The Absolutely True Diary Of A Part Time Indian By Sherman Alexie Essay

The second obstacle that Junior overcame was poverty. Being an Indian and living on the reservation he grew up with little to no money, and any money they did have his dad drank away. One common thing that Junior heard when he asked his dad for a ride to school in Reardan was, “’Don’t have enough gas,’ (Alexie70).” Junior never let the fact that his parents didn’t have any money stop him from going to school. He would either walk or hitchhike his way there even if he would be late. Junior was very determined to get to school to create that future he was dreaming of. He didn’t want the kids at Reardan to think of him as any different as they were. One way he did this was by pretending he had money, “My parents gave me just enough money so that I could pretend to have more money than I did, (Alexie119).” He knew he was poor, but he didn’t want his friends to know he was too. Junior wanted to be like everyone else and just fit in. He didn’t want the kids to think just because he was poor he couldn’t hang out with them. Eventually his friends discover that he has little money. They didn’t even think about not hanging out with him. They actually offer to help him and give him rides. If anything the fact that they knew more about him made him more popular with them. Junior would walk to school when there was no gas, he would hang out and go places with friends even when they knew he was poor. When Junior lets loose, he becomes a better person an overcomes his poverty with

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.

saids Junior on page 56, after attending Reardan for a couple days. Here Junior fears that both his socioeconomic class, and identity make him unsuitable for hope. Junior also says, “ I don’t know if hope is white. But I do know that hope for me is like some mythical creature,” proving that even though he has left the reservation, he still doubts that the sacrifice he made to come to Reardan will pay off. After a rough first months of school, basketball season kicks off an ongoing positive impact Juniors school year and beliefs. At basketball tryouts, Junior and the Coach have a conversation that goes,

So many of the Indians on the reservation had given up on trying to move on from their poor lifestyle and have decided to stay with their Indian culture. However, this is not the case for Junior. Despite the fact that he grew up with a variety of medical problems and unlucky experiences, he still did not give in. Now why didn’t he just stay within the reservation he was on? It would have been much simpler if he just stayed there with his family than travel outside of the reservation (not to mention the low chances of him succeeding in getting anywhere). So why bother? The simplest reason would be that he’s determined to get a better life.

“Mansi, your grandfather was very religious, but he also knew that India is not the same now that it was when his father was a priest,” Dad thought very carefully as he spoke. “He had to admit that no matter how hard I worked, it would be difficult to raise you and your brother here if we wanted secure futures for

There were many places throughout the parts of the book I read, where I felt extremely grateful. Two of them were when I was reading from page 11 through page 13, and I stumbled against two things Junior said that struck me. The first part was when Junior said “They (his parents) never got the chance to be anything because nobody paid attention to their dreams”, on page 11. While the second part was when he said, “But we reservation Indians don't get to realise our dreams. We don’t get those chances. Or choices. We’re poor. Thats all we are,” on page 13. While and after reading this I felt extremely fortunate, yet apologetic. I felt extremely fortunate, due to the fact that I was born into family that isn’t a victim of poverty and also because

“When you get to a place where you understand that love and belonging, your worthiness, is a birthright and not something you have to earn, anything is possible,” according to Brené Brown, a scholar, author, and public speaker. Junior, the main protagonist of the novel “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian,” by Sherman Alexie, tries to find a place to truly belong to throughout the piece. However, Junior shifts between two different societies in the book; Wellpinit, the reservation Junior lives on, and Reardan, the school in a mostly-white neighborhood outside of Wellpinit that Junior attends. While Junior is a part of both communities, by the end, Junior belongs

A new level of expectations and accomplishments came about Junior when he moved to Reardan. He finally had somewhere to have a fresh start where people didn’t know what he was capable of, nor did anyone have a presumption set for Junior. With this new chapter in his life and new beginnings Junior had become someone he never had a chance to be at the Reservation. Junior was smart, intellectual, confident, observant and had a completely different mentality. Thanks to some very important people at Reardan like Gordy and Junior’s basketball coach, they were able to mentor and drive Junior to be the person he was ultimately trying to become. Gordy was an intelligent young man in Junior 's life who was able to connect books to some life morals. Because of Gordy, Junior finally made his own realization that “if every moment of a book should be taken seriously, then every moment of life should be taken seriously as well” (95). At this moment in the book, Junior started to realize there was meaning to his life; why not enjoy it doing the things you love and are passionate about. One passion in

Juniors live on his reservation was fulfilled with poverty, alcoholism, and tragedy. Throughout the book junior often noticed the issues which plagued his life and realized and internalized some of the views these circumstances plagued him with. For example, “But we reservation Indians dent get to realize our drama we don’t get those chances. Or choices. We are just poor. that all we are.” (Sherman 21) He often believed

In the novel The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, the pursuit of personal goals is more important than the expectations of the community because other people might not have the same views, and everyone should always do things that make them a

In the book Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, written by Sherman Alexie, there is a teenage kid who live on a reservation but goes to Rearden (a school out of the reservation). His best friend’s name is Rowdy, until Arnold tells him he is switching school, then all Rowdy whats to do is kill Arnold. The kids name is Junior on the reservation but Arnold at rearden. Arnold has a lot of problems that all his friends help him with. In the book Sherman Alexie showed that having different types of friends can help you with different types of situations.

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, investigates the hidden facts about Indians. Alexie displays amiability, sorrow, and reality through his primary character, Junior, to influence the reader to comprehend how much the Native Americans are suffering. In present-day society, desperate Indians that reside in these reservations endure incurable poverty that keeps on prevailing. This dim world loaded with destitution and much oppress has motivated the main character, Junior to understand what kind of life he would expect if he escapes from Spokane "rez". The impact of poverty has shaped Junior into a valiant and clever person, who has taken

Life isn’t so complicated when you’re destined to become an alcoholic, until you want to change that, then it gets complicated. Sherman Alexie’s novel, “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” is a story told by a Native American teenage boy named Junior whose growing up on the Spokane Indian Reservation. In pursuit of a better education, he leaves the school on his reservation to go to an “all white” school. Due to this, he is condemned as a traitor to his people and has to change his ways to fit in at his new school. The major theme of “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time-Indian” is identity, because over the course of the novel Junior struggles to find himself and where he really belongs.

“You have to leave this reservation”. (42) Mr. P tells Junior that he has no hope on the reservation. This vital advice convinces Junior to leave the reservation. This is an extremely brave thing to do because Junior is going to have to start a new lifestyle at an affluent high school. Junior attends Rearden, a white public school twenty miles from the reservation. Junior is different from the white students because of his personality, socioeconomic status, and race. It is very hard for a smart Indian boy to fit in at a white, sports obsessed, public school. Christopher and Junior need to leave home because they both fear their fathers and they have no hope. The boys use certain lifeboats to escape reality, and to find their own little worlds.

Many people assume that Indians live in bad households, and yes, typically that’s true. But when Junior goes to Reardan, he sees how lucky he is to have parents who care about him. “-and seen how great parents do their great parenting, I realize that my folks are pretty good. Sure, my dad has a drinking problem and my mom can be a little eccentric, but they make sacrifices for me. They worry about me. The talk to me. And best of all, they listen to me.” (Alexie, 153). He sees that even though his family is the typical Indian family- poor, drunk, and low class- they still care a lot about him. He also says; “I mean, yeah, Indians are screwed up, but we’re really close to each other. We KNOW each other. Everybody knows everybody.” (Alexie, 153). He shows that yeah, Indian’s are really messed up. We really don’t take care of ourselves or other people, but when people are in need of each other, they’re there. They’re all one family. This breaks the stereotype, of Indians being nothing more than poor and drunk. They all have a much better relationship with each other, and they’re all connected.