Geneen Roth Appetites Essay

669 Words2 Pages

“You cannot spend your life wanting to be someone else, snipping off pieces of yourself you don't like, and suddenly except, upon reaching a goal, to be confident, self-accepting, rooted like an oak tree in your being” this passage is from the wise author Geneen Roth, in his novel Appetites. Roth’s words show the struggle within many. Today, the world is a place where people are constantly comparing themselves to others. Examples of this are seen everyday in teenage girls. They are prone to compare each others clothing, hairstyles, athletic ability, intelligence, and much more. When they do this they find themselves wanting to disregard or snip off certain unfavorable traits; therefore changing the views of one’s self, and forcing a decrease …show more content…

Arnold is an American Indian living on the reservation. Coming from the rez, Arnold transfers to a predominantly all white school in the city. With little money, a trash bag as a backpack, and very low self-confidence level, Arnold enters his first day at Reardan. Arnold instantly becomes self-critical when he admits he felt like “A loser Indian son living in a world built for winners. “ Clearly, if awarded the opportunity, Arnold would change his fate. He would snip off many of his insecurities, and become self accepting. First, he would most likely change his poverty situation because this causes many problems throughout the story. At one point, Arnold reveals he had rehearsed a speech about losing his wallet if he needed to pay for something, he didn't have the money for. Essentially, Arnold would rather lie, than admit the truth about his poverty. Secondly, Arnold would probably alter his culture, and heritage. In Part Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie, Arnold summarizes his feelings by stating “ I (Arnold) felt half Indian in one place and half white in the other.“ Arnold is obviously struggling with trying to live a double life, with two separate identities. But, instead of becoming fully committed to one world, Arnold feels rooted, stuck, and unable to escape his undesirable

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