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Topics of the absolutely true diary of a part time indian
The absolutely true diary of a part time indian essay
Topics of the absolutely true diary of a part time indian
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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 …show more content…
Arnold describes himself as belonging to the “Black-Eye-of-the-Month Club” (Alexie 4). He talks about how his stutter, lisp, and brain condition make him a target of bullying by his own reservation people, the people that should have his back. Harry faces most of his bullying issues from the Slytherin house, the archrival to the Griffindor house. Draco Malfoy, the prodigy of Slytherin and Harry’s nemesis, is constantly targeting Harry, whether it would be directly or otherwise. For example, Draco torments Harry after fainting in the presence of a dementor, literally saying, “Is it true you fainted? I mean, you actually fainted” (Rowling). Malfoy also tries his best to get Hagrid, the groundskeeper and current teacher, fired from his position. This is vital to Harry, as Hagrid is seen as a vital male role model in Harry’s …show more content…
Junior, Arnold’s nickname in the novel, must learn to deal with the death of Oscar (his beloved dog), his sister, his dad’s best friend (who was another father figure to him), and his grandmother. Out of all these deaths, the one that impacted him most was his grandmother’s; she was the person he could confess anything to without feeling incompetent about his feelings. She also taught him one of life’s most important lessons – tolerance. Grandmother Spirit’s last words were “Forgive him,” referring to the drunk driver that hit her (Alexie 157). Junior is absolutely awed by this stating, “Wow. My grandmother’s last act on earth was a call for forgiveness, love, and tolerance” (Alexie 157). Harry must deal with death in a different way than Junior. To explain, his parents died protecting him when he was a baby from the evil antagonist known as Voldemort. Harry has been plagued by this his whole childhood, because he is famously known as The Boy Who Lived. This has only intensified in this novel as Harry learns of his godfather, Sirius Black, who was falsely accused of handing Harry’s parents over to Voldemort; he was punished by being sent to the wizard prison called Azkaban, hence the title of the book. Throughout the novel, however, Harry learns that Sirius was a loyal friend to his parents and realizes that Sirius is the only person closest to family he has left. It turns out Harry saves Sirius’ life by finally utilizing the
Over the course of the past semester we have read several books about Native American’s and their culture. The two books I found to be the most interesting were Perma Red by Debra Magpie Earling, and The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie. In each story we see a young person from a reservation dealing with their Native Identities, Love, Loss and everything in between. Both of these novels have their similarities and their differences, but I believe they both offer insight into Native American culture that would be hard to come across elsewhere.
Have you ever wanted something really badly, but couldn’t afford it? This is a common occurrence, but what about food? Have you ever went to be hungry because you couldn’t afford to eat? Unfortunately, Junior, the main character in the book, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, felt exactly this way for food. Even though Junior didn’t have as many resources as the other “white kids,” he still chose to look at the positives. This novel shows that even in times of great hardship, people can still choose to have hope and look at the good in their lives.
He discusses demise in the primary sentence, saying, “The marvelous thing is that it’s painless” (Hemingway 826). As the story creates, Harry as often as possible specifies his desire to pass on or the way he feels that passing is close now. “You can shoot me.” (Hemingway 826) and “I don’t want to move” (Hemingway 827), and “There is no sense in moving now except to make it easier for you” (Hemingway 827) and “Can’t you let a man die as comfortably as he can without calling him names? “ (Hemingway 827). It sounds as though Harry is surrendering, not so much, since he is a weakling, despite the fact that his wife calls him that, yet more since he feels that, it is more agreeable for him right now to set down and pass on as opposed to sitting tight for a truck or plane that will most likely never arrive. During the rest of the story, Harry has several moments when he feels the proximity of
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.
“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.
No matter race, background or time period, every child goes through the drastic change from childhood to adulthood that we know of as “coming of age.” Since the topic of coming of age is so widespread and relatable, it is a very common theme in novels. In fact, many American classics follow the archetype known as loss of innocence, which displays the change in views and values of a child during this time period. Childhood is hard enough how it is, but during certain time periods and in certain locations, it can be exceptionally difficult; an example of this stressed hardship is the Deep South during the times of segregation and The Great Depression. One American classic that follows this archetype is To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee; in this narrative, she shows a dramatic change in Scout and Jem’s understanding of courage and empathy with the help of their father, Atticus, as they mature in the Deep South.
Growing up as an only child, I was everything to my parents. They were always overprotective of me and wanted to be sure that I was never in danger. When I graduated high school, they expected me to stay in my hometown, living with them, to further my education at the local University Center. Unfortunately, despite what they wanted, I chose to be independent by going away for college. In The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, Mary is in the same position I am. It is stated, "Ever since the Spokane Indian reservation was founded back in 1881, nobody in my family had ever lived anywhere else"(Alexie 89). Not caring about her family 's history, Mary decides to pack up and leave the reservation. She has a vision for
“I’m never going to act like my mother!” These words are increasingly common and yet unavoidable. Why is it that as children, we are able to point out every flaw in our parents, but as we grow up, we recognize that we are repeating the same mistakes we observed? The answer is generational curses: un-cleansed iniquities that increase in strength from one generation to the next, affecting the members of that family and all who come into relationship with that family (Hickey 13). Marilyn Hickey, a Christian author, explains how this biblically rooted cycle is never ending when she says, “Each generation adds to the overall iniquity, further weakening the resistance of the next generation to sin” (21, 22). In other words, if your parents mess up you are now susceptible to making the same mistakes, and are most likely going to pass those mistakes to your children. In The Absolute True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, Sherman Alexie shows the beauty of hope in the presence of a generational curse. Even though the elders are the ones who produce the curses, they are also the ones who attempt to break Junior from their bond forming mistakes. The curses that Arnold’s elders imprint on him lead him to break out of his cultural bonds and improve himself as a developing young man.
He grunts, swigs from small flasks of booze in order to insulate himself from demons, and takes Harry under his wing, a place that turns out to be less safe than the schoolboy imagines. For much of the film it seems that he's going to be another Hagrid - a growler who turns out to be a softie - but when the secret of his identity does emerge, it's more foul than most audiences new to the story will expect.
Just to quickly run through the two previous books; Harry Potter is a wizard, who’s parents were killed by the worst dark wizard ever known. The reason why Harry Potter is still around, is because Lord Voldemort failed to kill Harry. His spell hit Harry, but then backfired on Voldemort taking all of his powers with him. Harry is so famous for two things. Withstanding the powers of Lord Voldemort, and, taking him back in to the underworld in hiding. In the first book, Harry receives a letter from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He’s eventually allowed to go, and spends the next six months there learning magic, getting into trouble, and trying to solve mysteries of his past, and the school. In the second book, Harry goes back to his second year at Hogwarts, and gets into more trouble, figures out many astonishing mysteries and learns loads more magic. His best friends in the two books consist of Ron and Hermione (two of his fellow wizard students) and Hagrid the gamekeeper who was expelled from Hogwarts but allowed a job as the gamekeeper.
Growing up is a challenge that every child has to face at some point in their lives. When a child grows up, he comes to the realization that the world isn’t a pretty place, and everything that seems perfect on top may hide a deeper, uglier truth right beneath the surface. A child loses his blissful naiveté and finally sees the world for what it truly is. First the child is hurt and terrified, but he eventually learns how to deal with the shocking revelation. Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, is a classic example of a Bildungsroman, or a literary genre that focuses on the protagonist’s psychological and moral growth. To Kill a Mockingbird describes two young children’s growth in a society where prejudice is the norm and radical views are frowned upon. These two children, Jem and Scout Finch, are forced to grow up much too quickly due to the jolting events they witness and the people they meet. Fortunately, Atticus Finch, their fair, wise, and levelheaded father, guide the children onto the correct paths in life and help them make sense of the complicated and hypocritical society they live in, Maycomb County, Alabama. To Kill a Mockingbird marks the progress in these two children’s development as they face new experiences in life. The changes these children go through repeatedly reflect the central theme of the book: the innocence of good people destroyed; good and evil can coexist and things aren’t always what they appear to be.
Growing up happens during the magical times of freedom given to children in their early years. Wise parents discern when freedom is necessary for their children, are very clear about their expectations, and determine fitting consequences for actions out of line. Harper Lee personifies this role of a wise and caring parent in the father figure of her novel To Kill a Mockingbird. Atticus Finch, a character made to mirror the author’s own father, is a lawyer and a well-respected citizen of his Southern Alabama town. Through Atticus, Harper Lee establishes a standard of good and evil, developing the theme of morality during his interactions. Atticus establishes right from wrong in most every relationship, especially with his children, his friends and family, and his occupational ties. These relationships come to the reader filtered through the childlike lens of Scout Finch, Atticus’s young daughter, as she begins to encounter the weighty topics of the adult world.
At the start of the book, Harry was forty-seven and was upset over the belief that he had two separate being that made up his soul, a wolf, and a man, that he decides to kill himself at the age of fifty. After being given a book that spoke about the Steppenwolf, and explained that people are not singular or even two being, they are much more than that. Harry refused the idea and claims that the book did not know him. After being rude to a professor's wife, he believed his wolf side has beaten what was left of his humanity and planned to kill himself early. He stopped at a bar and met a woman named Hermine, who made it her duty to open him up to life. With her help Harry learned to stop analyzing everything and to love life and what it has to offer. Towards the end of the book, at Fancy Dress Ball Harry allowed himself to be immersed in the dancers and eventually was led from their to the school of laughter, where he learns that laughter is the most important thing to help people get through life (Hesse, Steppenwolf). Throughout the plot, Sartre’s belief that people need to take responsibility for their own lives is shown, as Harry’s failure of it almost leads to his suicide, yet his acceptance of it saves him (Baker, “Existentialist of Note”). Harry lets himself float through life lonely and depressed, unwilling to change in fear of losing his independence. Yet Hermine
As a young girl, J.K.Rowling was always closest with her mother whom she dearly loved. When her mother later died the author was heartbroken ad stricken with grief. The death of Anne Rowling had a huge impact on the themes of the Harry Potter series and most evidently Deathly Hallows. Due to her mother’s death and her own depression, Rowling needed to find an outlet to accept the death of loved ones. She created an outlet through her written work. In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, many beloved characters meet their end. The real magic of these deaths was not the death itself but the way the characters who loved the dead dealt with the loss. Each went on to learn to accept the loss and live a happy life without the ones who they had once loved. This is clearly shown in the way Harry learns to live with himself. The scene in which Harry is charging forth to confront his own death and prevent the death of his loved ones displays this well. He extracts the resurrection stone and is greeted by his family and friends who are already dead. Readers at this point in the novel are clearly shown exactly how many people Harry has lost and that he has accepted this and is ready to confront his own fate because of his love for them. Just like Rowling, Harry later finds happiness in life, and even provides comfort for Teddy Lupin who was orphaned early in life just as Harry
Harry eventually learns that he narrowly escaped death because his parents, especially his mother Lily, were prepared to die for him because of their love for him. He was always Voldemort’s intended victim. His father, James, was killed trying to give his mother time to escape with their child. Lily was even given the chance to stand aside and be spared while Voldemort completed the task that he came to Godric’s Hollow, the Potter’s home for. She sacrificed herself to protect her only beloved son, which en...