In The Absolutely True Diary of A Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, one cause of Junior’s struggle between being an individual and a member of the community is when Junior moves to Rearden which causes him to gain more confidence and the opportunity to a better life. Entering the world with a closed mind is by far the scariest thing an individual can do. The struggle between being an individual and a member of the community results in Junior moving to Rearden. Junior comes home from school after opening a textbook to realize it was his mom’s in school. This is when Junior realizes he wants to go to Rearden. “who has the most hope?” “white people” page (Alexie 45). For years all junior ever wanted was to be respected and have more hope in life. He got this opportunity by open enrolling at Rearden. …show more content…
One result of Junior’s struggle is him gaining the opportunity to a better life.
After growing up with a bunch of alcoholics and not knowing his worth in the world Junior finally decides to take the chance to find his place. “But, hey, I was kind of using her, too. After all, suddenly I became popular.”page (Alexie 110). The experiences Junior have faced at Rearden have made him stronger and more confident. He found his worth by going to Rearden and making new friends. Another result of Junior’s struggle is him gaining more confidence. Growing up on the rez and being born with a stutter Junior was already on the bottom of the food chain. He was scared to take the extra step until he tells his parents he wants to go to Rearden. “ You can do it.” Coach said. “ I can do it.” “You can do it.” “I can do it.”(Alexie 149). After being knocked in the head by his best friend in front of all his friends, Junior realizes he just faced his biggest fear. This was his rematch against Rowdy during the final game. He stood up to Rowdy which gave him the confidence he’s always
wanted. In conclusion Junior gains more confidence and the opportunity to a better life by moving to Rearden. He finally gained the hope and strength he always wanted. He made new friends he never thought he’d ever find, and he found his true happiness. Many people can relate to this because standing up for yourself is not always the easiest thing to do. Junior was nervous but decided to take the extra step which resulted in him having the life he had always wanted.
First, Junior confronts the dreariness of the Wellpinit school system by deciding to transfer to the Reardan school system. Junior initiates this decision when he throws a book across the room upon discovering his mother’s name inscribed inside the cover. His outburst signifies Junior’s recognition of Wellpinit’s misery and desire to achieve. This ambition drives his decisions throughout the novel and defines his unique character. In addition, Junior discloses his decision to his parents with fearlessness and trepidation. Junior confesses, “I want to transfer schools... I want to transfer to Reardan” (Alexie 45). Junior’s bluntness highlights his fearless personality and validates his ability to confront his problems and tasks head-on. In complex situations, Junior possesses the skills to navigate his future. Finally, Junior’s ability to overcome problems appears in his ability to navigate his way to Reardan each day for school. With the uncertainty of gas money in his family, Junior often finds himself walking or hitchhiking to the school, however
It creates a statement that is made of judgement and changes the overall feeling of an individual, therefore resulting in alienation. Junior, an Indian who transferred for his own hope into a new perspective. He is facing prejudice as he enters into Reardan,a white school as someone from a different tribe. He was overseen by who he is by looks and opinions of others.In the book The Absolutely True Duary of a Part-Time Indian, the main character says,”After all, I was a reservation Indian, and no matter how geeky and weak I appeared to be, I was still a potential killer. So mostly they called me names. Lots of names” (Alexie 63). Alexie shows how Junior is defined as someone who isn’t like his peers and he was affected through the use of their one word descriptions. Junior is described as “geeky and weak” to the point whene he believed he was this label. He made himself be let down for what he is and the remarks being made. He thought he was someone that influenced people to what they think he is. Junior saw that he was a target of stimulating stereotypes based on him, yet he wasn’t able to cope with these. His feelings overlapped with getting through a school day at Reardan. Junior is being weighed down by the stereotypes implied to him that causes him to be divided. Jin who is chinese in relation to Junior’s experience has a stereotype against him.
One of these moments of loss of hope is when his grandma died by a drunk person on a motorcycle. His grandma has been his one savior in his life. When she died, Junior was really depressed and felt like giving up, but he still persisted because he remembers her final words “forgive him”. Junior’s sister, whom he loved dearly, also died in a house fire while she was passed out drunk. At this point, all hope was lost for Junior. However, he had courage and found a little bit of hope. That hope was Rearden. At Rearden, Junior learned many things. Junior found a new friend, Gordy who teaches him a lot about life, and was very wise. Junior also found love there too. Penelope was his love interest “almost girlfriend”, who really cared about him. Many people at Rearden were supportive of Junior and that inspired him to become the best person he could be. Junior’s coach was especially encouraging to Junior, he even went with Junior to the hospital and stayed up with him all night. An example of Rearden’s support was at two basketball games, one on the rez and one at Reardon. At the rez, all of Junior’s fellow tribe members were booing him, but at Reardon, all of his teammates cheered him up and told him he was going to do great. Junior realizes that he is the only one on his reservation that still has hope, his hope was hope for everyone on his
Junior was born in a desperate, hopeless place. His parents and community were withering in despair. However, Junior did not choose to languish like the rest of his community; he boldly left his comfort zone for a better education—facing obstacles from losing
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.
Adolescents experience a developmental journey as they transition from child to adult, and in doing so are faced with many developmental milestones. Physical, cognitive, social and emotional changes are occurring during this tumultuous stage of life, and making sense of one’s self and identity becomes a priority. Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian addresses the challenges of adolescence in an engaging tale, but deals with minority communities and cultures as well.
“The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” is a humorous and intuitive novel written by Sherman Alexie. The reader gets an insight into the everyday life of a fourteen year old hydrocephalic Indian boy named Arnold Spirit, also referred to as Junior Spirit. He is living on the Spokane Indian reservation and is seen as an outcast by all the other Indians, due to his medical condition. Against all odds Arnold expands his hope, leaves his school on the reservation and faces new obstacles to obtain a more promising future at a school off the reservation. The novel is told through Arnold’s voice, thoughts, actions and experiences. Alexie incorporates one point of view, different themes and settings, such as poverty, friendship, Spokane and Reardan within Arnold’s journey to illustrate the different hardships he must overcome to gain a higher education.
He knows that he never wants to be like his father when he grows up. Alcohol also causes a lot of deaths in Junior’s life. His sister died in a terrible fire because she was too drunk to escape her burning RV. Junior was let out of school early because of his sister’s death. He has to wait for his father to come get him, and he laughs and he cannot stop laughing at the thought of his dad also dying on his way to pick Junior up, “.it’s not too comforting to learn that your sister was TOO FREAKING DRUNK to feel any pain when she BURNED TO DEATH!
This is not my first time meeting Junior; however, I would like to point out that before getting to know Junior, he was initially shy. It wasn’t until I had seen him four or five times that he made the connection that I was both the
“I’m never going to act like my mother!” These words are increasingly common and yet unavoidable. Why is it that as children, we are able to point out every flaw in our parents, but as we grow up, we recognize that we are repeating the same mistakes we observed? The answer is generational curses: un-cleansed iniquities that increase in strength from one generation to the next, affecting the members of that family and all who come into relationship with that family (Hickey 13). Marilyn Hickey, a Christian author, explains how this biblically rooted cycle is never ending when she says, “Each generation adds to the overall iniquity, further weakening the resistance of the next generation to sin” (21, 22). In other words, if your parents mess up you are now susceptible to making the same mistakes, and are most likely going to pass those mistakes to your children. In The Absolute True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, Sherman Alexie shows the beauty of hope in the presence of a generational curse. Even though the elders are the ones who produce the curses, they are also the ones who attempt to break Junior from their bond forming mistakes. The curses that Arnold’s elders imprint on him lead him to break out of his cultural bonds and improve himself as a developing young man.
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.
People need to create a balance of stories and tell them from many different perspectives so that a more accurate picture can be shown of what is actually happening in today's society. In Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, the main character Junior is automatically judged as soon as he gets into school his first day at Reardan, the closest school off the rez. This teenage character is made fun of because of his skin color, background, abilities and culture. Arnold Spirit Junior has to overcome challenges with people assuming things about him because he is an Indian from the Spokane Reservation.
Junior was the main character in the book and he was the smartest and the most studious among all his classmates. However when he first got his
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie is a story of a boy who both runs away and copes with his problems. The boy in the book, Junior, has been bullied all his life and throughout the book he tells his stories using humor to make light of his depressing stories. The humor he uses is what helps him cope with his problems, those problems include: his smaller stature, his friendships, and lastly, death.
Through history, Native Americans have faced a lot of discrimination and difficulties and there has always been soldiers in confrontation with those struggles. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, written by Sherman Alexie, is a novel about a fourteen year-old Native American boy who lives on the Spokane Indian Reservation. Junior has a number of physical problems due to the fact that he was born with a brain problem, called Hydrocephalus. Furthermore, he struggles with several social problems in his family, on the reservation, and in school. Each time he tries to solve these problems in different ways. Junior encounters many different forms of loss in