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

"Double-consciousness this sense of always looking at one 's self through the eyes of others, of measuring one 's soul by the tape of a world that looks on in amused contempt and pity" (Dubois, 8). W.E.B. Du Bois had a perfect definition of double-consciousness. The action of viewing one 's self through the eyes of others and measuring one 's soul. Looking at all of the thoughts good or bad coming from others. This is present in the main character of the book The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie. The Absolutely True Diary is about a boy named Junior that is fourteen years old and living on the Spokane Reservation. Junior was born with too

Native Americans on the reservations are at socially and economically disadvantage compared to persons who reside in metropolitan cities. Life advancement opportunities and individual accountability for better living standards are almost non-existence in many Native American communities. The environment that is around young adolescents are very

A dreary sadness permeates throughout, the melancholy of a once-great people today destitute and plagued by strife. Although the Reservation physically exists within the United States, it by no means feels that way. In measurements such as standards of living, life expectancy, and median income, Pine Ridge is very remote from America. This colossal remove is the child of both historical American policy purposely created to destroy American Indian culture and decades of a national failure to confront the acute suffering occurring everyday in Indian

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.

As a young adult living in Oklahoma, I had never given a lot of thought as to the portrayal of the Native American. Although, it never occurred to me that my perception of life might be different from those growing up and living with the everyday realities reservation life offered. Simply put, I was overjoyed to be amongst those who lived on the reservation and in hindsight, I realize that I was naïve as to the treatment of those I call my people. Growing up, I was always aware of my Native heritage, but truthfully that is where it ended. My grandmother a full blood Cherokee woman was content to live the life to which she had become accustom to in the white man’s world. Therefore, as children, stories of my grandmother’s childhood were never bestowed upon my brothers, sister, and I. Ultimately, leaving us to our own imaginations and with that I created the image I had readily embraced, the image of the beautiful Indian maiden.

Alexie, in his essay, talks about how his life was growing up on a Native American reservation in Washington state. A lifestyle that most Americans never know. Life as a Spokane Indian surrounding by a growing American society had its hardships, as Alexie explains. According to Alexie, most Spokane families living on the reservation lived a life that we in modern American society would label poverty, but the Spokane call it “middle-class.” Growing up, most of the food brought to the table in Alexie’s home was that of government surplus, thanks to federal sanctions on Native reservations, but his family managed to scrape by like any other Spokane, usually through a minimum wage income.

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.

Not until now did I realized that Native American Reservations have been suffering the side effects of poverty and unemployment. It is impossible to describe the many factors that have contributed to the challenges that American Indians face today, but many of the statistics and fact show how life is for many in reservations. The poverty in Native American Reservation can be described in no other form than third world. It is common to find people living under horrible living conditions and many vagabonds. Tribes have reported as high as 85% of Native Americans in reservations are unemployed.

Before reading this book, I honestly knew little about Native American. I knew that many lived on reservations, but I knew nothing about those reservations. By being brutally honest, Sherman Alexie provided incite to how the everyday life of a teenage Native American is like. This book opened my eyes to the problems that Native American’s face, that I was in the dark about before.

Even though the Native Americans have been living on the American land for centuries they are still facing harsh conditions. They have been struggling through poverty, dispossession, and lack of education for a long time, and their situation has not improved much over the years. In the novel “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” and the movie “Smoke Signals”, respectively written and produced by the Native American Sherman Alexie, he emphasizes that the Native Americans’ potential to experience positive change on their reservations is limited. Instead, they need to step out of the reservations to experience significant personal growth and insight.

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

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

Everyone possesses attributes that can make him/her similar to another, the same attributes that can make someone unique. No two people look the same. While there may be characteristics that make them similar, in the end, everyone has, at least, one physical trait that makes one different from another. In addition, no two people will ever share personalities which is what makes human interaction interesting. Everyone is unique. All of these attributes can affect relationships. The novel, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie, and modern sources explore how mental and physical attributes affect friendship quality.

Depending on who you are, we all react differently to negative events in our life. For me, I go into a state of shock and can not focus on the positive aspects of my life after a tragic event. For many other people, they may go into a drinking spree or start abusing drugs to numb the pain. But for those like Junior in The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, they channel their negativity into something that is positive and productive. In this story, Junior surpasses the sorrow of losing his three precious family members by receiving support from his family and friends, and carrying beneficial qualities such as resilience, ambition, and confidence.

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.