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

A rough childhood would be an understatement when talking about a minority child’s. Sherman Alexie’s “Indian Education” illustrates the life of a young Native American boy from early 1st grade, to the final moments he walked down to get his diploma. Along the way we are confronted by challenging suspects who test his patience and character. Being bullied in first grade, Victor tries to gain respect by having a physical confrontation with his teasers. Little does this do, because for the next two years, it continues. When in fourth grade, one of his teachers places the thought into his head of him becoming a doctor. The following year his cousin start to abuse rubber cement, and is being a negative role model on young Victor. Once in middle school, Victor then attends a school in a nearby town where many of the people are completely different compared to his last educational institution. Being that many of the “white girls” are bulimic, Victor feels a great culture shock and even confronts one girl and then states to her, “Give me your lunch if you’re just going to throw it up.” Once he is in his late high school years, Victor, the basketball champ, passes out at a school dance and is rushed to the hospital where he is diagnosed with diabetes. His teacher was quick to think the worst when he questioned if he had been drinking, since he “[knew] all about these Indian kids…start

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.

In W.E.B Du Bois’s publication, “The Souls of Black Folk,” he discusses the concept of “double consciousness.” The concept of this theory is that blacks in the early twentieth century suffered from a lack of one true identity because they were torn between two different ones. This concept of being torn between two different identities is prevalent in another short story, “The School Days of an Indian Girl” by Zitkala-Sa. Both Du Bois and Zitkala-Sa discuss two different worlds that they live in while trying become both identities. Unfortunately this is a difficult thing to achieve because of the loss of individualization, lack of education, and the hate experienced by these minorities.

"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

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.

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.

In Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, Arnold is a teenager living on a reservation in Spokane Washington. There, Arnold grows up aware of his limitations as an Indian and understands the difficulties that his parents had to endure growing up. He keeps these in mind as he gets older and makes the decision to leave the reservation. Throughout his journey, Arnold acknowledges the people who helped him along the way and who encouraged him to surpass his fears and to overcome the obstacles that were ingrained in him. Despite the constant barriers that stand in his way, Arnold continues to view education as his ticket out of the reservation and diligently braves his way through high school in what he calls a “hick

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

People often wonder "what are humans at their purest form? Are they purely good or purely evil?" In order to find the answer one must look at different kinds of evidence to find the conclusion. Taking the novels "The Absolute Diary of a Part Time Indian," by Sherman Alexie, "Lord of the Flies," by William Golding, and "Night," by Elie Wiesel, they each show how true human nature comes out. And though people think they are made to be perfect, evidence ceases to prove otherwise. Underneath all the signs of good in humans, when forced into to chaotic situations, the evil comes out that is hidden deep within all humans

Every person in the world belongs to a culture. Many times people categorize a person’s culture based on his or her ethnical orientation. Often these cultures clash and can end in violence, but the United States has often been called the “melting pot” of cultures and ethnic diversity. Although there is a high range of diversity, often time’s cultures tend to segregate themselves from others due to different values, societal rules, and beliefs. The novels The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger and The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie both show two very different cultures that are present in the United States. The individualistic values present in The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger and the collectivistic ideals present in The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie show the difference in cultures and how each character challenges how their culture believes they should act as young adults.

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.

There are several people in the world who live in poverty. Poverty hits children the hardest. Little more than a decade ago, the Armenians had faced the hard facts of poverty after break up with Former Soviet Union. My family moved into our motherland Armenia, meanwhile our nation was going through huge dramatic changes after the great earthquake and war with Azerbaijan. Furthermore the poor economy and inflation destroyed numerous people hopes and future. In the novel, “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian”, by Sherman Alexie, Arnold Spirit is also known as Junior describes his life challenges of poverty living on Spokane reservation. Like Arnold, as I begin to compare him going through hardship and finding out true place in the world, I often find similarities in living in poverty with large effect of hunger and education.

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.

Ernest Hemingway’s diction in his short story, Indian Camp, developed the idea of white men being superior to black women by verbally expressing what white men chose not to hear or touch when it came to black women. Firstly, the doctor exclaimed how inferior the woman was compared to him by saying he could not hear her cries of pain. As the black mother was crying out while in labor, the doctor stated, “‘her screams are not important. I don’t hear them because they are not important.’” (Hemingway). The white doctor was blocking out the shrieks of the person in need of his help simply because she was a woman and she was black. The specific words “not important” and “don’t hear” directly show how he feels superior the black woman. By expressing