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

"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

As Diary of a Part Time Indian progresses and Junior enrolls in Reardan, he continues to belief that he does not deserve hope, unlike the kids at Reardan, but not necessarily because of his race anymore. Resulting from his choice to leave the reservation, Junior struggles to fit in at Reardan, but not leave his identity behind, since for him living on the reservation is entwined with being poor.

Despite the horrible conditions society had placed them in, they found comfort in their cultural identity. This sort of embracement of cultural identity in order to unify was seen in Sherman Alexie’s work. In the beginning of the novel, Junior wants to break from his culture and pursue his dreams instead of staying on the reservation that he believes destines him to failure. In pursuing his dreams, however, he turned his back on the tribe in the minds of many and was not embracing the cultural identity. Junior rode into Reardan with the expectation of pursuing his dreams along with the whites, but was met with the heavy reality of racism and discrimination. Everyone from the teachers, kids, and parents treated him as a second class citizen and at home he was a traitor. This sort of adversity Junior was facing caused him to try to fit in at two places at once. Rather than being honest about his cultural identity with the people in Reardan, he hid from reality and acted as if he was a white kid from a stable family. This tactic Junior tries to employ does not work and instead he becomes an outcast on the reservation for trying to become less Indian and was still not fully accepted by the whites of Reardan. By denying his cultural identity Junior did not fit in anywhere, however, this changed when the truth of his situation was made clear to the

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.

Do you think looking forward and trying to change a bad situation into a good one for having a better life is a wrong decision? The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian is a novel written by Sherman Alexie. The novel is about Arnold Spirit; everyone calls him Junior. He is a teenage boy with a tough life who lives with his family in poverty on a Spokane Indian reservation in Wellpinit, Washington. He hates living in poverty and wants something better for himself. “I feel like I might grow up to be somebody important. An artist”(6) he claims. His living conditions are horrible; he studies in a school with a lack of resources. He considered the different aspects of moving to Reardan, he struggled about leaving

Arnold says that Roger “Was actually nice. He paid me some respect. He paid respect to Eugene and his bike” (Alexie 72). Roger’s respect to Arnold is one of the first signs that Arnold is being accepted into the Rearden society. Arnold learns how to gain respect and how to deal with the people of Rearden in this event. Arnold also says that after Penelope and he became a couple, “[he] suddenly became popular” (Alexie 110). Arnold is almost fully assimilated into Rearden at this point, becoming friends with much of the school. Arnold has learned to embrace his popularity a Rearden and, as a result, has become socially acceptable. These initiation events lead to changes in the way Arnold thinks, which has a direct effect on his future

Have you ever thought about what would happen if you betrayed your community? In the book, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, this is exactly what Junior is experiencing. He decides to leave his reservation, his hometown, to go to Reardan which is an all-white school. Junior decides to leave for Reardan to find hope and his identity because he has to deal with bullying on the rez, loss of family and friends, and the isolation Junior feels as a boy on the rez, which shows that our lives are defined by the tough choices we are forced to make.

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

Another topic of importance to the book is collective identity. Matsumoto and Juang (2013) describe identity as “the way individuals understand themselves and are recognized,” while collective identity is more specifically about people’s association with “social categories” (p. 357). Identity is considered fluid as it can change depending on the situation, its players, and each individual’s point of view (Matsumoto & Juang, 2013, pp.357-358). This explains how Arnold’s identity appears to morph throughout the book . For instance, Arnold’s early identification as a poor Indian kid juxtaposes Arnold’s later feelings of

“Finishing a good book is like leaving a good friend” author William Feathers would acknowledge and I have realized that I've lost a valuable friend after perusing The Absolute True of a Part-Time Indian. Sherman Alexie’s novel is a journey through the mind of a writer as he attempts to chronicle his daily life. This autobiographical depiction of life on a reservation is bleak but hopeful yet also heartrending and uplifting. This novel discusses about Arnold Spirit or Junior, a member of the Spokane Indian Tribe, that decides to attend a school filled with white kids. As Junior struggles to create a scintillating future for himself he finds himself impacted by racism and depression but the hardships he faces aren't enough to make him lose hope.

Finding someone’s true identity is often hard to do. As defined, identity is a condition or character as to who a person or what a thing is; the qualities, beliefs, etc. that distinguish or identify a person or thing. In the book, “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” by Sherman Alexie, Junior is an Native American who goes through an unassuming adventure. Junior is a fourteen-year old Native American boy living on the Spokane Indian Reservation in Washington.

If Junior stays in the reservation where he is surrounded with people who are lost in their identity, he too will enable those characteristics. “… You’re going to find more and more hope the farther and farther you walk away from this sad, sad, sad reservation.” ( Alexis Pg. 43) When Arnold went to school in the reservation he wasn’t aware of his self and his abilities because everyone in the reservation is the same so it’s difficult to find your own identity. Arnold is the first one to leave the reservation. Well, Arnold learns to see himself not simply as Junior the Indian or Arnold the traitor, but as someone who belongs to many different tribes. He moves between locations, kind of like a “nomad”. When Arnold first arrives

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.

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.