Revelations at the Reservation The novel “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” was written by Sherman Alexie, as he depicts the struggles and challenges faced by a Spokane Indian boy, Arnold “Junior” Spirit as he travels through his first year in high school. Alexie’s adolescents inspired him to write this National Award Book winner. This novel was “banned in schools nationwide” (Alexie). “The novel was No. 2 on the American Library Association’s list of most frequently challenged books
Luc Nguyen 8 purple Humanities The Part-Time Absolute Truth In The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, a book by Sherman Alexie, a young Spokane Indian boy named Junior writes about his life. Junior's story demonstrates "absolutely true" elements through the reality of death and grief, the humanization of all characters and the style of writing, and is "part-time" in how multiple characters live double lives. Junior's story, though fictional, evokes a truth of life through the depiction
In Sherman Alexie’s novel, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, he chooses upon numerous themes in America’s 21st century. Alexie is an example of a great writer that brings many themes into one piece of literature. He accomplishes this by pulling in characters with different backgrounds and different views on things. He piles situations on top of each other that create multiple outcomes for the main character. Alexie makes a commentary about American society through plenty of themes
book, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie that best describes the book is when Mr. P explicitly tells Juniors that he needs to have and maintain hope, “...you kept your hope. And now, you have to take your hope and go somewhere where other people have hope” (Alexie 43). Mr. P is trying to tell Junior that he needs to be hopeful that his dream will come true, which is to become successful and go against the norm life of an Indian on the rez. After this part of the book
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. Establishing an identity has been called one of the most important milestones of adolescent development (Ruffin, 2009). Additionally, a central part of identity development includes ethnic identity (ACT for Youth, 2002). While some teens search
kind of book. It doesn't take away how I feel about the book but it shows that everyone has their own problems with life. For example we hear about Arnold, when ever you hear of him you think a poor, sickly, smart indian kid. And for that part you would be right because he looks the part of his problems. But when you look at another character such as Penelope you wouldn't guess her problems such as being Bulimic, or having a racist dad to deal with. And this shows that everyone has there own problems
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
particularly important aspect in schools because it allows students to learn to respect those who have different ideas and understand other cultures, eventually opening their minds and helping them in the future. For instance, in The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, Junior, an adolescent boy living on a reservation, makes the decision to attend Reardan, a “rich, white farm town” (Alexie 45). While Junior deals with characteristic changes, collaboration with his classmates, and stereotypes and
Never Give Up A lot of people have hope and learn to never give up. But in The Absolutely True Diary Of A Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, a 14-year old boy named Junior lives on an Indian reservation and all anyone has taught him is to give up. Junior is determined to fight for hope, no matter what the cost is. So he leaves the reservation to go to an all-white school (Reardan High School) in the search for hope. Junior’s best friend, Rowdy, was infuriated at Junior for leaving his home just
In the novel “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian”, the protagonist, Junior, undergoes many life-changing events. He has to leave the reservation he lives on, and go to a mostly white school. Over time, he makes friends and goes through different school functions, and deals with problems that arise at home, as well as school. In the end, he undergoes a lot of loss, but overall ends with a hopeful look to the future. Many of the challenges he goes through require hard work. Before these
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie talked about an Indian boy named Junior who wants to escape from being poor, having impossible dream, and feeling hopeless. The main characteristic in this book named Junior who was born on the Spokane Indian reservation. Junior’s parents weren’t unable to follow and achieve their dreams because they have not enough money. Because of living in penniless family, Junior wants to escape this situation. He wants to do something better
In the Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, Sherman Alexie writes the story of Arnold Spirit, a Native American teenager. He is in a family who is not gifted with the things many Americans take for granted, such as a sustainable access to food, or a family that always cares for him. He has many negative experiences along his journey, changing to a different school and learning how to grieve with many deaths, but through all of it, stereotypes and assumptions about who he is make his life
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. Junior sometimes had to go to bed hungry, but that wasn’t the worst thing about being in poverty. He made a diary entry stating, “Poverty= empty refrigerator+empty
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
Cushman Ms. Grinnell American Literature 10 June 2024 In Sherman Alexie’s coming-of-age novel, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, Junior struggles to balance both parts of his life. Alexie demonstrates the importance of friendships in Junior’s life, and they help him through all his struggles and succeed in his complicated life. Specifically, Roger helps with friendship through challenging times, by befriending Junior. After the school dance, Junior, Penelope, Roger, and others go to a diner
Indians have lived and continue to live a difficult life on the reservation. In Sherman Alexie’s novel, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, Indians deal with alcoholism, poverty, violence, and many other hardships. One of the main hardships on the reservation involves poverty. Oftentimes poverty has much affected the community negatively and affecting the communities’ future. For a better future and to escape poverty, Arnold transfers to Reardan. Throughout Arnold’s journey of searching
In The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, Grandmother Spirit teaches the entire tribe about tolerance, which is what she represents. Before Grandmother Spirit’s funeral, Junior was not treated like a member of the tribe because they thought he was a traitor for going to a white school off the reservation. The last time the tribe gathered together, at a basketball game, Junior ended up in the hospital. However, at the funeral, they put aside differences to be one community
overall living conditions of Native Americans compare to third world living conditions? Making The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time-Indian into a movie would be important because it shows people how racist we can be towards Native Americans. Presenting this problem could be helpful, but others believe racist problems shouldn’t be presented by movies. I believe The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time-Indian by Sherman Alexie should be made into a movie because of the interesting conflict, unique tough
In, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, Sherman Alexie discusses many serious subjects that are incredibly prevalent in modern society. The issues Alexie discuss lack emphasize in the current climate of the world and it is unacceptable to imagine that certain readers can only focus on sexual innuendos and occasional bad language in this novel. Through discussion of; un-banned books, literature that appeals to young adults, and racism, it will prove obvious why the bans around “The Absolutely
daughter and Junior. When Junior first meets Earl he warns, “‘Kid, you better keep your hands out of my daughter’s panties… Kid, if you get my daughter pregnant, if you make some charcoal babies, I’m going to disown her’” (Alexie, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, 109). The use of “charcoal babies” exemplifies the racist views of Earl. Moreover, Earl’s exclamation that he will disown Penelope if Junior gets her pregnant shows his contempt for their relationship. While it is normal for a father