The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

In the Absolutely True Diary Junior expresses great growth in his view of himself and who he is, because he sees that he is not just someone who belongs to one group, but someone of many groups. This is conveyed, because Junior states, "I 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. And to the tribe of bookworms. And the tribe of cartoonists. And the tribe of chronic masturbators. And the tribe of teenage boys.

This book, "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian" by Sherman Alexie, is about a boy called Arnold Spirit aka Junior. He is a Native American that lives in an Indian Reservation. He isn't really satisfied with his life, since he's pretty poor, but he gets along. He doesn't really accept himself, since he has multiple medical problems, and he has been beaten up since he was little. When he starts to gain more friends in this new (American) school, he starts to like and accept himself more than before. In this book, "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian" (by Sherman Alexie), the main theme is about Arnold trying to accept himself.

He also deals with an Identity-crisis and not able to recognize which should relate to. As he says ''They stared at me, the Indian boy with the black eye and swollen nose, my going-away gifts from Rowdy. Those white kids couldn't believe their eyes. They stared at me like I was Bigfoot or a UFO. What was I doing at Reardan, whose mascot was an Indian, thereby making me the only other Indian in town? (Sherman 27). On his first at the new school, Arnold sees himself not only through his own eyes, but also through the eyes his classmates as well. He realizes that they don't see him as Junior the weirdo Indian, to them, he is something foreign. In this sense, Arnold starts seeing the way he sees himself and the way his classmates sees him.

The poem, “The Theft Outright” by Heid E. Erdrich, a Native American poet, refutes claims made in another poem, “The Gift Outright” by Robert Frost, that America was empty before the colonists. In his poem, Frost claims that America was “unstoried, artless, [and] unenhanced,”(Frost 15) demonstrating blatant racism by erasing the entire Native American culture and race from American history. Erdrich counters his beliefs by citing the colorful, full lives of Indians in the past and now, directly juxtaposing his work by saying that the Americas are “still storied, art-filled, [and] fully enhanced”(Erdrich 30) from the Native Americans that lived there. Similarly, the book “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” by Sherman Alexie deals with racism. It tells the story of Arnold Spirit Jr, a Native American boy who wants a better life, so he switches schools from his poverty stricken school to an all white school in a small town called Reardan. Junior frequently faces challenges of racism; he is seen as less than his white peers at his new school because he is Indian, and he is constantly being shown by others’ words and actions that he does not deserve a quality education because of his heritage. Despite the novel’s humorous style, “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” provides accurate commentary on education and racism in recent times through Junior’s experiences at Reardan, with his developing friendship with Gordy, his views on the pedestals that white

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.

In the novel “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part time Indian”, author Sherman Alexie shares a compelling story representing racial issues among communities and families in cultural areas today, and a boy’s journey to find who he truly is, while being torn between two cultures. In this novel the main character, young Junior finds himself truly understanding that he is more than just an indian. In order to know more about the plot behind the novel, author Alexie takes the reader into Junior’s perspective to bring the story to life and let the reader understand how racial issues along with family problems make a play into today’s society. The novel shows a countless number of situations Junior encounters that impact his life throughout the novel.

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.

The NRC says that 37% of American Indian children are living in poverty. The absolutely true diary of a part-time indian by Sherman Alexie is about a boy named Junior. Arnold Spirit Junior is a struggling indian boy who deals with poverty, abuse, and many hardships. Throughout time he gains the strength he needs to live on his indian reservation with more happiness and opportunities then he every thought was possible. Through all of his struggles, Junior creates a better education, friendship, and improves his self-confidence with his brave outlook on life, which shows taking risks and being brave can change hardships into bliss.

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

For example, when Walter Cunningham, the son of Mr. Cunningham, gets in a fight with Scout at school because he embarrassed her in front of the class. As an apology for Scout’s wild actions, Jem invites Walter over for dinner with them. At the dinner table Walter eats differently from Scout and the others, he drowns his meal in syrup, and when Scout complains, Calpurnia demanded her presence in the kitchen for a talk with her. The quote was what she said to Scout in the kitchen. It shows that the Cunninghams have been stereotyped and their family name even used as an adjective. Scout talks about Walter Cunningham as someone who is below her and Calpurnia knowing that it’s wrong to discriminate against Walter because of his class so she is trying to correct her. The Cunninghams, despite being hard workers are being treated unlike common folk because they’re poor, Scout is merely repeating what she heard in the community, showing that the community thinks lowly of the Cunninghams. This can be very destructive for the Cunningham’s since this can lead to others treating them unfairly in the community. The other example of stereotyping can create barriers is with Dolphus Raymond. Dolphus Raymond is a white man that always sits with the black people, people all assumed he was drunk all the time since he was always drinking from a sack. People used that as a

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

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.

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is the story of Junior’s journey to discovery of self. Like many teens, he finds himself

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.