A Part Time Indian Essay Thesis

Kaya Murray

Mr. Rodriguez

Academic Literacy

April 21 2023 The Impact of Poverty

Poverty is cultivated into the next generations, which can cause many to be negatively impacted. This is seen in the young adult contemporary novel, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian written by Sherman Alexie. This story is based in Washington in both a Spokane reservation and the Reardan school from the point of view of 14 year old Arnold Spirit Junior. The narrator Junior offers many examples of how he and other Spokane tribe members are at a disadvantage compared to their white peers. Examples of this are the rising alcohol addictions in the reservation that is fueled by the despair of poverty and the violence he experiences from children

Living in a Spokane reservation, Junior shows how poverty makes people turn to alcoholism as a way to cope. He represents this by showing the experiences of Eugene, and Mary, as well as his grandmother. “Eugene was a good guy, and like an uncle to me, but he was drunk all the time. Not stinky drunk, just drunk enough to be drunk. He was a funny and kind drunk, always wanting to laugh and hug you and sing songs and dance.” (Alexie, 80) They're deaths are tied to alcoholism and the despair that they are subjected to. Mary ran away in order to achieve a better life than the life at the reservation. This resulted in her death, which was tied to her alcoholic habits and her desperation to escape her previous life. Eugene’s death is also an example of how alcohol can be deadly. His death was caused by violence at the hands of someone who might not have been violent if alcohol was not involved. “Way drunk, Eugene was shot and killed by one of his good friends, Bobby, who was too drunk to even remember pulling the trigger. The police think Eugene and Bobby fought over the last drink in a bottle of wine.” (Alexie,

He offers examples of this with the narrator Junior, people on the Spokane reservation and how their lives differ from wealthier characters like Penelope. These examples include, alcoholism addictions being apparent in poorer communities as represented by the deaths of Eugene and Mary. In addition, poorer individuals do not have access to quality education or sufficient food as seen with Junior’s schools lack of new textbooks and his inability to afford an adequate meal. Lastly, Penelope did not have to worry about money but instead tried to gather money for the “needy”, when Junior actually had the experience of being seen as the “needy.” This shows how Sherman Alexie interprets the impact poverty has on people and how it is a lifelong