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

Bullying refers to the intentional tormenting in physical, verbal, or psychological ways. Sherman Alexie 's The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian raises awareness about this common social issue, bullying, through his story about a boy growing up on an impoverished Native American reservation. The novel shows how bullying can leave deep emotional scars that last a lifetime. It 's important to take bullying seriously and not just brush it off as something that kids have to "tough out." The effects can be serious and affect a child 's sense of self-worth and future relationships.

“The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian”, written by Sherman Alexie, is a novel describing a 14 year old’s journey throughout high school. In the story, Junior, the main character, is faced with multiple obstacles in his life: Hydrocephalus, poverty, and the target of bullying. Despite the world being against him, Junior’s multiple traits helps him greatly when it comes to the adversity that accompanies his migration from the Wellpinit Reservation to Rearden.

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.

The reservations in which Native Americans live on are impoverished and and suffering more and more as days go by. Finding jobs is strenuous and trying to provide for families has proven to be even more of a challenge. These Native American communities are barely getting by financially. As shown in novel, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time

A young Aboriginal boy by the name of Arnold throws a textbook at a teachers face at his residential school… After that event his life changes he decides to transfer to Reardan High an all white school in a farm town outside his reservation. This courageous act from an “Indian boy” on Arnold’s reservation has never been seen or done before, Arnold is trying to break the mold. The book “The Absolutely True Diary of A Part-Time Indian” by Sherman Alexie explores the life of Arnold an Aboriginal boy whose whole life has been lived in poverty on a reservation. Which is then thrown into the polar opposite environment, Reardan High in hopes of getting a higher education and escaping the alcoholism and unemployment that most adults that grew up

“And I kept trying to find the little pieces of joy in my life. That’s the only way I managed to make it through all of that death and change. I made a list of the people who had given me the most joy in my life.’” (Alexie 176).

Contrary to the belief,the American dream is not for everyone. Consider if an African American, a Hispanic, a Caucasian, an Asian, and a Native American was born. Who do you think as the best chance of achieving the American dream in their life? The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie and Because My Father Always Said He Was The Only Indian Who Saw Jimi Hendrix Play The Star Spangled Banner At Woodstock by Sherman Alexie explore the central idea of how race affects the American Experience. The Absolutely True Diary Of A Part-Time Indian is a novel about a Native American named Junior living on the Spokane indian reservation who decides to go to a predominantly white school in order to get a better education.

Before reading this book, I honestly knew little about Native American. I knew that many lived on reservations, but I knew nothing about those reservations. By being brutally honest, Sherman Alexie provided incite to how the everyday life of a teenage Native American is like. This book opened my eyes to the problems that Native American’s face, that I was in the dark about before.

In the US alone, there are more than 10,000 books challenged each year. Sherman Alexie’s novel, the Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, has not only been challenged but successfully banned in many states. In this book, a poor Native American boy named Junior is living with his family on an Indian reservation, hoping for a better future. To achieve this, he must leave the reservation and betray his community. Junior transfers to Reardan High School and gives us personal insight on how Indians are really treated. Nevertheless, the story has been challenged and banned for what people believe to be its sexism, racism, bullying, vulgarness, explicit language, violence, and the use of drugs/ alcohol. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian should not be banned because it exposes young adults to the reality of bullying, racism, and stereotypes in an educational manner.

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

In Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, perspective is the driving factor for all of it’s characters, influencing their belief in themselves and their freedom to either achieve their dreams or be trapped by their reality.

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie is the story of a Native American boy who lives on a reservation but wants to leave in hopes to be different and make his life into something special. He ends up leaving the reservation in search of hope and after a few bumps he finds it. The story is based in the 1990s and around the Spokane Indian reservation in Washington. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian exemplifies the Native American culture through the use of imagery to comment on the life of an exception to the normal Native American.

Being positive is a choice that is meant for one to make, yet not many do. Whether one is positive or not, will impact their life in many ways. In the novel, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, it is shown that often when one looks at life in a positive light, more opportunities arise. The novel develops this theme for the duration of the book through the plot of the novel, the setting of Reardan, and the choices that the protagonist, Arnold Spirit, made in the story.

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.