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The Absolutely True Diary Of A Part-Time India Critical Analysis

Decent Essays

Check Your Privilege: Rearden’s Insight on Confronting Socioeconomic Privilege Though Greenhill prides itself on acting as a “microcosm” of a diverse society, its role as an esteemed, albeit costly, private school lends itself to the erasure of socioeconomic status from discussions of diversity and inclusion. Through reading Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, the reality of poverty takes center stage, through Arnold’s narrative perspective. Alexie’s nuanced description of life as an impoverished Native American student provided me innumerable insights into the life of poverty, from not being able to afford gas money, to drinking flavored water for breakfast, or not being able to keep a pet alive. While Arnold’s perspective provided me a depth of the impoverished perspective, I constantly found myself most impacted by socioeconomic status in scenes of confronted privilege by both the white students at Rearden high school, and Arnold himself. These scenes reinforced the power of confronting privilege as a means to help others, and as reflective tools to put high school experiences in a broader perspective. Penelope, Roger, Arnold, and the Rearden community’s confrontation of privilege and subsequent character development highlight the healing power of transcending socioeconomic barriers with empathy and support.
The most profound confrontation of privilege in the text is Arnold’s remarkable realization that despite winning the basketball game for

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