An Analysis Of Sherman Alexie's The Absolutely True Diary Of A Part-Time Indian

A passage from, “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” by Sherman Alexie, contrasts Junior’s memory of climbing a giant pine tree next to Turtle Lake with Junior’s journey through his ninth grade year. Junior’s memory of tree-climbing reveals his perspective on the environment, the nature of his friendship with Rowdy, and his response to challenging opportunities, reflecting his journey through his 9th grade year.

Junior’s memory of tree-climbing reveals his conflicting feelings of wanting to escape his broken down hometown yet appreciating his life on the reservation as he contemplates his move to the thriving Reardon. Junior feels forever trapped on the reservation without a chance of another life. As seen, when Rowdy and Junior are on top of the pine tree “[they saw their] entire world up there.” Junior’s “entire world” was restricted to that reservation and as a result of his lack of knowledge about other parts

of the world, he felt that there was no chance of escaping the reservation. Consequently, Junior realized he had to leave the reservation for a more successful life.

Furthermore, when tree-climbing, Junior concludes that the great pine tree was “the only reservation skyscraper.” The phrase the “only...skyscraper” shows how Junior sees nothing else on the reservation come close to the size of the pine tree alluding to his fear of being exposed to other parts of your surroundings that he couldn’t necessarily see when on the ground. Since “skyscrapers” are usually referred to as entities that allow you to see the overall beauty of your surroundings, Junior’s perspective of the reservation is seen to change to an appreciation of its beauty. Even though Junior realizes there is no reason for him to continue staying on the reservation, he starts to appreciate the beauty of the reservation. Junior could see “[his] entire world, at that moment, [it] was green and golden and perfect.” Junior saw the reservation as “appalling”, but after climbing to the top of the tree, he becomes aware of how beautiful and perfect the reservation appeared. The fact that the

reservation was described as "golden," an association to gold itself which is considered universally beautiful and a symbol of prosperity, and "perfect," or lacking any flaws, portrays Junior’s changing perspective toward his environment from seeing it as poor and insignificant to beautiful and perfect. Junior is bittersweet about leaving his hometown, but feels he has to leave it behind to find a greater purpose in his life.
In addition to the influence of his environment, Junior is also pressured by Rowdy. Even though Rowdy teases Junior at times, they still keep a strong friendship built on humor. This behavior reflects changes in their friendship during Junior’s 9th grade journey. Rowdy teases Junior past a point where he is comfortable. Before the tree climb, Rowdy calls Junior a “tree fag” for loving the tree. The word “fag” makes Junior feel uncomfortable because his best friend, someone very close to him, says something extremely offensive to him . Junior doesn’t react to Rowdy’s comment because he knows that Rowdy won’t change the way he acts towards other people. Along with this uncomfort, Rowdy frequently makes suggestions that Junior follows all of Rowdy’s suggestions without disagreement. Rowdy tells Junior, “they should climb that monster [tree]”; however, Junior, knowing they could get hurt, still climbs the tree. Junior had the choice to say no, but he didn’t argue with Rowdy because he thought if he did, it would ruin their friendship. Junior thought it would ruin their friendship because no too Rowdy suggestions, Rowdy will get bored of Junior.However, even with these problems, they are still such good friends as seen in the description of Junior being “the only one who [knows] how to make [Rowdy] laugh.” The significance of Junior being the "only one" who understands Rowdy shows they need each other and are attached to each other. Junior leaving for Reardon shows how his friendship with Rowdy isn’t strong enough to make him want to stay on the reservation.
Junior’s determination and effort to face his challenges help him overcome his limitations of just dealing with his problems to actively trying to fix them. When Junior says that “[he] couldn’t back down,” it reveals that he pushes in opposition of his obstacles which shows his attempts to overcome his limitations. However, even though Junior tries to push himself past his limitations, he still knows when to stop as seen when Junior and Rowdy stopped climbing even though “[they were] not [at] the summit, but close enough to call it the summit.” Junior didn’t get to the top yet was still proud to get “close enough,” ultimately showing Junior’s attempts to challenge himself but to the limits of his abilities. Junior expects his problems will delay themselves. While climbing the tree “[junior keeps] expecting one of [the branches] to snap.”
Junior’s life-changing journey through the 9th grade is a culmination of Junior’s realization of escaping the reservation yet his unique outlook on its beauty, along with his strong bond with Rowdy and his attempt on fixing his own limitations. Juniors’s feelings towards his experiences changes as he realizes that his life was important.