The Absolutely True Diary, A Part-Time Indian By Sherman Alexie

Heros are fearless individuals who not only have stamina, but also thrive in adversity. In Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, Alexie underscores how an Indigenous teen named Arnold ‘Junior’ Spirit undergoes various social and mental challenges as he struggles to fit into his community and new school. Through Junior’s courage, he is willing to make unusual choices that seem to have negative outcomes. Junior can also recover from conflicts quickly and is able to become stronger because he is resilient. In addition to resilience, Junior is he is motivated. Ultimately, Junior can be considered a hero because he has the courage, resilience, and motivation to allow him to overcome the obstacles. As a result of his heroism, he is able to benefit from the experiences.

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie is about how Junior, an Indian boy, set himself up for a better future. His teacher tells him that he should leave the reservation, so Junior switches to a mostly white school called Reardan. There, he trys out for the basketball team which changes his life. The books is all about how Junior gets himself on a better path and follows his dreams. As Junior tells this story there are many maxims sprinkled in. A maxim is a principle, rule, or basic truth about life. This essay is about the three maxims that spoke to me the most and how I can relate to them.

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.

At first Junior didn't like himself; he was constantly beaten up, he had a lisp and stuttered so he had no self-confidence. When he made the decision to go to Reardan, a white school, even Rowdy left him. Rowdy thought Junior was betraying their school by going away and transferring so Rowdy didn't talk to Junior anymore. Without his best friend, Junior completely lost hope. He was scared of the white people and did not expect them to welcome him. He was right. Most of the Americans were cold to him and he did not try to raise his status. Many of the white people made fun of him, and when one guy, Roger, said "Did you know that Indians are living proof that niggers f*** buffalo?" (pg. 64) he felt that he had to stop it. So he punched him. Junior was expecting to get punched back, but he didn't. In the Indian Reservation, he

In the Absolutely True Diary Junior expresses great growth in his view of himself and who he is, because he sees that he is not just someone who belongs to one group, but someone of many groups. This is conveyed, because Junior states, "I that, sure, I was a Spokane Indian. I belonged to that tribe. But I also belonged to the tribe of American immigrants. And to the tribe of basketball players. And to the tribe of bookworms. And the tribe of cartoonists. And the tribe of chronic masturbators. And the tribe of teenage boys.

“The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian”, written by Sherman Alexie, is a novel describing a 14 year old’s journey throughout high school. In the story, Junior, the main character, is faced with multiple obstacles in his life: Hydrocephalus, poverty, and the target of bullying. Despite the world being against him, Junior’s multiple traits helps him greatly when it comes to the adversity that accompanies his migration from the Wellpinit Reservation to Rearden.

Poverty hits children hardest in the world. When I was younger, the Armenians had faced the hard facts of poverty after they break up with the Soviet Union, war with Azerbaijan, and a devastating earthquake. My family moved into our motherland Armenia while our nation was going through these huge dramatic changes. Furthermore the poor economy and inflation destroyed numerous hopes and futures. In the novel, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie, Arnold Spirit, describes his hardships involving poverty living on Spokane reservation. The people on the reservation are stuck in a prison of poverty. They are imprisoned there due to lack of resources and general contempt from the outside world, so they are left with little chance for success. Like Arnold, I also went through hardships regarding poverty and education.

People often go through life without knowing what it’s like to be in another person’s shoes. Many outsiders view the United States today, as an undemanding country- with its citizens being able to have jobs and money whenever they need it and living life to it’s fullest. This is the commonly depicted idea of America, though this is not the lifestyle for many living here. Specifically, the Native American community has it the hardest currently. Native Americans have been consistently struggling with life since the Removal Act of 1830- causing mass groups of Natives to be forced onto reservation, ‘till the modern world of today- the 21 century. In the novel, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, articles “Why Are Indian Reservations So Poor? A Look At The Bottom 1%” by John Koppisch,“The Absence of Native American Power” and “Drinking Behavior and Sources of Alcohol: Differences Between Native American and White Youths” they explain what the average Native American has to go through. Today, being Native American means to constantly struggle with poverty, alcoholism and loss of to try and get by in life.

One of the major themes that play a significant role in this story is the fortune of one being an unconventional hero. A traditional hero is a person who is admired or idealized for courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities. On the other hand, here we have an unconventional hero; Connie, who portrays someone that doesn’t really possess being all those positive ideals that a traditional hero would have but still, has a heroic impact in literature.

The main protagonist, Arnold Spirit (a.k.a Junior), character identity development can be seen throughout the story. Born onto the broken, poverty smitten Indian reserve full of drunks and abusers, Junior deals with the everlasting effects of hydrocephalus. With his medical circumstance, he has to endure many malformations making it so that he is a main target to harassment. The quote, “And then you start believing that you're stupid and ugly because you're Indian. 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 13)”, shows that Junior gets ethnicity and poverty mixed up. This pernicious train of thought shows how Junior already establishes a

Symbolism helps bring meaning and emotion into a story. Symbolism is also used to bring about a deeper understanding of the underlying themes in a story. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is riddled with symbols throughout the novel. Brilliantly, Sherman Alexie uses symbols all through this novel as a way of conveying abstract themes such as identity crisis, poverty, and mortality. These symbols are an important part of the novel because they are able to give a deeper meaning to the plot and the action of the story beyond what is actually depicted. The novel follows Arnold, a Native American teenager as he risks leaving the native reserve so he can go to high school in a neighboring town. Arnold faces discrimination, bullying, and the loss of his home by taking this step towards a better future.

Institutional structures have the power to configure adolescent growth through repression and liberation. The capability that adolescents have to create their own destiny and choose their own social institution can be limited, but not impossible. In Trites article, “Do I dare disturb the universe?” the author argues that kids have personal power, whether they acknowledge it and use it to their own advantage or not. Michel Foucault declares that “Power is everywhere; not because it embraces everything, but because it comes from everywhere” (Trites). Power is inevitable, there will never be no such thing as power in this world; it will never diminish or fade. Trites also conveyed that, “power not only acts on a subject but, in a transitive

His friends met similar fates, and became immortalized in Nicholas’s stories as heroes such as “Ben Warrior,” “Android,” and “Big Kid.” To this day, their images are carved forever into Nicholas’s comic books penned and inked through the years. The comics are a constant reminder to Nicholas of the heroes that he and his friends longed to be.

In all mediums of storytelling alike, there is always the question of if the author is being truthful about the information they are giving. This includes the lessons told through the story of morality in fiction, historical fiction, or anything related to such topics. Consequently, most books read in popular culture have a lesson; novels are a form of education. An example of this has been shown through Sherman Alexie’s Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven. In this novel, he attempts to shed light on the struggles Native American people, specifically on the Spokane Reservation, withstand through multiple stories and perspectives.

Almost all teens experience some sort of an identity crisis. They struggle with finding a clearer sense of themselves. Arnold Spirit Jr., a 14-year-old reservation Indian, faces an identity crisis when he leaves his reservation to go to school in Reardan, a town inhibited by white people. To begin, Arnold moves between different settings, and when he does, there is a change in his identity. Moreover, there is a change in his character as he moves between cities. Finally, Arnold experiences an identity crisis as well as conflicts with his community. In The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, the author uses literary elements to emphasize that one’s racial and ethnic identity changes depending on the social surrounding.