Sherman Alexie Indian Themes

In The absolutely true diary of a part time Indian by Sherman Alexie, Junior often speaks his mind through his drawings. Junior’s emotions are often portrayed in either cartoon or realistic drawing. Some say that one’s emotions can often be depicted from the art that he/she creates. In Sherman Alexie’s novel, Junior often draws things in cartoons, such as his best friend beating someone up or a basketball dunk, while on few occasions he draws things in a realistic fashion such as his father looking cool on his motorcycle. On every occasion in which Junior has drawn himself he has depicted himself in the cartoon. Many people have argued that it could be that he looks down upon himself due to his mental and physical disabilities. I think junior

has a drawing style for himself that is now very habitual and is just not really his upmost priority to change due to him being fairly contempt in his current situation.

I can also relate to how he views himself. In the past he sort of looked down upon himself because he was disabled and knew that he would always be a step below others. But now he sees more than the stumpy face and misshapen features, and rather the fact that he is very bright with a possible future outside the reservation, still used to the way he portrayed himself in his drawings where he looked like a goof, just not changing because he sought no need to.
Junior’s emotions are very fluctuant throughout the novel. These emotions can best be depicted from the drawings that he makes. Whether it be a cartoon or a realistic piece, Junior finds a way to sort of vent his feelings through his artwork. Often he will draw a cartoon to show how he gallantly dunked a basketball on his ex-best

friend, or how he stumbled around the dance floor in his dad’s suit. Those cartoons are a way of showing his happiness, sadness, or even embarrassment. Even from a brief look at some of Junior’s drawings, it is pretty easy to determine how he feels about a certain scenario from the way the cartoon is etched. But, sometimes it’s not as easy, because Junior does not always draw in cartoons. When something really big happens he will change his art style. When his grandmother died, she was peacefully depicted in her tennis shoes and handkerchief. Due to this, one may draw to conclusion that Junior must feel as though some things have a bigger meaning to him. He might look up to his dad sometimes, when his dad is not black out drunk or late to pick him up from school. He once drew him on his motorcycle to show how at that time, he was a role model to Junior, enough to have well-crafted locks of hair instead of the average scribbles from a cartoon. On the other hand, he may not always think someone or something is great enough for him to put more than minimal effort into a drawing, but there are exceptions, for example Junior cares deeply about rowdy as a friend, yet he has only been depicted in cartoon form. This is not because he values their friendship less that he views how cool his dad is on a motorcycle. Rather a different respect for that person, in this case Rowdy.
Now look at Junior. The fact that he hasn’t been depicted in the book in the realistic style has posed questions to some readers. Why has he only drawn himself as a cartoon? I think it’s because he is used to not thinking much of himself. Early on in the novel the narrator Junior states that “I feel important with a pen in my hand. I feel like I might grow up to be somebody important. An artist…” (Alexie 6).In Junior’s mind, everything up to this point has been a hodgepodge of stereotypes, racial slurs, and disappointment. If it weren’t for drawing, junior might not be the person he is right now. Drawing seems to be the one thing that keeps him going. For the case of drawing himself, he had always thought because of his disabilities and flaws, people would look down on him. He himself also thought he was lower and more stupid than the rest so what better way to illustrate this in a drawing is to make a cartoon which depicts a floppy mess, so he drew himself acting silly and tripping his own feet because that’s how he thought others thought about him. Later on however, he starts making new friends outside of Rowdy Later on however, he starts making new friends outside of Rowdy because the people at Reardon aren’t as condescending as the kids at Wellpoint. But why has still only drawn himself in his cartoons? He has friends, an almost girlfriend, and has plenty of reasons to be happy. I think it’s because of force of habit. There hasn’t been any crazy life changing events that give him a new perspective on how he views himself. Thus the cartoons and wacky drawings suffice. On the contrary, many others say that he still looks down upon himself. Even though he has friends, they are not enough to make him happy. He still thinks he is the lowest on the totem pole. This, in my opinion is very untrue because on many occasions he exclaimed that he was more than happy, even thrilled to be where he was. During the basketball game against Rowdy, Junior proclaimed the extreme thrill he got when he shot a basket on Rowdy. He stated “My teammates told me later that is was grinning like an idiot as I flew down the court” (192). So that and many other examples prove the theory wrong.
Junior has developed a considerable amount since the beginning of the novel. Such that his personality is different enough to be seen in his artwork. Before, Junior just went through with his head down because he was almost depressed from his defections to his body and mind. Having a slur and a stutter could cause unwanted attention in his eyes. In his artwork, Junior often over dramatized the situations he was in. When Junior was trying out for the basketball team he imagined himself as a wobbly giant tumbling down the court when most likely in reality he was just normally dribbling down the court, but he was imagining his height a little over the top. When he was at the school dance with Penelope, Junior had to wear his dad’s old plaid disco jacket. He thought he was the biggest loser in the whole gym, but once he had come to terms with his situation and noticed how many people were jealous of his pretty date and his cool retro suit, he automatically started glorifying it. I’m starting to think that many of the silly drawings that Junior drew of himself don’t really replicate how he actually is. Almost every time he looked crazy in a cartoon that he drew was an over dramatization. Some could say that Junior ought to draw himself differently, but those are the ones who think his cartoons are his sense of belittling himself. I don’t think that way. I think that Junior’s cartoons are a way for him to express his mind through his favorite hobby because he shouldn’t have a reason anymore. Junior simply draws himself for the sake of having fun with his favorite pastime.
In conclusion I have determined that Junior does not draw cartoons of him tripping over his feet to belittle himself.

Rather he does if for comedic relief in a sense. He understands his flaws and has come to terms with them. So he draws goofy cartoons of himself and friends because drawing is his passion and it helps poke fun at his flaws to help him forget about his troubles. Now on the subject of him drawing himself in cartoons, why hasn’t he drawn himself in the realistic style that he occasionally uses? To summarize what was stated earlier, he sees no reason to. He is relatively satisfied with his current situation. He has more than he had previously in Wellpoint. He also often over dramatizes the cartoons that me makes. The situations they depict are often to the extreme. Finally I think there is a possibility that in the future Junior may feel the need to make a scene in which he himself is drawn in the realistic fashion. It all depends on his mood about the situation and how significant it is to

him.
Alexie, Sherman, and Ellen Forney. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian. New York: Little, Brown, 2007. Print.