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

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

"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.

Mentors are people who provide support, strength, and inspiration. Many people have a mentor in their life that they aspire to be like, and seek out for guidance. Mentors play a big role in many lives, including Junior's from The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie. Some of the biggest mentors for Junior are his parents, his Wellpinit teacher Mr. P and his Rearden basketball coach. If it weren't for these mentors inspiration and support, Junior wouldn't have taken some of the risks he does.

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

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.

Junior begins to realize that he’s not inviable and that he belongs to a lot of things near the end of the story. Along with that, he also is emotionally affected when he talks about his love for drawing cartoons. As Junior starts to reflect upon his life he thinks, “I realized 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” (Alexie 217). At this moment in the book, Junior's improved analyzing skills come into play and he himself proves that he isn’t nothing. Junior tells himself that he matters, which improves his emotional being for the better. Secondly, right at the beginning of the book when Junior talks about how he likes to draw cartoons, he states, “So I draw because I feel like it might be my only real chance to escape the reservation” (Alexie 6). As Junior speaks about himself he states that cartoons are a way for him to avoid all the emotional stress put on him by others, but also when he says this, it resembles a self-fulfilling prophecy. As he thinks like this, he starts to believe that cartoons are his only real escape, which shows once again how emotionally affected he is by his own actions. Therefore, it’s shown that Junior puts his own toll on himself emotionally through self-fulling prophecy when he talks about drawing cartoons,

P, his math teacher, comes to his house after Arnold hits him with his mom’s old geometry book. Mr. P explains that everybody who lives on the reservation has lost hope a long time ago, but that he’s special, because he still has ambition and desire. He says “You've been fighting [...] people have hope." (page 43). This conversation makes the initiate realize that if he wants his dreams to come true, he has to change schools and find a place where people still have hope.

The upshot of all this is that, Junior’s decision about leaving the Rez and moving to Reardan for a better education was tough. He faced lot of problems; he felt lonely because of losing his best friend, and afraid of death of his tribe and family. Although he suffered from the entire bad things that happened to him, it was the best decision that he had made for his life. “I realized that I might be a lonely Indian boy, but I

At first, everyone is racist towards him, but he slowly starts making friends, and becomes a basketball star for their school. It is his story of courage and determination in leaving the life that would be a failure and working hard to acquire success in life. Junior’s life in the beginning wasn’t easy especially living in the reservation. He’s gone through many difficult times for such a young fourteen year old boy, but in a way he brings out positivity in any situation. For example in the beginning he says, “And hey, in a weird way, being hungry makes food taste better.

Junior describes his life of poverty on the Spokane Indian Reservation. He wants the readers to know how life truly is on the Reservation by incorporating informal, youthful, and conversational language and gloomy diction. These elements together in his writing develop a bitter and helpless

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is a young adult novel about a teenager named Junior who experiences the hard but good parts about high school, and about growing up. This novel takes Junior on a journey to find himself and survive high school. Many young adult novels today that involve high school do not show the real problems some people face because the authors feel it is best to shelter teeagers from the truth. However, in The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian the author Sherman Alexie provides insight into a story about a high school student. This relatable novel should be included in the english 9 curriculum because instead of giving teens unrealistic expectations about high school it shows them that everyone

The first way that Junior becomes an individual is switching schools. Junior lives on an Indian reservation and, naturally, goes to the school there. After hitting his teacher, Mr.P, in the head with a book, Junior is suspended. While sitting at home, Mr.P comes to Junior’s house, not to scold him, but apologize. He encourages Junior to leave the school on the reservation and go to Reardon, the other school a few miles from the reservation. After taking it into consideration, Junior decides that he’s going to go to Reardon. After just one day there, Junior realizes things at Reardon are very different than on the reservation. A bully at school teases Junior, and Junior defends himself by punching the bully in the face, as he would if this scenario happened at the reservation. Well, that was not how things worked at Reardon, and Junior was instantly respected for his courage. This interaction shows that Junior is willing to stand up for himself more than any other student at Reardon, and what was “normal” at the reservation is now “brave” at Reardon. This sets Junior apart from the

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.

The beginning of the book begins with Junior giving the reader some background information about himself. “I was actually born with too much cerebral spinal fluid inside my skull” (Alexie, p.1). Junior lets the reader know that this brain condition makes him different than everyone else on the reservation. His