Analysis Of The Absolutely True Diary Of A Part-Time Indian

Throughout the story, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, Junior goes through many ups and downs. This story is about how Junior, an indian from the Spokane reservation, decides to go to Rearden, the school for non-indians because of how run-down his school is and has trouble fitting in. Some of the ways Junior dealt with those downs include his uncanny sense of humor, his love for his friends, and the want to fit in and prove he’s just as good as everyone else at his new school.

This book, "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian" by Sherman Alexie, is about a boy called Arnold Spirit aka Junior. He is a Native American that lives in an Indian Reservation. He isn't really satisfied with his life, since he's pretty poor, but he gets along. He doesn't really accept himself, since he has multiple medical problems, and he has been beaten up since he was little. When he starts to gain more friends in this new (American) school, he starts to like and accept himself more than before. In this book, "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian" (by Sherman Alexie), the main theme is about Arnold trying to accept himself.

In the book “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” by Sherman Alexie, the character I’ll be focusing on is Arnold. Chapter after chapter, Arnold has contrastive impressions and temper. From the beginning of the book to the end, Arnold finds himself trapped in obstacles that he has to overcome, as well as developing a crush on a white girl named Penelope. Because of the way Arnold transforms his impressions makes me think of how interesting this character is. In the beginning, Arnold speaks of his life as an Indian on the reservation. As soon as he first stepped foot in Wellpinit High, he met his teacher, Mr.P, in which convinced Arnold to vacate the Rez even after everything Arnold’s been through such as troubles in his life. One quote is “If you stay on this Rez, they’re going to kill you. I’m going to kill you. We’re all going to kill you. You’ve been fighting off that brain surgery, you fought off those seizures. You fought off all the drunks and drug addicts,” (p.g 43)

Mentors are people who provide support, strength, and inspiration. Many people have a mentor in their life that they aspire to be like, and seek out for guidance. Mentors play a big role in many lives, including Junior's from The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie. Some of the biggest mentors for Junior are his parents, his Wellpinit teacher Mr. P and his Rearden basketball coach. If it weren't for these mentors inspiration and support, Junior wouldn't have taken some of the risks he does.

In the novel, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, Arnold is an seen as different from other tribe members. He constantly has to endure hardships that physically and mentally affect him. When Rowdy asks Arnold to go to the powwow with him,

Although we never fully discover the humanness of Arnold, one thing is for sure, “He invites fear rather than attraction when he claims to know things about her family and neighbors that he couldn’t possibly know.”(SparkNotes Editors)

This book, "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian" by Sherman Alexie, is about a boy called Arnold Spirit aka Junior. He is a Native American that lives in an Indian Reservation. He isn't really satisfied with his life, since he's pretty poor, but he gets along. He doesn't really accept himself, since he has multiple medical problems, and he has been beaten up since he was little. When he starts to gain more friends in this new (American) school, he starts to like and accept himself more than before. In this book, "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian" (by Sherman Alexie), the main theme is about Arnold trying to accept himself.

Arnold’s tribe judges him on his decision to go to a white school, and he reflects on their ridicule, his reflection was that he did not feel okay. After being asked how he felt, Arnold replied “No (Alexie,Pg.114),” Arnold was disappointed that so many people that he knew had turned against him, it felt like for him that he was alone in a fight against everyone. The white society judges Arnold as well, they ridicule him by calling him names such as Chief, Tonto, Squaw Boy, Sitting Bull, and Red-Skin, Arnold reflects on this ridicule, he was scared. Arnold meant that he actually feared for his life as he was not sure whether or not the bullies would beat him to death, bullying can go to any lengths, the bullying was becoming more serious, he was terrified. In conclusion, Arnold was judged by both, his tribe and the white society, and he reflected upon throughout many points in the

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.

Throughout the book Arnold encounters many discouraging situations but remains positive. In the book, one of the most sad moments is when Christmas comes around for him and his family. Having been in poverty for many years, his family can never afford presents so his dad spends whatever money they have on alcohol. “Hey, Dad,” I said. “Hey, kid,” he said.

16). Arnold perceives himself within his relations with his family and the reservation, thus his self-esteem is directly tied to his place within the two groups. However near the end of the book, Arnold cries for his “fellow tribal members” future in the reservation (Alexie, 2009, p. 216) and acknowledges that he “was the only one who was brave and crazy enough to leave the rez…. The only one with enough arrogance” (Alexie, 2009, p. 217). Although part of his self image is still tied to his tribe, Arnold sees himself as independent from them. He has a sense of who he is from his choice to leave the reservation and the qualities that allowed him to do so. The experiences Arnold encountered along the way such as exclusion, individuals with highly independent self-construals, and the deaths of his led to changes in his self-concept.

Transferring to Reardon was a big transition for Junior. He was in school with a lot of other Indians, to just being the only indian in an all white school. Transferring impacted his life in many different ways. Because of how poor the reservation was Junior knew it was time to be different and take his life down another path. In the book, The Absolutely True Diary Of A Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie, when he transferred a lot of deaths happened and the amount of friends he had increased because he became more brave and also his academics were better.

Arnold’s setting influenced his decisions .Being the opposite of Macbeth, Arnold let his surroundings convey into something positive. Arnold was cursed by being born into poverty, however this did not phase him. His parents did not have any plans for him, they wanted him to live on the Rez, since his sister had left. The Rez is a community for poor indians in which most people stay their whole life. On the contrary, this was not Arnold’s plan. Arnold lets his surroundings realize what's happening, “And because you're indian you start believing you’re destined to be poor. It’s an ugly circle and there's nothing you can do about it”( Alexie 2. 53). This portrays how all Indians are meant to be poor, that is through Arnold’s eyes. Arnold uses all of his surroundings to be a motivator. After Arnold got in trouble with his teacher, he came over to talk to Arnold, “‘ Where is hope”’? I asked. “‘ Who has hope”’? “‘Son”’, Mr. P said, You’re going to find hope the farther and farther you walk away from this reservation”( Alexie 5.163- 5.168). This displays how Junior needs to get out of the Rez if he seeks a better life than a normal Indian. Therefore, that is exactly what he

First, there's Wellpinit, the home of the Spokane Indian Reservation where Arnold lives with his mother, father, sister, and grandmother. The Spirit family have lived on the reservation all of their lives, and Arnold is known there not by his first name, but simply as "Junior." As his name suggests, he's very much connected to – and identified

Arnold’s change of identity is shown through the author’s use of setting. At first, he lives in Wellpinit, an Indian reservation. On the reservation there is violence, poverty, and alcoholism. Arnold does not appreciate where he lives because his “reservation is located approximately one million miles north of [important] and two billion miles west of [happy]” (Alexie 30). Arnold does not like his culture, nor does he like his home. He thinks that his race is far from important and happy. This contributes to his identity crisis. He does not like his identity, but one thing that keeps him from forsaking it, is his