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

Jessica is the new girl, while Alexia is popular and bratty. Peter is the class clown, while his friend Luke is the smart kid and a total nerd. Danielle is shy and has a hard time standing up for herself. Anna is an outcast because of her home situation, and Jeffery hates everything. Mr. Terupt is the new teacher who knows how to deal with them all. The class wanted to have a great year with their new favorite teacher, but then a playful joke turns into a possibly fatal freak accident. So, the kids grow very close to each other as they hold onto hope that their teacher will be okay.

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.

Progressing through the middle of the book, Junior faces multiple instances of embarrassment, and friendship. When Junior first arrived to Rearden, he was treated poorly because of his skin and origin, “...I was still a potential killer. So mostly they called me names. Lots of names” (63). The name-calling and bullying continued for a while before Junior stood up for himself, by “punching Roger in the face… he wasn’t laughing when he landed on his ass” (65). Though, standing up for himself was only the beginning. Roger responded with respect for Junior (72), but Penelope didn’t, “...I might of impressed the king, but the queen still hated me” (73). The embarrassment ensues when the Winter Formal rolls around. Following the dance, Junior and his friends hang out at a breakfast diner. Junior is ashamed by the fact he doesn’t have any money to pay for the food. This is where his friendship comes into play. Roger doesn’t mind, and, in fact, Roger “...opened his wallet and handed me [Junior] forty bucks… what kind of kid can just hand over forty bucks like that” (126). Consecutive to the diner incident, Penelope also reveals to Roger that Junior doesn’t have a ride home (129), and friendship also saves the day in this particular

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.

First off Junior struggled with his education. For example Junior goes to his first day of school but, soon finds

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.

Everyone in Welch doesn’t like newcomers. Jeannette and Brian were enrolled in schools there and Jeannette’s mom didn’t’ have any of their records from Phoenix so they go to the principal to talk and the principal asks them very simple questions to see their intelligence. However, it does not work out very well because of the accent of the principal. After trying to figure out what the principal was saying they end up in classes with other kids that have learning disabilities. The first day of fifth grade for Jeannette was terrible for her. Jeannette got beat up from a girl named Dinitia. Dinitia would bully Jeannette everyday. Jeannette knows that her mom and dad can’t help so she tries to befriend Dinitia. Jeannette then sees the good side of Dinitia, and tries to be friends with her. Jeannette then sees Dinitia scaring a dog away from a kid and Dinitia befriended Jeannette. Jeannette’s parents decide to go to Phoenix to get what they left behind. The first day Jeannette’s parent are gone Erma calls Brian so she can fix his pants. When Jeannette goes to check on them she sees Erma touching Brian’s private parts. Jeannette then screams that Erma is a pervert and Lori, who is now thirteen, starts screaming at her and fighting with her physically. Erma then locks them in the basement, which has a door to go outside, but they can’t go inside the house. When Jeannette’s parents come back Dad found out what happened to Brian. Dad acts very strangely, which made Jeannette wonder if Erma did that to him as a kid. Mom and dad’s car broke down on there way back to Phoenix so they had to take a bus back, and they couldn’t get back the stuff they left in Phoenix. Mom and Dad decide to buy their own house in Welch because of Erma. The house they bought was in the worst part of Welch. It had a leaking roof, three rooms, and no plumbing. After awhile there a bully named Ernie Goad makes fun of Jeannette for living in trash. The

If you have ever moved to new town, or changed schools, then you probably have a pretty good idea how Junior felt throughout the book. After Mr. P talks Junior into getting out of the REZ

Over the course of your life, you come to struggle with the philosophical idea of personal identity; the thing that makes you, you. Oneself may shape their identity around aspects of their life that they have no control over like race and physical traits, as well as decisions that are made throughout their lives like affiliations and religion. Your personal identity can be seen through your passions and interactions with others. An individual’s search for their identity is something that may occur in everyone’s’ life. In the novel, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, Sherman Alexie highlights the theme of how the search for identity is always prevalent, through the conflicted characters of Junior and Mary throughout the novel.

Using symbolism, Susan Power shows how non-indian people have a biased view of American Indians and that Indians are displayed as museum exhibits. On the first page she explains how there is a statue depicting an indian about to kill a white woman and her children, her mom says that, “Children who see this will think this is what indians are all about”(1). Later, Power and her Mom are walking together in the egyptian exhibit. Her mom points out the mummies and says, “[the mummies] were a lot like us….and now just look at them”(2). The mummies represent people’s beliefs that indians are people of the past. Later in the story Power explains how they “stand before the [buckskin dress in the glass case] as we would before a grave”(2). This shows

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 author, Alexie Sherman, uses the issues of lost hope and racial identity in his novel, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian to shed light on the topics, and bring attention them so that they can eventually

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.

Both Yoon and Weir demonstrate the consequences of parental pressures on a teenager’s development by emphasising the feelings of restriction experienced by the protagonists. However, one explores in an old fashioned society and the other in a modern society. Exploring the purpose of using the setting of a private school, depicts the director’s intention to showcase tradition and discipline of the film’s general setting. In contrast to Yoon’s utilisation of a sterilised, modern home that emphasises cleanliness and order, because “If [Madeline’s] life were a book and you read