In Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian (2007) a teenage boy named Junior, explains his struggle of breaking the cycle of his indigenous people and moving between an Indian American reservation (the ‘rez’) and a mainstream school in a town called Reardon. The protagonist explains, through first-person accounts, his life on the reservation and his experiences as he attempts to break the cycle of alcoholism and poverty that is imposed on him merely because he is an Indigenous American. One theme that remains constant throughout the novel is that of lack of hope that the Indians have for their futures, they see no need for dreams or hopes as, for them, there is no way that they can achieve any more than any of their ancestors. Another theme that is present through Part-Time Indian is poverty and the cycle of negative events that lead to it continuing. This leads to the Indigenous Americans having no hope. An extremely broad theme that is present in this novel is identity. Junior explains very simply how being Native American leads to his peoples’ inevitable poverty. There are many aspects in Part-Time Indian where some actions and habits are considered normal.
School and education was a big topic in Sherman Alexie’s, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, as the author reflects his personal life story into the protagonists’ story in the book. In the novel, Junior is a teenage kid who loves to read, but every time he goes to school in the Spokane reservation, he notices the poor education that is offered. From unmotivated teachers, to using the same textbook his own mother used to use, he knew he would end up like everyone else at the reservation, depressed, having low paying jobs, not motivated to make a change in the world. In order to be able to go to college, he knew he had to study at a high school outside of his reservation, because he would not have the education the college demanded if he stayed. During his years at the new high school away from his home, he missed a lot of school days due to funerals and ceremonies he had to attend back in his reservation. Even if Junior understood that, going to college might be difficult to do so if he was going to be attending the events at his reservation, he knew he was able to go to college from the education he gained at the new high school he attended. Similar to the article by Guillory and Wolverton, Junior, or Alexie, were able to attend college because of the high school transfer, which gained them higher quality education. Something not many Native American teenagers have the opportunity to do so, or the self-motivation, as they are still, more than likely, accepting
Arnold/Junior Spirit is a fourteen year old Spokane Indian who lives on a small reservation in Washington state. In the book The Absolutely True Diary of a part-Time Indian, Junior leaves his reservation for a primary white school called Reardan to find hope. He struggles with friendships, family, basketball, school work and identity through the year. His experiences on and off the reservation, are constantly changing his beliefs to become less racist and more positive. For example, Junior begins thinking that hope is barely reachable for him, but ends the book realizing that nothing stops him from having hope except how much he works for it.
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.
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.
The Spoken tribe, like many other Native American tribes, suffered considerably due to alcoholism, poverty, and racism. In order to combat the dire state that he is in, Spoken Indian Arnold “Junior” Spirit decides to leave the reservation and go to Reardan, a school full of whites. Sherman Alexie’s novel The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian paints a picture of life where racism, poverty, and alcoholism affects Arnold Spirit as he journeys through a completely different society. His decision endangers him not only in his reservation but also at Reardan where he is ostracized for being the only Indian boy in a school full of white people. Despite these dangers, Arnold is still willing to reject his family tradition and go to Reardan because he has hopes of finding a fulfilling and hopeful life. Due to his willingness to go through with his action of going to Reardan despite the hardships, Arnold is able to march inexorably towards finding a fulfilling and hopeful life. Through his perseverance of physical and emotional hardships, and his willingness to leave his family legacy behind and go to Reardan, it is revealed the extent that man is willing to go to in order to achieve his goals.
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.
The novel's second major setting is Reardan, an affluent, mostly-white town 22 miles away from the reservation in Wellpinit. Reardan is home to the high school where Arnold decides to transfer. Arnold's identity in Reardan is not directly related to his tribe or his family. He is known in Reardan not as "Junior," but as
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.
The struggle between being an individual and a member of a community is a constant struggle of life. It is shown in various media such as photos and films. In addition, the struggle is often the conflict in books. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is a prime example of a book that showcases this internal conflict. It’s a very relatable subject that many people including myself have faced. The struggle between being an individual and a member of a community can be shown in pictures, books and real life. First of all, this picture is a great representation of the quote. The light grey figure symbolizes someone branching outside their community. The black figures symbolize the community, as you can see they’re all identical and
Do you think looking forward and trying to change a bad situation into a good one for having a better life is a wrong decision? The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian is a novel written by Sherman Alexie. The novel is about Arnold Spirit; everyone calls him Junior. He is a teenage boy with a tough life who lives with his family in poverty on a Spokane Indian reservation in Wellpinit, Washington. He hates living in poverty and wants something better for himself. “I feel like I might grow up to be somebody important. An artist”(6) he claims. His living conditions are horrible; he studies in a school with a lack of resources. He considered the different aspects of moving to Reardan, he struggled about leaving
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie is a novel about Arnold Spirit (Junior), a boy from the Spokane Indian Reservation who decides to attend high school outside the reservation in order to have a better future. During that first year at Reardan High School, Arnold has to find his place at his all-white school, cope with his best friend Rowdy and most of his tribe disowning him, and endure the deaths of his grandmother, his father’s best friend, and his sister. Alexie touches upon issues of identity, otherness, alcoholism, death, and poverty in order to stay true to his characters and the cultures within the story. Through the identification of the role of the self, identity, and social behavior
Finding Your Dreams :Hopes and Dreams in The Absolute True Diary of a Part-time Indian
Adolescents experience a multitude of physical, cognitive, emotional, and social, and mental changes during a short span of years in their developmental journey to adulthood, and this transition period is full of many developmental changes and milestones. Some typical changes and milestones in an adolescent’s life include puberty, learning to drive, dating, developing new social relationships and social roles, cognitive changes, becoming sexually active, obtaining employment, and graduating high school. In addition to all of these changes in this tumultuous time of life, adolescents are identifying, developing, and coming to terms with their own sense of self, and learning about their identity becomes a priority. Teens and young adults must also address certain challenges that may arise in their lives such as bullying, drug and alcohol use, violence, sexual abuse, eating disorders, depression or other mood/mental health issues, and issues concerning sexuality, and gender identity. Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is an engaging story that deals with many of the challenges that all adolescents face, and this novel also addresses challenges that are unique to those teens who may be grappling with issues that face minority cultures and communities as well.
Sherman Alexie book “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part – Time Indian” is a comical yet heartbreaking true story of an Indian teenage boy living on the reservation trying to figure out his own identity. Throughout the book the reader can see the identity struggles that the main character Arnold Spirit Jr (Junior) faces. Being on the reservation is both a home and a place Junior is ready to leave. Through Juniors illustrations and……