Sherman Alexie Indian Alcoholism

In the novel The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, he conveys numerous different examples of how alcohol controls many of the Indians lives who reside on the reservation. In the book, it illustrates how a multitude of Indians who live on the Spokane Indian Reservation are impoverished; they live a life that to many of the readers are vastly different. For example, the Indians barely have enough money to eat on a regular basis. Now, the people who live on the reservation need a way to relieve stress from their daily life, and they end up alleviating stress by drinking an abundance of alcohol. The problem is when a number of the adults on the reservation drink too, much they end up hurting not only themselves but

People give him this characteristic because he is not afraid to fight people; although, what most people do not know is he is considered to be the toughest kid for a different reason. When his father gets drunk, he becomes agitated and aggressive. Rowdy reveals to the reader how, “His father is drinking hard and throwing hard punches, so Rowdy and his mother are always walking around with bruised and bloody faces (Alexie 16)”. The example illustrates, how alcohol has an indirect effect on kids in the reservation. Rowdy’s rugged behavior is partially due to the fact of how his father treats him; Rowdy builds up anger and releases it by getting into fights/conflicts with other people. Alcohol does not only affect the people who consume it but also have an effect on the next generation and the surrounding people. If Rowdy grew up in a household whose parents did not have a drinking/abuse problem, than Rowdy would most likely be a better child and have a improved future. He gets suspended from school, in fights with kids/teachers, and this affects his chance to get an education. In order to get out of the poverty cycle on the reservation, one must get a sufficient job which requires attending college. Since Rowdy has trouble with conduct in and out of school, he is most likely not going to attend college and therefore will stay in the poverty cycle. Rowdy's future could most likely be changed if he was not brought up in a

When people are drunk, they are unable to perform daily activities and are not competent to reason normally. Driving laws do not allow people who are under the influence of alcohol drive due to the fact, that they are not able to respond normally, but people on their reservation do not always follow these rules. They are careless and this influences their decisions which have damaging effects: “ In fact, last week, she [his grandmother] was at the Spokane Tribal Community Center. When she was struck and killed by a drunk driver (Alexie 157,158)”. Juniors grandmother was killed by a Indian who was under the influence of alcohol, for this incident could have been avoided if that person was simply not driving while under the influence. Additionally, Juniors grandmother had never drank in her life as she knew what it did to people. So, why should someone else’s mistake of drinking and driving have an affect on her. It should not, but the problem is with alcohol the brain is not able to work properly and this leads to mistakes. Junior has been to 44 funerals at the age of 15 and a significant number of those are related to alcohol. If the community wants to have a better life, they need to understand that alcohol has a negative effect by putting people at risk to be seriously hurt or even killed. Overall, alcohol has negative effects on people and their surroundings.