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Analysis Of The Absolutely True Diary Of A Part Time Indian

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True Diary of a Part Time Indian The Absolutely True Diary of a Part time Indian, by Sherman Alexie, is a novel that illustrates Mr. Alexie’s own struggles as a teenager, including very vivid depictions of mature themes including but not limited to offensive language, grotesque ideas, suggestive topics, and disturbing violence. As a current 9th grade student who has recently read this book as part of the English curriculum, I believe that it should not be used as a classroom text at this grade level. Two major reasons this book may be unsuitable for young teens are the consistent use of obscene language and the gruesome ideas that are introduced. Perhaps the most disturbing instance is when Junior is attacked by a vicious joke. Roger, his classmate, came up to him and said: “Did you know that Indians are living proof that niggers fuck buffalo (64)?” This sentence contains extremely offensive language and the message is both disturbing and racist towards African Americans and Native Americans. When I first figured out the meaning behind the joke, I was shocked and ultimately heartbroken from the fact that someone could have the nerve to say such a thing with the purpose of insulting someone else. In addition to that, there is vulgar language scattered throughout the novel. As Meghan Cox Gurdon points out in her article, Darkness to visible, “Profanity that would get a song or movie branded with a parental warning is, in young-adult novels, so commonplace that most

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