Paste the prompt you’re addressing here:
8. Often in works of literature, characters have a mixture of positive and negative traits.
From a work of literature you have read in or out of school, select a character who blends positive and negative traits. In a well-developed composition, identify the character, describe how the character demonstrates both positive and negative traits, and explain how the character’s traits are important to the work of literature.
Type your essay here (please still adhere to MLA format):
Rowdy’s Duality
Sherman Alexie’s comedic novel, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, tells the story of a boy, Junior, living on a Native American reservation with his best friend, Rowdy. Rowdy grows up in an abusive
…show more content…
During the course of the story, Junior and Rowdy both tackle the theme of identity. This is especially clear when Junior abandons him and leaves the reservation school to attend a predominately white school in a nearby town. In Alexie’s novel, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, Rowdy is an aggressive character, but he uses this trait in a positive manner as he is also fiercely caring. This synthesis of positive and negative traits reveal that one's flaws can be good, and they allow for the separation and reunification of Rowdy and Junior in the novel. In the novel, Rowdy’s main flaw is his over-aggression which leads to the severance of his relationship with Junior. In the beginning of the novel, Junior, the protagonist and Rowdy’s best friend, is describing Rowdy for the first time. Junior states, “He got into his first fistfight in kindergarten. He took on three first graders during a snowball fight because one of them had thrown a piece of ice. Rowdy punched them out pretty quickly. And then he punched the teacher who came to stop the fight” (Alexie 18). Rowdy’s impetuous actions convey his sizable sense of aggression. He is fueled by revenge because “one of them had thrown a piece of …show more content…
In the beginning of the novel, Junior is attacked and Rowdy responds, “I’m going to kill those bastards” (22). Rowdy is channeling his aggression into a more productive and positive form by protecting Junior. When he says “kill”, it conveys is extreme agitation that is hyperbolized, as it is unlikely he would actually murder someone. However, Rowdy still said it because someone hurt his friend. Therefore, Rowdy swears revenge on the “bastards” who did it; he uses an outdated and hurtful word which again displays his anger. So while he may take his threats of revenge too far, it is all with good intention as he is channeling his aggression into protection because he cares about Junior. So, Rowdy has proved his ability and desire to help Junior in the best way he knows, physically. This will help him in his relinking with Junior. At the end of the novel, Rowdy goes over to Junior’s house to rekindle their friendship. When he arrives, he asks Junior, “So you want to maybe shoot some hoops?” (228). Because of his aggression and fierceness, Rowdy does not convey his compassion with words. Instead, he opts for a competitive and physical bonding experience with Junior. Alexie’s use of diction in the phrase “want to maybe” expresses Rowdy’s nervousness when reuniting with Junior. He does not sound like the usual swaggering Rowdy; he sounds reluctant and afraid of what
In most works of literature there is an “evil” character that has conflicting interests with the protagonist. This issue may arise in multiple forms including, but not limited to, abuse and manipulation. In this paper we will be discussing the similarities and differences between Shakespeare’s character Iago from Othello and J.K. Rowling’s character Voldemort from the Harry Potter series.
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.
Literature is very interesting when there is a change in the protagonist. They can start out bad but turn out good in the end. Being the protagonist of a novel and changing your ways can affect the story and give it a great plot twist. There is a story in literature that contains a person that made a bad decision. A victim of sin, Hester Prynne, emerges as a determined, loving, and strong heroine, living her own life in The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne.
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.
How White people assumed they were better than Indians and tried to bully a young boy under the US Reservation. Alexie was bullied by his classmates, teammates, and teachers since he was young because he was an Indian. Even though Alexie didn’t come from a good background, he found the right path and didn’t let his hands down. He had two ways to go to, either become a better, educated and strong person, either be like his brother Steven that was following a bad path, where Alexie chose to become a better and educated person. I believe that Alexie learned how to get stronger, and stand up for himself in the hard moments of his life by many struggles that he passed through. He overcame all his struggles and rose above them
Sherman Alexie’s character’s often struggle to release themselves from the stereotypes that have been forced upon them. The narrators of these stories all become the Indian that the white man wants them to be in order to tell their stories. This can leave the readers with a sense of discomfort, which is exactly what Alexie wants to do. He wants the reader to feel uncomfortable with these stereotypes so that they know there is something wrong with attaching a group of people to certain standards like that their all alcoholics, live on reservations, and spiritual. He pushes this feeling of discomfort onto his readers to make them aware of social injustice and immorality towards Native Americans and much of this discomfort is projected through the use of dark humor, cultural assimilation, and ceremony.
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
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
In a well written paragraph, analyze which genre, historical fiction or informational text, better develops their ‘characters’. Choose one character to focus on and provide text evidence. Make sure you include evidence from both works to support your reasoning.
Alexie, Sherman. The Absolute True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. New York: Hachette Book Group, 2007. Print.
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.
Sherman Alexie’s novel The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, we follow a boy named Arnold who grew up on an Native American reservation. Like his parents and those that came before him, Arnold is poor. During Arnold’s journey of going to a different school and the struggles of leaving on a reservation, we find many different examples of the use of culture, name, and heritage. The most prominent topic is dreams, and the lack there of. Sherman Alexie utilizes the personal narrative of the main character, Arnold, to address several all these topics. Among those topics lies the significance of dreams and how it closely relates to living in poverty. In the quote “It sucks to be poor, and it sucks to feel that you somehow deserve to be
Sherman Alexie is an author that uses his experiences in life living on the reservation as tool to create his stories. Alexie describes the misery, alcoholism and poverty that shaped the lives of Native Americans living on reservations. Alexie writing emulates hatred and sadness but leaves readers with a sense of understanding, and compassion for characters who are portrayed in apparently hopeless circumstances. Alexie’s creations incorporate characters who struggle to survive a constant battle of their spirit, mind and body by White American society that they live in and their own sense of powerlessness and self-hatred of themselves. Through Alexie’s life he strives to be the
He goes through the struggles of deciding who he wants to be and who he is. He lived on a reservation with his family and attended the school there. He decided one day the only way he would go anywhere in life was if he were to attend Reardan, an all-white school. Here, Junior was forced to find who he really was. Junior experienced more struggles and tragedies than any white student at this school. He had to fight through the isolation he first experienced to building up the courage to play in a basketball championship. I believe that every event Junior wrote about throughout the novel had an important purpose, and even more importantly, could be related to sociology. As I read the novel, I constantly thought about questions such as the following: What importance does he have to write about this? Could I relate this to my life? Who is Alexie’s audience? Could anyone read this novel and learn something from it? By the time I completed the novel, I could answer all of these questions without a
For a time, the main characters in a story, poem, or narrative were easily classified as either being a hero or a villain. A hero would be easy to identify by the traits he'd possess, such as bravery, honesty, selflessness, trustworthiness, courage, leadership, and more. The villain would be easy to identify as well, possessing traits such as maliciousness, deceitfulness, immorality, dark, wishing harm upon others, and more. But what if the character lacked the natural heroic qualities but wasn't a villain either? What if the person displayed personality flaws that would traditionally be associated with a villain, but has heroic intentions? These questions were finally answered with the emergence of the anti-hero in literature.