In The Absolute True Diary of a Part-Time Indian (2007), Sherman Alexie offers his autobiographical depiction of reservation through the lens of metaphor to reveal the small segment of his life in a creative way. The genre of the book is creative nonfiction and consciously written for the young-adult readers to spread awareness about the social problem in the community of the Native Americans. The title of the book represents the dual identity in the life of main character because he was travelling in-between the borderlines of Native American and white culture. Alexie presents the character of Junior as a self -reflective image of his survival and the endurance of his own past. Likewise, the title of the book also fulfills the purpose of the overall themes in the novel. The title reflects on the two main themes of hope and suffering very precisely, to establish an equilibrium state in-between the two intertwined concepts of sufferings and accomplishments. Sufferings reinforce the human to come out from their miserable social formations to become a better human being in their life. First and foremost, the title of the book reflects the duality in the main character of the novel. Junior belongs to the native American community and raised in the atmosphere of the extreme poverty of the reservation. In order to break down the …show more content…
He leaves the safe place of reservation, where Rowdy was always protecting him from the target of the people and transfers to the new culture of Reardan. However, his decision helps him for not be influenced by the alcoholic heritage of his family, but he feels guilty of his decision for leaving behind the people of his life. To illustrate, “Traveling between Reardan and Wellpinit, between the little white town and the reservation, I always felt like a
In Sherman Alexies novel, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian, the protagonist, Junior, overcomes many obstacles such as stereotypes, poverty and hopelessness.
In a Bill Moyer’s interview “Sherman Alexie on Living Outside Borders”, Moyer’s interviews Native American author and poet Sherman Alexie. In the Moyer’s and Company interview, Alexie shares his story about the struggles that he endured during his time on a Native American reservation located at Wellpinit, Washington. During the interview, Alexie goes in-depth about his conflicts that plagued the reservation. In an award-winning book by Sherman Alexie called “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian”, Alexie writes semi-autobiography that reveals his harsh life on the reservation through a fictional character named Arnold Spirit Junior. In Alexie’s semi-autobiography, Alexie shares his struggles of a poor and alcoholic family, the
Alexie uses first hand experiences all throughout his article to depict the reality of American Indian’s lives. By appealing to the pathos, he gives his readers the ability to empathize with him, experiencing both the trials and triumphs. His use of analogies provides his audience with visuals that portray his experiences more accurately. When Alexie writes about himself in
Money is said to be the source of all power in the world, but what can be said for the impoverished? In the case of Sherman Alexie's novel, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, we follow the story of Junior, a Native American highschooler struggling to find his place in a world of discrimination and poverty. After some close and careful speculation, it can be decided that the most important theme of this novel is how racism and poverty can cause a number of issues for people in the world because the events in the novel display real life issues people face in the world today.
In ''The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian'', Arnold spirit, who is an Indian boy, lives on a Spokane Indian Reservation with alchoholic parents. Adding to that, he is a hydrocephalic, which has affected his speaking ability and he had to deal with being bullied and getting picked on in school. However, he wants to overcome these challenges and move on in life to something better, because he is dissatisfied with the situation he is in. Later in the story, he decides to go to a white school where he begins feeling like a part-time indian.
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is a book about a young boy just entering high school who leaves his best friend and family to go to school mostly occupied by white people. This whole book follows him through his first year in this school where he tries to get a better education than he can get on the Rez, in the hopes that he will one day get off that reservation and out of his soul crushing poverty. “The Absolutely True diary of a Part-Time Indian” ATD, Sherman Alexie uses unfortunate events, social class and conversations to show that not everyone gets the support they need to follow their dreams.
One should get to know a person before judging them because impressions are not always accurate. In the novel, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, Junior experiences racism on the Spokane Indian reservation and at Reardan, where Junior attends school. Racial discrimination makes the Indians on the reservation lose their sense of self-worth and they feel as if they deserve to be treated this way. At Reardan, Junior is in an atmosphere where his white classmates and teachers make racist jokes and nicknames targeting him. In the novel, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, Sherman Alexie explains how prejudice and discriminatory behaviour endorses negative relationships between people. This can be observed through Junior’s
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.
Many people use humor to manage miserable situations in their life. In the book, The Absolutely True Story of a Part-Time Indian, Junior works through many tough situations using humor. He works through situations such as death, poverty, and conflict. This essay will show how Junior manages all of these situations using humor.
Survival is a very important part of any life and survival is a culmination of all the driving forces behind our success. The Absolutely True Diary Of A Part Time Indian explores this concept closely. This exposition will be arguing that survival is in fact a large part of The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian and shows that through many different facets, it will also be showing some examples of this and defining further how this correlates to this concept.
Growing up isn't just a struggle but the most important time in life where people form their opinions. This novel was very relatable because of the similar experiences. The novel The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian author Sherman Alexie expresses the idea that growing up is a journey and life is meeting new people. This becomes clear when finishing the book, because Arnold met new people that made an influence on him.
In Sherman Alexie’s coming of age story, “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian”, Arnold Spirit Jr. is a deformed child who goes to school on an American Indian reservation. He faces many struggles including friendship, fitting in, academics, etc. I believe that Junior’s ethnicity/race is an important factor in understanding Junior as a character and why he struggled to feel a sense of belonging at Reardan and the rez. This is shown when Junior transfers schools from Wellpinit to Reardan. Junior faces the struggles of being a Spokane Indian when he decides to move to an all-white high school, Reardan.
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie is a novel about Arnold Spirit (Junior), a boy from the Spokane Indian Reservation who decides to attend high school outside the reservation in order to have a better future. During that first year at Reardan High School, Arnold has to find his place at his all-white school, cope with his best friend Rowdy and most of his tribe disowning him, and endure the deaths of his grandmother, his father’s best friend, and his sister. Alexie touches upon issues of identity, otherness, alcoholism, death, and poverty in order to stay true to his characters and the cultures within the story. Through the identification of the role of the self, identity, and social behavior
The absolutely true story of a part-time Indian by Sherman Alexie is about a young boy name Junior. He wanted to attend Reardan, the school where whites attended, to better himself, but he wasn’t accepted by the whites at the school. It wouldn’t be anything new to him because he wasn’t accepted at the Reservation with the rest of the Indians. Junior was the weaker Indian he couldn’t do what most Indians were expected to do he would lose all his fights and would get bullied for being a weak Indian. At Reardan, he was seen as the outcast and was bullied, but one day he stood up for himself, other races, and the buffalo and was able to knock a big bully jock down with one punch and at that moment he recognized how different it was at the school
Sherman Alexie book “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part – Time Indian” is a comical yet heartbreaking true story of an Indian teenage boy living on the reservation trying to figure out his own identity. Throughout the book the reader can see the identity struggles that the main character Arnold Spirit Jr (Junior) faces. Being on the reservation is both a home and a place Junior is ready to leave. Through Juniors illustrations and……