Robert Dusing P:1 E11A Buchanan March 3, 2024. Poverty “Poverty doesn’t give you strength or teach you lessons about perseverance. No, poverty only teaches you how to be poor.”(13) Even though Junior was poor he still tried to find a positive in everything he did in the novel The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie. Junior was born into poverty but he never let that get in the way of his dreams. Though many experience poverty, many strive to do better by persevering through life's struggles. Although Junior was poor, he still was smart, friendly, and hopeful about what was to come. Junior was born into poverty due to his prior generations being poor and never having enough motivation to get out of poverty. Junior's dad was also an alcoholic, which caused their families …show more content…
“But we reservation Indians don’t get to realize our dreams. We don’t get those chances. Or a choice of two. We’re just a little poor. That’s all we are.”(13) A short term effect of poverty that was demonstrated in the book was when Juniors dog Oscar died. When Oscar got sick “We have to take Oscar to the vet” “He’ll be alright,” she said, but she was lying”(9). This just shows how poverty can affect people's lives just by simply not being able to afford going to the vet to heal your sick dog. With Junior's family not being able to afford a vet, his dad had to end up shooting Oscar when he got too sick to take care of. A long term effect of poverty shown in the novel would be Junior not being able to have many choices or chances in his childhood. One example of this could be when a Juniors family is even too poor to simply bring Junior to reardan to go to school. “Three times, I had to walk the whole way home. Twenty-two miles of the road. I got blisters each time.”(87)This shows how Junior had to grow up with little money. This is significant because it shows how being poor can affect many parts of our lives, even the ones we
To conclude, in the book The Absolutely True Diary of A Part-Time Indian an Indian boy shows 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.
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.
The notion of poverty has a very expanded meaning. Although all three stories use poverty as their theme, each interprets it differently. Consequently, it does not necessarily mean the state of extreme misery that has been described in ?Everyday Use?. As Carver points out, poverty may refer to poverty of one?s mind, which is caused primarily by the lack of education and stereotyped personality. Finally, poverty may reflect the hopelessness of one?s mind. Realizing that no bright future awaits them, Harlem kids find no sense in their lives. Unfortunately, the satisfaction of realizing their full potential does not derive from achieving standards that are unachievable by others. Instead, it arises uniquely from denigrating others, as the only way to be higher than someone is to put this person lower than you.
Sherman Alexie makes it clear in The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian that Native Americans believe that they are in no control of their financial situation. As a result of believing this, Native Americans will not try to overcome being in poverty. This creates an infinite circle of impoverishment. The main character of the novel, Junior, makes the hardships of being in poverty clear in this statement:
“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.
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian showed all of the problems that arose in Junior’s journey. From poverty and alcoholism to bulimic semi-girlfriends, he had so many excuses to stop, but the passion of his dreams pushed him forward. Like a hero, Junior continued, determined to do well and build a greater future for himself. An example that showed Junior’s passion for education and desire to achieve his goals was when he threw an old geometry textbook at his teacher: “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…My hopes and dreams floated up in a mushroom cloud” (Alexie, 31). Junior clearly understood his disadvantaged education and he was very upset about it. He longed for a better education. Junior was passionate about education, because it would allow him to achieve his goals and break the depressing pattern he was trapped in. Bravery and determination are caused by passion, and heroes are very passionate about their actions. Passion clearly drove Junior when he walked to school, since he said, “Getting to school was always an adventure…Three times I had to walk all the way home. Twenty-two miles. I got blisters each time” (Alexie, 87). Putting all of this effort into simply going to school, Junior must have had
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
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.
In the beginning of the movie the first word that popped into my head was poverty. I then thought back into my head and started to think about class and the link between poverty and education. “The higher the socioeconomic level of a student’s family, the greater the student’s chances of finishing high school and college” (Gollnick 82). I tried to keep that thought in my mind for the entire film.
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.
What drives people to work hard? Where does determination come from? What causes us to want to make something of our lives? These questions are answered through two prominent themes that run through this book. In reading Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian, the character of Junior helps explore these questions through the power of expectations and hope. These themes give people drive, determination, and passion for their lives. When one or both of these important elements are taken away, that determination, passion, and drive goes with it.
With the obstacles that happen to Junior, it creates an emotional and traumatic impact on Junior as well as getting the readers hooked to turn the page and keep reading. To begin, in “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” Sherman Alexie describes a moment in Junior's life before he went to the white school. From comparing the death rates and even mentioning the deaths, Alexie shows an emotional impact on Junior from the deaths he has to go through. Alexie writes about how Junior being an Indian has impacted his life.
Sherman Alexie grew up on a Spokane Indian reservation, in fact Junior and the story as a whole is based on his childhood; as he also struggled with the effects of poverty, alcoholism, identity, and social injustice. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is follows the life of Junior; a fourteen year old, Spokane Indian boy, who lives on an Indian reservation filled with poverty and addiction. The story begins when Junior decides transfer to a high school called “Reardan,” which is located outside the reservation in a rich white farm town. At first, Junior is a misfit at his new school; he has trouble making friends, mainly because he’s Indian. His transition to Reardan also causes a fight and other conflicts between him and his best friend, Rowdy, who feels betrayed by Junior. In fact, the whole reservation sees him as traitor.
Imagine walking 22 miles to school every single day. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is a book by Sherman Alexie following the life of Arnold, also known as Junior, and his struggles as a poor Native American boy going to a wealthy white school. Being poor throws challenges at Arnold in and outside of school, and he must hold onto hope, new friends, and perseverance to escape the cycle of poverty.
Alex Ren Professor Frater ENL 003 9 June 2024 A Fight for the Self and Beyond In examining the implementation of juxtaposition, symbolism, and metaphors, this paper will discuss the implications of necessity, perseverance, and courage in combating cultural and societal barriers that impede the development of self-identity, as depicted in Sherman Alexie’s novel, “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian”. The story presents the necessity of rejecting cultural restrictions in seeking independence and shifting societal stereotypes to bridge the gap between different people. Courage is the step to be taken in breaking cultural barriers and facing society’s imperfections, while perseverance is the driving force needed to push for social change.