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The Absolutely True Diary Of A Part Time Indian Essay

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The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is a novel by Sherman Alexie that tells the story of a boy named Arnold ‘Junior’ Spirit. The book focuses on a year of Arnold’s life. In that one year, he leaves his tribal school to attend a white school that will give him a better chance to attend college and do things with his life. He feels guilty for leaving the reservation but is happy to be able to attend the white school. In the beginning, Sherman Alexie talks about the struggles of Arnold’s life. Arnold had too much cerebral fluid in his head for which he needed surgery at the age of six months. He had little chance to get out surgery alive, and if he did, he should’ve had brain damage. But we learn that he survived and did not have any brain damage. This incident is from the life of Sherman Alexie himself. He went through this experience and wrote it for Arnold. Arnold mirroring Sherman Alexie had seizures all his life. From this and other illnesses, he needed wore glasses for which he would always get picked on at Wellpinit High School. Arnold had a best friend named Rowdy who would stop others from bullying him. Arnold starts to learn that similar to others in the …show more content…

One example is Powwow. I didn’t even know there is such a thing. After learning about it, I really want to go to one. Another is how much resentment Native Americans have for someone who leaves the reservation. I would think they would be happy for that one person who can leave and do great things with his/her life and make Indians proud, but the feelings of betrayal/pride surpasses the feelings of being proud. The book also painted a very good picture of how alcohol caused lots of problems for Native Americans in reservations, ranging from small fights to deaths. I did not know this fact either before reading this

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