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Absolutely True Diary Of A Part Time Indian Essay

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In the book, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, there is a theme of Arnold grappling with his racial identity. He goes to a “white” school, but he lives on a Native American reservation, so there is conflict between both races for him. Although he often voices his negative feelings about being Native American, deep down Arnold loves being Native American, because he knows it’s not the only thing that defines him, he loves the togetherness of his tribe, and his struggles as a Native American have made him stronger. Arnold knows that being Native American isn’t the only thing that determines his life. He tells Mrs. Jeremy, “I used to think the world was broken down by tribes. By black and white. By Indian and white. But I know that isn’t true...” (176). This is truly a turning point in the novel when he is completely sure that being Native American isn’t the only thing that determines …show more content…

At the beginning of the book, he tells the readers about his difficult journey to stay alive since he was born, saying, “I ended up having forty-two teeth ... the Indian Health Service funded major dental work only once a year, so I had to have all ten extra teeth pulled in one day ... Our white dentist believed that Indians only felt half as much pain as white people did, so he only gave us half the Novocain” (2). This unfortunate event happened because he is Native American, and made him tougher. Another instance of him becoming tougher because he is Native American is all the fights he has been in, and lost. Both of these things made him stronger, and gave him the push to go to a better school, which changed his life for the better. These instances also made it easier for him to stick with his new school, even after he was ostracized because he was Native American, because he was so

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