comments are tough to handle, persevering through the pain will bring great things for Arnold's future.
Finally, Arnold has to deal with Living in Poverty. To begin with, while attending the poor rez school Arnold becomes frustrated with the lack of new materials. The book states “I couldn't believe it. How horrible is that? My school and my tribe are so poor and sad that we have to study from the same dang books our parents studied from. That is absolutely the saddest thing in the world” (31). Studying from the same book that his parents studied from shows Arnold just how impoverished his tribe is. In a tribe with so little money Arnold must have the courage to use what little resources he has to go to a better school. If Arnold has just accepted the fact that he was not learning new things on the rez, he would not have as good of an opportunity at a better life. Another example of poverty is shown during Christmas time at the Spirit house. “When the holidays rolled around, we didn’t have any money for presents, so 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” (150). Arnold did not have a great example of a father growing up, his dad just used up all their money that could have helped their family. It takes a great amount of strength to not have a positive example and still have the courage to make a better life. Not letting his dad affect his hard work shows Arnold that by staying strong he can accomplish anything. Towards the end of the book as winter approaches the social gatherings threatens to expose the poverty Arnold lives in. With regards to this Arnold states“In December I took Penelope to the Winter Formal. The thing is, I only had five dollars, not nearly enough to pay for anything-- not even photos, not for food, not for gas, not for a hot dog and soda pop. If it had been any other dance, a regular dance, I would have stayed home with an imaginary illness. But I couldn’t skip Winter Formal. And if I didn’t take Penelope then she would have certainly gone with someone else” (119). The dilemma Arnold faces about wanting to go to the dance and not having enough money is an example of how tough it was to live in poverty. Great fortitude was required to deal with social situations like going to the dance and hiding his lack of money. Alliteration is used when the author says “imaginary illness” to emphasis how Arnold must lie in order to cover up his family's poverty. Despite the burden of his poorness, Arnold keeps making the effort to go to school in order to be able to move on to better things in life. As you can see Arnold has many struggles with poverty throughout the book, but it makes him stronger in the long run and more able to accomplish greater things.
All in all, Arnold has to face many obstacles on his quest to leave the reservation in search of a better future. He must keep finding the positives in all tough situations that come his way in order to maintain the hope needed to leave the rez. Also, he must live with being put down by racist remarks. Although it is tough to be made fun of for his race, Arnold becomes stronger in the long run because of it. Finally, Arnold deals with living in poverty, which makes it difficult to get a better education because he does not have the same resources or privileges as some of the other kids. Tough times are inevitable for all, but the ones with the strength to overcome them are the people who prosper.