“The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” is a humorous and intuitive novel written by Sherman Alexie. The reader gets an insight into the everyday life of a fourteen year old hydrocephalic Indian boy named Arnold Spirit, also referred to as Junior Spirit. He is living on the Spokane Indian reservation and is seen as an outcast by all the other Indians, due to his medical condition. Against all odds Arnold expands his hope, leaves his school on the reservation and faces new obstacles to obtain a more promising future at a school off the reservation. The novel is told through Arnold’s voice, thoughts, actions and experiences. Alexie incorporates one point of view, different themes and settings, such as poverty, friendship, Spokane and Reardan within Arnold’s journey to illustrate the different hardships he must overcome to gain a higher education.
The entire novel is written in the point of view of the main character Arnold. The reader would feel as though they are having a conversation with a close friend and is then better able to relate and sympathize with Arnold’s struggles and accomplishments. For example, Arnold begins telling the reader his story by stating, “I was born with water on the brain.” (Alexie, 1) Explaining his medical condition in the beginning of the novel allows the reader to easily understand why Arnold may react differently to certain social situations. However, his medical condition also acts as an anchor allowing the reader to get closer to Arnold’s character. Without a personal connection readers may not relate or comprehend any of Arnold’s experience. Using the first person view perspective from Arnold’s character gave Alexie an advantage and makes the novel more appealing to readers.
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... his only friend in the world. Throughout the novel Rowdy is furious at Arnold for leaving the reservation. Despite the disagreement Arnold is still able to have some attentive conversations with Rowdy, which shows that no matter what, Rowdy will always be Arnolds friend. At a point in time, Arnold and Rowdy become best friends once again. This friendship between Arnold and Rowdy that Alexie has integrated into the novel illustrates a hardship between personal companions and personal prosperity, perfectly.
Hardship is everywhere but Sherman Alexie’s “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian” is an amusing and intelligent novel that clearly provides the reader with perfect examples of poverty and friendship on an Indian reservation. Alexie incorporates those examples through the point of view and experiences of a fourteen year old boy named Arnold Spirit Jr.
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.
Indian culture has been disappearing for centuries since the Native Americans were forced to migrate from their original homes. In the book, The Absolutely True Diary of A Part-Time Indian, an Indian boy displays 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. The Native American boy Arnold is able to show toughness, courageousness and the capability to overcome obstacles, by illustrating comics and playing basketball. For Arnold, drawing comics and playing basketball is a way to build his character and self-esteem. Without the freedom in writing comics and the self-confidence builder in playing basketball, Arnold would act
“But we reservation Indians don’t get to realize our dreams. We don’t get those chances.” (p. 13) In The Absolutely True Diary of A Part Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie, Junior, the narrator, is an Indian teenage boy living on a reservation, where no one's dreams or ideas are heard. The Indians on the reservation feel hopeless because they are isolated and disenfranchised. Junior learns how to cope with his hopelessness and breaks through the hopeless reservation life to find his dreams. Examining his journey provides important examples for the reader.
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.
Imagine being put in a horrible situation that one has very little chance of escaping from. This happens to people all over the world and even occurs in Canada and the United States. Often this inability to escape horrible things is faced by many Native American populations. Sherman Alexie the author of The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian made this very clear through plot, characters and the themes. Certain points in the novel stuck out which clearly represented how hard it is for Native Americans to escape poverty. Native Americans often believe that they have no control over being in poverty so they do not try to get themselves out of it. When Native Americans try to overcome poverty, they are often unsupported by tribe members and considered outcasts. Finally money on the reservation is often mismanaged, so the people of the reservation are unable to benefit from it. Although some people believe that being born into a Native American tribe has advantages the reality is that it is often near impossible for Native Americans to escape the poverty their reservations are plagued with.
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
Adolescents experience a developmental journey as they transition from child to adult, and in doing so are faced with many developmental milestones. Physical, cognitive, social and emotional changes are occurring during this tumultuous stage of life, and making sense of one’s self and identity becomes a priority. Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian addresses the challenges of adolescence in an engaging tale, but deals with minority communities and cultures as well.
Alexie, Sherman. The Absolute True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. New York: Hachette Book Group, 2007. Print.
Often at time’s society forces us to make choices we would rather not make, mainly because one is different or a different color. The Absolutely True Diary Of A Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, is about how a teenage Indian who lives on Spokane reserve moves to a white school and gets shamed for being Indian, for making this decision his tribe has disowned him for leaving the rez and moving to the city. The main ideas are the rez, school, and family/friends. Jr’s dad is a drunk, but he loves his son. He has never missed a basketball game,Dad is an alcoholic who will disappear for days to drink. Rowdy is the toughest kid on the rez and all the other kids are afraid of him, but he always protects Junior from bullies. In return Junior helps
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
“The Absolutely True Diary Of an Part Time Indian” by Sherman Alexie is a novel in which the Main Character is searching for hope. Through the Use of Dialogue, Alexie’s novel reveals that in times of drought hope can be always found.
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 it helps gain confidence, it teaches new things, and it changes one’s outlook on the world.
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.
The author, Sherman Alexie, is extremely effective through his use of ethos and ethical appeals. By sharing his own story of a sad, poor, indian boy, simply turning into something great. He establishes his authority and character to the audiences someone the reader can trust. “A little indian boy teaches himself to read at an early age and advances quickly…If he’d been anything but an Indian boy living in the reservations, he might have been called a prodigy.” Alexie mentions these two different ideas to show that he did have struggles and also to give the audience a chance to connect with his struggles and hopefully follow the same journey in becoming something great. By displaying his complications and struggles in life with stereotypical facts, Alexie is effective as the speaker because he has lived the live of the intended primary audience he is trying to encourage which would be young Indian
Adjusting to another culture is a difficult concept, especially for children in their school classrooms. In Sherman Alexie’s, “Indian Education,” he discusses the different stages of a Native Americans childhood compared to his white counterparts. He is describing the schooling of a child, Victor, in an American Indian reservation, grade by grade. He uses a few different examples of satire and irony, in which could be viewed in completely different ways, expressing different feelings to the reader. Racism and bullying are both present throughout this essay between Indians and Americans. The Indian Americans have the stereotype of being unsuccessful and always being those that are left behind. Through Alexie’s negativity and humor in his essay, it is evident that he faces many issues and is very frustrated growing up as an American Indian. Growing up, Alexie faces discrimination from white people, who he portrays as evil in every way, to show that his childhood was filled with anger, fear, and sorrow.