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The Absolutely True Diary Of a Part-Time Indian 2-3 page essay
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In the Sherman Alexie’s novel, The Absolutely True Diary Of A Part-Time Indian, he uses characterization on Penelope to establish the idea that people are different on the inside and have different problems and dreams that aren't shown to others that should be expressed. One day at school, Junior is walking through the hallway when he hears a girl vomiting in the bathroom. He asks if she is ok, but she angrily refuses to answer, continuing to vomit. Once she comes out of the bathroom, Junior recognizes her as Penelope. She reveals to Junior that she is bulimic. Penelope is an addict just like Junior’s father. Penelope fixes her problems by “ [gorging] on her pain and then [throwing] it up and flushes it away. [His] dad drinks his pain away” (Alexie 105-109). When Junior learns …show more content…
the truth about Penelope, it highlights the struggle that is inside Penelope that isn’t shown. Penelope hides her problems from others by throwing up her issues away in order to seem normal.
Penelope is a different person to herself than what she shows to others. Junior continues to talk to Penelope about her eating disorder to understand what being bulimic means. Penelope seems fine for a while until she starts to cry. Penelope starts to talk about how her life isn’t as it seems. She is seen as a popular, smart, and pretty girl at school by her friends but she is actually really afraid. All her friends think “her life is perfect because she’s pretty and smart and popular… but nobody will let her be scared because she’s pretty and smart and popular” (Alexie 105-109). Penelope’s true self emphasizes that her friends don’t know Penelope for who she truly is and no one will let her express herself. Penelope needs someone to show her true self to in order to not feel afraid. She won’t be able to give up her eating disorder if she doesn’t release her feelings. Junior listens to Penelope and what she had kept from the inside. Just then, Penelope tells Junior about her dreams outside of the town. She thinks the town is too small, with small dreams, and people who want to live there
forever. She has dreams of leaving the town to have a better, brighter future studying architecture, just like Junior. Both of Junior and Penelope’s “were supposed to be happy with [their] limitations. But there was no way Penelope and [Junior] were going to sit still. Nope, [they] both wanted to fly” (Alexie 111-112). Penelope’s dreams show that people don’t pay attention to a person’s dreams. She wants her dreams of being an architect to come true, but can’t because anyone she tells won’t take her seriously. The people in her town are all used to having their dreams vanished away from giving up, but not like Penelope. If people took note of the dreams of Penelope, she wouldn’t have to feel afraid anymore. In conclusion, Penelope is characterized in this passage by showing her real self and important dreams that no one pays attention to.
The novel The Absolutely True Diary of A Part-Time Indian and the movie Smoke Signals both originated from the mind of a man named Sherman Alexie. The novel and the movie have some similarities, but each similarity has a subtle difference. Some subtle differences between the topics in the novel The Absolutely True Diary of A Part Time Indian, and the movie Smoke Signals is the emphasis the author puts on each of the topics. There are a few topics that are shown in both the novel and the movie such as racism, identity, and loss. These topics are expressed very strongly in the novel but are vague in the movie.
Now I wished that I could pen a letter to my school to be read at the opening assembly that would tell them how wrong we had all been. You should see Zachary Taylor, I’d say.” Lily is realizing now that beauty comes in all colors. She is also again being exposed to the fact that her way of being raised was wrong, that years and years of history was false. “The whole time we worked, I marveled at how mixed up people got when it came to love.
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.
“Alcoholism is an epidemic among Native Americans”(KCTS9). Many people believe that alcoholism is in the Native’s blood, but it is truly just a situational problem. On the reservations a majority of families are poverty ridden, and these families normally stay on the reservation their whole lives. Junior, a 14 year old Spokane Indian, manages to break the cycle of hopelessness and alcoholism in his family by leaving the reservation school to go to the white school in the novel The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. Another character that Sherman Alexie brings to life, Arnold, is the typical alcoholic indian stereotype who allows alcohol to affect the course of his life in the movie Smoke Signals. In both Smoke Signals and The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, author Sherman Alexie shows how alcohol on the reservation can cause accidents, funerals, and heartache.
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
It is said by Jeb Bush that, “Our children can achieve great things when we set high expectations for them”. Well, Arnold (Junior) Spirit in the book The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, doesn’t have high expectations, if anything he is expected to fail, in life and in school. But Junior has ambition like none other, that is why he decides to break away from his reservation and attend the racist school Reardan. During his time in Reardan and on the Reservation, Junior rises above the life he was expected to live; he demonstrates ambition through perseverance and finds his identity, which proves humans ability to rise above expectations.
Vast majority of Indian reservations are suffering from chronic poverty. According to American Indian Relief Council, the reservations have been cited as, “Comparable to Third World”, in terms of living conditions. In the novel written by Sherman Alexie, entitled, “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian”, the main character, a fourteen year old, Native American teenager, which belongs to the Spokane tribe named Junior; stated that, “Poverty does not give you strength or teach you lessons about perseverance. No, poverty only teaches you how to be poor.” This indicates that poverty can turn an individual to become a pessimist. On the contrary, poverty is not a destiny. Instead, it is a source of power, an encouragement that through hard work, patience and dedication, a person can succeed in every aspect of 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.
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.
“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.
As I sit here on this hillside, I watch the sun start to set and think about everything that has happened in the last few days. I can’t believe that it is mostly all over. I have finally returned home to Ithaca after 20 years. The battle with the suitors is now over, and I have won. Telemachus and my father are heading back to the palace now, where Penelope awaits for us. When I was originally reunited with Penelope, it wasn’t as good as I thought it would be. Penelope has changed over the past 20 years and I don’t really know how I feel about her.
Identity. Social Injustice. Coming of age. Those are three out of several other themes that are touched on in The Diary of a Part-Time Indian, written by Sherman Alexie.
Living in a place where nobody ever makes enough to do anything special with their lives really tests one's hope. In The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, an unlikely hero's courage is put to the test as he searches for s brighter future. Arnold's rising and falling hope can be seen through the comics he draws throughout the book. Some say you can get to know a person through what they draw better than through their words. This essay will explore how Arnold's comics show what he feels, and how his dream for a better future grows with him.
...e realizes that those experiences are what shaped her into the young women she is now. All those years of convincing herself that her appearance is the reason why people tend to hate her and push her away, suddenly come crashing down on her when she realizes that looks are merely part of what makes her unique. Also the high expectations that society places on women makes it hard for a young girl to grow on her own, especially if she has a mindset of her own. However, Anne uses that for her own benefit by creating barriers into opportunities. Lastly, Anne Shirley does not only make herself proud with the identity created by working hard day and night, but also to make all the people in her life proud as well. “Aren’t you proud of that Anne-girl? I am” (Montgomery 329)